Defense & National Security

Good afternoon. The combined Seapower and Projections Forces subcommittee and Readiness subcommittee meet today to hear from the United States Transportation Command and the Maritime Administration on the state of the military's ability to move our forces in peacetime and times of potential conflict.

Thank you Mr. Chairman and welcome Ranking Member Lamborn. I look forward to continuing the close and ongoing work between the Readiness and Seapower subcommittees that we have conducted over the past year and a half on the issues before us today. To new members of the subcommittees, today's hearing is the fourth in a series of engagements our subcommittees have jointly held since a series of tragedies at sea claimed the lives of seventeen sailors in 2017, a number that far surpassed the number of U.S. casualties in Iraq and Syria that year.

NORWICH, CT – Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, released the following statement signaling support for upcoming legislation that would disapprove of President Trump's recently announced national emergency declaration:

NORWICH, CT – Today, Representative Joe Courtney (CT-02), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement on President Trump's declaration of a national emergency and plans to divert critical military construction funding to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

"I strongly oppose President's announcement that he will misuse emergency powers to divert military construction funding to pay for a border wall. Simply stated, this is not a proper use of the President's authority and will harm rather than strengthen our national security.