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Expressing concerns about national security, the strength of the Navy, and the future of the U.S. defense shipbuilding industry, members of the House and Senate have made their views known to the Administration. Influential Senators and Representatives of both political parties are urging the Executive Branch to increase the Navy’s shipbuilding budget to address the national security requirement for a larger naval fleet. The proposed budget that has been submitted to the Secretary of Defense calls for only $6 billion for just four new ships, of which only two are multi-mission warships. This budget will drop the fleet to new lows in a time when the Navy is fighting the war on terror and contending with emerging threats. The national requirement is 375 -- yet our Navy only numbers 290. This country simply does not have the ships it needs to ensure protection of America’s homeland and to take the fight to the enemy.

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