Debate will last 3 days.

In the House of Representatives of the United States

Representative Eric Smith, for himself and Mr. Troutman, Mr. Garwood, Mr. Thayner, Mr. Linde, Mr. Harper, Mr. Laverone, Mr. Littwin, and Mr. Carpenter offers

A Bill

To expand the United States Navy to ensure success in any mission.

I. Name

(A) This bill shall be named the `Naval Rebuilding Act of 2004'

II. Aircraft Carriers
(A) The department of the Navy shall maintain a minimum of 17 battle-ready aircraft carriers.
(B ) Each aircraft carrier shall be able to transport and deploy a minimum of 70 battle-ready aircraft.
(D) Each main battle carrier to be built for the US Navy will be nuclear powered.
� The United States Navy will deploy carriers to the Second (Atlantic), Third (Eastern Pacific), Fifth (Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean), Sixth (Mediterranean), and Seventh (Western Pacific) Fleet�s as the Department of Defense sees fit.

III. Other Ships of War
(A) In order to provide for adequate defense of capitol ships like the Carrier, the minimum standard battle group shall consist of:
1. 1 Capitol Ship, such as the Carrier
2. 1 Anti-Surface specializing vessel, such as the Ticonderoga (CG-47)
3. 1 Anti-Air specializing vessel, such as the Arleigh Burke (DDG-51)
4. 2 Anti-Submarine specializing vessels, such as the Spruance (DD-963) and the Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7)
5. 1 Nuclear Submarine, such as the Los Angeles (SSN-688) or the Sea Wolf (SSN-21) or the Virginia (SSN-774)
6. Indirect combat vessels, non-combat vessels, refueling tankers and support ships as the United States Navy deems necessary.
(B ) All aircraft carriers shall be assigned a battle group.

IV. New Construction
(A) The Department of Navy shall immediately on enactment of this law begin construction of all vessels needed to bring the navy up to the 17 carrier battle group level.
(B ) All parts and components in any naval vessel must be produced in America.
(C ) All raw materials used in a naval vessel must originate in the United States, with the exception of necessary materials that are not available in the US.
(D ) All labor used to produce US Naval vessels shall be from US Citizens.
(E) No contactor who maintains more than 20% of their operations in foreign nations may be used to construct any Naval Vessel.
(F) The contracts to build the ships necessary will be given to the best bidders.

V. Research Provisions for New Vessels
(A) The Department of the Navy shall be funded for the research of new vessels to begin replacing older specialized vessels, such as the Spruance (DD-963) and the Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7) and the Ticonderoga (CG-47) classes, within the next decade.
1. The US Navy shall begin construction of the specialized vessels after adequate research time and trial time to be determined by the US Navy.
2. Research shall also fund better fund close-in-weapons-systems (CIWS) research, and other missile-protection systems.

VI. Provisions for Construction of the Proposed Mackensen BBGN(X) Class
(A) The Department of the Navy shall also begin funding for building of a large missile platform to be placed in each fleet to provide for superior anti-surface, anti-air, and anti-missile role.
1. This vessel shall be designated a battleship.
2. This vessel shall also be designated a capitol ship and issued a partnership role as a battle group command vessel.
(B ) Upon completion of these vessels, a battleship will be placed in each of the five fleets.
(C ) The US Navy shall Complete construction of six of these vessels following the provisions in Section III.
1. The US Navy shall also assign a battle group with each battleship
(a) A battleship may be assigned to a carrier battle group in order to increase defense and strike platforms for the group.

This post has been edited by Rep. Schmidt on Nov 27 2004, 09:29 PM

Mr. Chairman,

How much would this cost? Who exactly would these forces be fighting? The Polish Navy? Unless a member of this committee can demonstrate a convincing argument for the need to spend tens of billions of dollars on warships I will be opposing this bill.

I yield.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Committee,

Will a member in favor of the act or a sponsor please address the questions at hand.

Mr. Chair,

The purpose of this bill to build up the navy is to provide us with a greater manuverability as we wage a global war on terror. A larger navy could provide us with quicker striking power and faster response to terrorist actions.

We could also use our navy to strike at Al-Qaeda sanctioned rebels in the Philippines or Indonesia or hit South American drug dealers. The navy could also blockade Iran or any other member of the Axis of Evil.

Our navy could even be used to protect our national security by patrolling the coastline and searching any ships that enter our waters.

As we wage a war on terror, I believe that all of our armed services need expansion and the navy certainly could use it as well.

I urge my fellow members of this committee to pass this legislation.

I yield.