Courtney praises $3.4B presidential request to boost submarine production

Oct. 20—U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, on Friday lauded President Joe Biden's $3.4 billion funding request aimed at strengthening the U.S. Navy's submarine fleet and industrial base.

Courtney said the supplemental request, part of a larger national security funding package to support Ukraine, Israel, the U.S. border and the Indo-Pacific region, will ensure fleet requirements are met.

The Supplemental National Security Request includes nearly $2.5 billion to increase Submarine Industrial Base production rates and another $840 million for improvements to the Navy's public shipyards.

Courtney said $98 million of the funding will also smooth the way for the AUKUS agreement, a pact among Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States calling for the delivery of U.S.-built submarines to Australia, starting in the 2030s.

"I also applaud President Biden's inclusion of significant resources to bolster our national security at the border, support our allies Ukraine and Israel as they respond to horrific assaults on their nations, and address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza to help meet civilians' basic needs," Courtney said in a news release.

Courtney, ranking member of the House's Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, said the latest request raises the amount committed to submarine force augmentation since 2017 to $8.7 billion through fiscal year 2028.

In a nod to the House of Representative Republican infighting that's left that body without a speaker, Courtney added he and his Democratic colleagues are prepared to seek a bipartisan solution to ensure "urgent" federal funding requests move forward.