Following is the text of the letter:
Dear Mr. President: I am writing to urge you to propose an increase in the Defense Department's topline fiscal year 2007 budget to adequately meet the many ongoing needs of our military, particularly the need for additional shipbuilding funding. I am deeply concerned with the decreasing size of the United States Navy, and believe that the funding allocated to shipbuilding has not been adequate to sustain the numbers of ships necessary to meet future national security requirements. The fleet of the U.S. Navy has dropped from 594 ships in 1987 to 281 ships today—the smallest Navy in our nation''s history since the First World War. For the last 12 years, we have been ordering an average of just six new ships a year. This is the lowest rate of naval ship production since 1932. If continued, our Navy soon will shrink to a fleet of 180 ships. The Navy's fiscal year 2006 shipbuilding plan only calls for the construction of four new ships—two fewer than the Navy planned last year and far short of what is required to preserve today's fleet in the long-term. Budget constraints led to the drastic reduction in the acquisition and funding for DD(X) destroyers in December 2004. All of the Congressional defense committees have attempted to help the Navy's shipbuilding program by adding funding for the next fiscal year and by approving alternative funding policies, but these efforts alone are not sufficient. The budget requests submitted to Congress for the shipbuilding and conversion account for the last five years have averaged just over $9.5 billion a year, with only $8.7 billion in the fiscal year 2006 budget request. During an April 12th Seapower Subcommittee hearing, Admiral Clark, the former Chief of Naval Operations, testified that, "The low rates of procurement, combined with the year-to-year instability and lack of predictability in funding, are profound threats to our shipbuilding industry. In the shipbuilding world, they want and need long-term stability. They need this. In the design area, they need to be designing new platforms. We''re at a watershed period in our history." He went on to say that the 325 number, as presented in the Navy's recent 30-year interim report on shipbuilding as the high range number, is "my 375-ship Navy with new concepts applied to it, and that''s where I''d love to be. Now, I believe that it will take $14 billion or $15 billion over time to do that." The effectiveness of our Navy, however, relies upon the continued enhancement of the fleet's strength and size. The Senate Armed Services Committee, in its report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006, stated: "The committee believes that the shipbuilding budget must be reviewed by the administration as a matter of utmost urgency," and that "the President consider establishing a special shipbuilding fund, which would be funded apart from the normal give and take within the Department of Defense budget process." I am requesting that your fiscal year 2007 budget allocate the amount of funding necessary for shipbuilding and conversion, budgeted without prejudice to other procurement needs in the DoD budget, even if this requires an increase in the topline. Consistent funding at this level will enable Congress, the Navy, and the shipbuilding industrial base to plan for the future and implement acquisition and production reforms to lower the cost of shipbuilding. The additional funding and efficiencies will sustain the number of ships at or around the minimum 300-ship level. We must not jeopardize our country's ability to counter current and future threats to our national security, particularly at a time when we face critical defense and humanitarian challenges around the world. While it is crucial that the federal government be fiscally responsible in this time of escalating deficits, it is essential that we provide robust resources to our men and women in harm''s way as part of our sacred obligation to them and to their families. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I look forward to continuing my work to strengthen our fleet and all branches of our military. I appreciate your consideration of this important request. ###