Ranking Member Courtney Speaks on House Floor in Support of Seapower Provisions in Annual Defense Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. - This afternoon during debate on the FY25 National Defense Authorization Act(NDAA), Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-02), Ranking Member of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, spoke on the House floorin support of the seapower provisions in the final annual defense bill. The House is scheduled to vote on the NDAA later this afternoon.

The bill (H.R. 5009) being considered today reflects the final, negotiated text between the House and the Senate following months of negotiations to reconcile the differences between the versions that each chamber passed last summer. The Senate is expected to follow the House's lead and pass the bill in the next week and send it to President Biden's desk for signature.

For a fact sheet on Courtney-led priorities, click here.

To view and download Ranking Member Courtney's remarks, click here.

Remarks as Delivered

Mr. Speaker, as Ranking Member of Seapower, I want to thank its members, all of its members, for their input crafting this year's National Defense Authorization Act. I also want to salute my friend and outstanding chairman of the subcommittee, Trent Kelly, for his work crafting our bipartisan mark. I have a larger written statement which details our work, which I will submit for the record and use my time today on the issue which consumed the bulk of our time, namely the Virginia class attack submarine program.

Mr. Speaker, the U.S. attack submarine fleet stands as our unmatched strategic advantage against any adversary across the globe. There is overwhelming consensus in Congress, Navy, and industry that we need to expand output for our own fleet and to satisfy our nation's commitments to the AUKUS security agreement. Despite the slowdown caused by COVID, there are promising signs of industry's recovery. In 2024, the Navy commissioned USS New Jersey, the 23rd Virginia sub, and will receive delivery of USS Iowa next week. Next year, the Navy will take delivery of USS Massachusetts and Idaho, the 25th and 26th boats in the class.

This bill recognizes this progress and rejects the Navy's woefully inadequate budget requests, which would undermine procurement stability that is essential to growing the program's supply chain. Simply put, to meet our strategic goals, we have no other choice than to move forward with a strong demand signal.

Final language in this bill uses incremental authority to fund a second Virginia submarine and provides additional authorities that will allow shipyards to boost wages, a critical step to increase recruitment and retention among the metal trades workforce.

This is not pie in the sky. Indeed, just last month, OMB and the Navy belatedly acknowledged our committee's stance and sent over a supplemental request to Congress of nearly $6 billion for the Virginia class submarine program. It is our hope that with this bill, and the supplemental request, Navy and industry can achieve even higher production cadence and execute the long overdue next block contract for the program.

This bill truly carries out our constitutional duty in Article 1, Section 8 to "provide and maintain the Navy." I want to thank our subcommittee staff, Phil MacNaughton, Ian Bennitt, Kelly Goggin, Kyle Noyes, and Ethan Pelissier for their work in crafting this product and with that, I yield back.