Senator Webb: Quadrennial Defense Review "Completely Contradicts Its Own Fiscal and Strategic Logic"
- "Take the billion dollars that would be spent on an unnecessary carrier homeport in Florida and build two more ships"

From the Office of Senator Webb

February 11, 2010

Contact: Jessica Smith - 202-731-5096

WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) issued the following statement concerning the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review. Webb serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee and is a former Secretary of the Navy.

"I and other members of the Virginia delegation appreciate that after two months of requests, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy met with us last week regarding the findings of the Quadrennial Defense Reviews (QDR). At the conclusion of this meeting, I was deeply disappointed in the clear contradictions contained in this review. On the one hand the review calls for a billion dollars to be spent in building a 'redundant' facility that would transfer a nuclear powered aircraft carrier to Mayport, Florida. On the other, DOD and the Navy claim they must continue to grow the size of the Navy from its current level of 287 ships to a minimum of 313 combatants.

"Having spent five years in the Pentagon, including for years as assistant secretary of defense and Secretary of the Navy, I must emphasize that the QDR is a planning document, without the force of law. Clearly, the realities of our economy, our strategic necessities, and the limitations that will be placed on the DOD budget make it very unlikely that the Navy could spend a billion dollars on a 'nice to have' nuclear facility in Mayport, which Secretary Flournoy and others actually categorize as 'redundant,' and also rebuild the Navy to a minimum of 313 combatants, a goal that I strongly support. Instead of putting this billion dollars into a redundant facility, the Navy should put it into building two more ships.

"Many strategic realities face our Navy, our Department of Defense, and our country. The size of the fleet is a strategic concern. Procuring the right sort of weapon systems, aircraft and technology is a vital strategic concern. The serious backlog in ship repair and maintenance is a strategic concern. And every one of these concerns affects the ability of our Navy to do its job today and in the immediate future.

"As long as these strategic necessities remain unfilled, and particularly until our ship building program is on a clear trajectory that will take the Navy back to 313 ships, I will oppose any expenditure toward a nuclear upgrade in Mayport, Florida."

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