S.Amdt. 2607

SA 2607. Mr. RUBIO submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 2282 submitted by Mr. Inhofe (for himself and Mr. McCain)
and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 5515, to authorize
appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for military activities of the
Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense
activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel
strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle B of title X, add the following:

SEC. 1018. INCREASE IN NUMBER OF OPERATIONAL AIRCRAFT
CARRIERS OF THE NAVY.

(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The aircraft carrier can fulfill the Navy's core
missions of forward presence, sea control, ensuring safe sea
lanes, and power projection as well as providing flexibility
and versatility to execute a wide range of additional
missions.
(2) Forward airpower is integral to the security and joint
forces operations of the United States. Carriers play a
central role in delivering forward airpower from sovereign
territory of the United States in both permissive and
nonpermissive environments.
(3) Aircraft carriers provide our Nation the ability to
rapidly and decisively respond to national threats, as well
as conducting worldwide, on-station diplomacy and providing
deterrence against threats to the United States allies,
partners, and friends.
(4) Since the end of the cold war, aircraft carrier
deployments have increased while the aircraft carrier force
structure has declined.
(5) Considering the increased array of complex threats
across the globe, the Navy aircraft carrier is operating at
maximum capacity, increasing deployment lengths and
decreasing maintenance periods in order to meet operational
requirements.
(6) To meet global peacetime and wartime requirements, the
Navy has indicated a requirement to maintain two aircraft
carriers deployed overseas and have three additional aircraft
carriers capable of deploying within 90 days. However, the
Navy has indicated that the existing aircraft carrier force
structure cannot support these military requirements.
(7) Despite the requirement to maintain an aircraft carrier
strike group in both the United States Central Command and
the United States Pacific Command, the Navy has been unable
to generate sufficient capacity to support combatant
commanders and has developed significant carrier gaps in
these critical areas.
(8) Because of the continuing use of a diminished aircraft
carrier force structure, extensive maintenance availabilities
result which typically exceed program costs and increase time
in shipyards. These expansive maintenance availabilities
exacerbate existing carrier gaps.
(9) Developing an alternative design to the Ford-class
aircraft carrier is not cost beneficial. A smaller design is
projected to incur significant design and engineering cost
while significantly reducing magazine size, carrier air wing
size, sortie rate, and on-station effectiveness, among other
vital factors, as compared to the Ford-class. Furthermore, a
new design will delay the introduction of future aircraft
carriers, exacerbating existing carrier gaps and threatening
the national security of the United States.
(10) The 2016 Navy Force Structure Assessment states ``A
minimum of 12 aircraft carriers are required to meet the
increased warfighting response requirements of the Defense
Planning Guidance Defeat/Deny force sizing direction.''.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the United States should expedite delivery of 12
aircraft carriers; and
(2) an aircraft carrier should be authorized every three
years.
(c) Increase in Number of Operational Aircraft Carriers of
the Navy.--
(1) Increase.--Section 5062(b) of title 10, United States
Code, is amended by striking ``11 operational aircraft
carriers'' and inserting ``12 operational aircraft
carriers''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1)
shall take effect on September 30, 2022.
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