A group of 36 House lawmakers have urged appropriators not to cut a proposed hike in the number of new Navy fast-attack submarines as part of ongoing annual budget talks.
The bipartisan group wants the full $5.9 billion in funding that would allow the Navy to buy up to 13 Virginia-class subs to be part of any final 2018 budget compromise, according to a letter sent to the House Appropriations defense subcommittee. That is $698 million more than what President Trump requested and an increase of three submarines.
The letter was released this week by three members of the Armed Services Committee — who each represent districts around sub-building shipyards— as Congress continues to wrangle over a deal to fund the military and rest of the federal government after Jan. 19, when the current stopgap measure expires.
“It is vital that Congress send a clear signal of support to our fleet commanders and our industrial base by ensuring that the final funding package provides as robust an investment possible in our undersea fleet,” the lawmakers wrote to Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, and Rep. Peter Visclosky, D-Ind., the chairwoman and ranking member of the appropriations subcommittee.
The hike in Virginia-class submarines has already become law because it was included in the $700 billion National Defense Authorization Act signed by Trump last month.
But the defense purchases in the legislation must still be funded by an appropriations omnibus bill that has yet to materialize in Congress.
White House officials and the Big Four congressional leaders met Wednesday evening about raising annual caps on defense and nondefense spending. Despite some optimism, no deal was reached and much of the NDAA remains in limbo.
The next-generation Virginia-class submarines are used to hunt enemy ships and submarines as well as attack coastal targets and deliver special operations forces.
“Fast-attack submarines remain one of the most effective and sought after tools in our nation’s arsenal,” lawmakers wrote in their Dec. 21 letter.
The subs are built by General Dynamics in Groton, Conn., and by Huntington Ingalls at Newport News, Va. The letter to appropriators was signed and released by Reps. Joe Courtney, D-Conn.; Jim Langevin, D-R.I.; and Rob Wittman, R-Va.
They warned that the Navy eventually wants a fleet of 66 submarines and, under the president’s budget request to keep building two per year, it would not meet that goal until 2048. The fleet could also reach a low point of 41 as older subs are retired.
