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Washington, D.C., Jun 16 -

Congressman J. Randy Forbes (VA-04) announced today that the House Armed Services Committee has affirmatively approved H. Res. 477, a resolution of inquiry to direct the Secretary of Defense to produce the annual shipbuilding plan it is required to submit to Congress by law.  The resolution was successfully adopted during Committee consideration of the annual defense policy bill and will require that the Secretary of the Navy produce a 30-year shipbuilding plan by September 15 of this year.

“No critical components of America's national security landscape should be operating without a plan,” Forbes said. “The committee's bipartisan adoption of this measure signals the strategic importance of our nation’s naval fleet and the committee’s firm commitment to national security oversight.  At a time when the President's budget calls for a slowing in the rate of Naval growth, this long range shipbuilding plan will be critical in making assessments of our national security readiness.”

Forbes introduced the resolution of inquiry in response to the testimony of Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead before the House Armed Services Committee on May 14 of this year, in which he stated that the Navy would not submit a congressionally-mandated 30-year shipbuilding report with its fiscal year 2010 budget request as it was required to do by law. Failure to submit the annual plan is unprecedented. 

Concerns about the Navy's ability to afford its long-range shipbuilding plan, combined with fluctuating year-to-year changes in Navy shipbuilding objectives and significant cost growth led to strong concerns among some Members about the status of Navy shipbuilding and the potential future size and capabilities of the fleet.

Section 231 of Title 10 of the US Code requires the Secretary of Defense to submit an annual shipbuilding plan that details the long-term shipbuilding strategy of the Department of Defense as part of each year’s budget request.  Congress first mandated an annual shipbuilding plan in 2003 as part of the FY2004 budget. 

As part of today’s proceedings, the Committee also incorporated H. Res 478, legislation also introduced by Forbes which would require the Department of Defense to transmit the comparable plan for military aircraft.

Congressman Forbes is Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee. For more information on his work on defense issues, visit http://forbes.house.gov/issues/defense.htm.