Courtney Statement (as Delivered) at FY27 NDAA Full Committee Markup

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), Ranking Member of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Full Committee Markup of the FY27 National Defense Authorization Act.

FULL REMARKS AS DELIVERED

Thank you, Chairman Rogers, and I'm pleased to join my good friend, Chairman Kelly, to present our Subcommittee mark for FY 2027. The Subcommittee stayed true to its bipartisan tradition, incorporating input from Members on both sides of the aisle to ensure that we positioned our sea services and Air Force to achieve success.

Building off a strong shipbuilding budget request of 60 billion in the discretionary account, our mark authorizes 21 new vessels with authorities that will foster efficiency and cost effectiveness, specifically adopting multi-year procurement with fixed price contracts that will deliver savings for the government and the taxpayer, and certainty to our industrial base and workforce.

This year's mark provides multi-year procurement for up to 15 Arleigh Burke destroyers and for multiple John Lewis-class oilers, and for the E-2D advanced Hawkeye aircraft.

The Subcommittee also provided authority to use incremental funding for long lead items for the Virginia-class program, which will provide stability to the supply chain to offset the ever-present threat of CRs and shutdowns.

The bill initiates serial production of the Columbia-class ballistic submarine program, the number one priority of the Navy, authorizing $10 billion for procurement and $5 [billion] for advanced purchase of long lead items.

The bill also allocates $8 billion for procurement and $4 billion for advanced procurement of two Virginia-class submarines, including full funding for shipyard wage improvement that over the last three years have had a massive positive impact on labor contracts, shipyard recruitment and retention.

Since last year's markup, the Department released its AUKUS review for endorsing the agreement, and AUKUS got a boost coming out of last weekend's Shangri-La Dialogue, where the three defense ministers of the three countries announced joint development of payloads for undersea unmanned vessels. They also confirmed operation of UK and U.S. sub rotations in Western Australia remaining on track for 2027, which will provide all three navies with persistent, enhanced presence in the South Pacific. The agreement's progress in 2025 and 2026 reinforces the need to support the mark's investment in the Virginia program in order to deliver on our Pillar I commitments.

I would note there is not perfect unanimity in this in this mark, as we will hear later today, concerning the Administration's unvetted, premature request for funding of a new class of battleships, which is a vessel that our nation stopped building in 1944.

As retired four-star Admiral James Stavridis recently wrote, in today's battlespace of long-range missiles and advanced drones in the air and at sea, investing tens of billions of dollars in vulnerable large surface combatants with thousands of sailors on board, makes no sense. These funds would be far better spent on other agile Navy and Marine Corps platforms, both man and unmanned, that disperse and distribute lethality, a much more effective fleet in today's contested maritime arena.

I would also note the base text does not include the Marine Corps request for six Medium Landing Ships because of OMB's disruptive and ridiculous insistence on stranding this program to a reconciliation bill that may or may not ever materialize. The Marine Corps has testified time and time again to the need to build up our amphibious fleet, yet OMB made the decision to split DoD budget for the second year in a row, which usurps Congress' constitutional role over spending and creates chaos and uncertainty for the service branches and the industrial base who have been screaming out for procurement stability.

Mr. Chairman, I'm thankful for the diligent work of Chairman Kelly and the Subcommittee Members to reach this broadly bipartisan product. I want to give special thanks to our talented subcommittee staff, Jeanine Womble, Kyle Noyes, Kelly Goggin, and Abby Snyder, for their work in crafting this product that achieves the mission of the Seapower Subcommittee.

Thank you, and I yield back.

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