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“It has been 13 long years since ESEA has been rewritten, and I am proud to support this bipartisan effort to reform and update this law,” Courtney said. “The world has changed dramatically since No Child Left Behind was passed, and the needs of our children, our educators, and our workforce have evolved significantly in this time. I am particularly pleased that measure will upgrade our efforts to align K-12 education with the in-demand skills in science, technology engineering and math that is needed to keep pace with the needs of our country. This agreement also meets the needs of states, communities and educators in providing new and more flexible accountability systems. Bipartisan passage of this agreement reflects months – and years – of hard work dating back to my first days in Congress, and I am pleased to support it.”

As we know all too well on this subcommittee, we face a compounding series of challenges in achieving the fleet needed to support the needs of our nation. While the number of ships deployed globally has remained constant at about 100 for much of the last two decades, the number of ships in the fleet has shrunk by 20 percent during that same period - from 333 in 1998 to 272 today.

As we look ahead to the difficult fiscal picture we face in the coming years, it is going to be more important than ever that we utilize every tool available to us to ensure that we build the fleet we need. This is no time for business as usual, and we must consider every option to provide the resources stability and support needed to make critical investments in our future fleet.

“Each day, more than 12,500 bulk milk trucks pick up milk at farms across the country and move it to over 2,000 processing plants. The transportation of milk is an issue that affects businesses and consumers in every region and in every state,” the representatives wrote. “We urge you to support language that was included in the House-passed version of H.R. 22, the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy (DRIVE) Act, that would classify milk as a non-divisible load. This provision would allow states to issue special permits to bulk milk trucks, giving them more flexibility to ensure that milk is delivered in a timely manner and in compliance with federal and state food safety and security standards.”

“Americans want to know -- and deserve to know -- that their government is rigorously and thoroughly reviewing all refugee candidates to ensure no one is taking advantage of our nation’s generosity to commit violence here,” Courtney said. “The process in place today to screen any refugee seeking to enter the United States is already extensive, featuring more than a dozen layers of review by our security and intelligence agencies and additional screening for those arriving from Syria. The heightened awareness of the threat posed by ISIL gives Congress the opportunity to build on this effective screening process already in place to address the legitimate concerns that many in eastern Connecticut, and around the country, feel today. In my view, the measure I supported today will build on that process while ensuring that our nation continues to honor our values by welcoming those fleeing the terror inflicted on innocent people by ISIL."

“The new CSBA report released today underscores what we already see in the fleet today – continued high operating tempos and significant demands for Navy and Marine Corps presence are increasingly straining the fleet. And recent headlines – including the deployment of the USS Lassen to the South China Sea or the departure of the TRUMAN Strike Group for the Middle East for operations against ISIL – demonstrate that this demand will not decrease any time soon.”