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After Hearings, Lawmakers Call Truman Carrier Retirement Plan ‘Ridiculous’ CAPITOL HILL – Lawmakers told industry representatives today that, if it wasn’t already clear from their hearings with Pentagon and Navy leadership this week, they had no intention of letting the Defense Department shed an aircraft carrier instead of refuel it. “I think that’s’ a ridiculous idea,” Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), a retired Navy commander and current representative of the district that includes Naval Station Norfolk, said at the Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition’s annual Capitol Hill breakfast and lobbying day. “That math doesn’t work,” said Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), the...

HASC Leaders Unconvinced by Pentagon’s Plan to Cut Aircraft Carrier By: Megan Eckstein USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) on Sept 22, 2018. US Navy Photo This post has been updated to include comments from a second March 26 hearing, which took place in the HASC seapower and projection forces subcommittee. The Defense Department’s first crack at convincing the House Armed Services Committee to retire an aircraft carrier early to support the development of future weapons systems and unmanned platforms was not well received. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Corps Gen....

More than half of all House Democrats will ask House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to reject proposals to tax expensive health insurance policies, as part of health legislation aimed at covering the uninsured and reining in health-care costs. The letter to Pelosi was signed by 154 House Democrats, led by Rep. Joe Courtney of Connecticut and senior members of the House Ways and Means Committee. The lawmakers plan to discuss their opposition to the tax at a press conference Wednesday, after delivering the letter to Pelosi. The tax on so-called Cadillac plans is a central feature of the health-care bill...

Connecticut Congressman Joe Courtney is wading into the debate over body armor for U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. The freshman congressman is calling for a congressional investigation into which systems provide the best protection. A spokesman says Courtney sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office to ask for an investigation of the body armor systems being issued by the military services and the Special Operations Command. The freshman congressman's letter cited recent NBC News reports suggesting Dragon Skin, a privately sold flexible body armor that some families have sought for their soldiers, may be better than Army-issued Interceptor...