Conference Report On H.R. 2647, National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2010

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. I want to thank Chairman SKELTON for his hard work and leadership on working with all members and the Senate in passing an important bill to authorize the funding for our entire armed forces.

I am especially grateful for the provision to authorize funding to dredge the St. Johns River at Mayport Naval Station. It is important for our Navy to have the flexibility to station all of our vessels where they can be safe and provide the maximum amount of protection for national security.

I am proud of the men and women of our military who, every day and every night, protect the freedoms we hold so dear. Congress determined the mission and it is up to us to make sure our soldiers have the proper resources to carry out that mission.

The Navy and the President determined that part of that mission included making the harbor at Mayport Naval Station suitable for all the ships in our fleet. They included that requirement in the budget submitted to the Congress. And it is included in the conference report. This is a key military construction and force protection project.

The U.S. Navy has an alternative docking location for every ship in the Navy except for aircraft carriers stationed on the East Coast. In order to provide this emergency docking location, the Navy requested funding in the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget for Channel Dredging at Naval Station Mayport.

Right now, the channel to Naval Station Mayport is dredged to 42 feet plus a 2 foot overdraft. For a full loaded nuclear aircraft carrier to pull into Mayport without tide restrictions, the channel must be dredged to 50 feet plus a 2 foot overdraft.

I was pleased to speak with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates earlier this year and he expressed his commitment to make the Mayport Naval Station a viable option for all naval ships in the event of emergency.

This provision to allow the dredging to continue represents a huge victory not only for the First Coast community, but also for the brave men and women of the U.S. Navy, whose vulnerability to attack is decreased by avoiding consolidation of carriers in any single location. The attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 highlighted the danger associated with docking large naval fleets in only one location. I am thrilled that the Department of Defense has decided to take advantage of the Jacksonville port in order to increase the safety of our men and women in uniform.

This is about national security and ensuring we provide our Navy leaders with operational flexibility they need. Our aircraft carriers are too valuable of assets not to provide a back-up docking location.

I am pleased at the support of the entire Florida delegation for working in a bipartisan matter to support the men and women of our military who, every day and every night, protect the freedoms we hold so dear. Congress determined the mission and it is up to us to make sure our soldiers have the proper resources to carry out that mission.

I support this provision and the entire bill and urge my colleagues to support this bill as well.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source