Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Marco Rubio (R-FL) delivered opening remarks and questioned witnesses at a hearing on countering China’s influence in the United States. Watch Rubio’s opening remarks here as well as Part I and Part II of...
News
Latest News
Rubio-led Resolution to Raise Awareness for Spinal Cord Injuries Passes Senate
Approximately 302,000 Americans live with spinal cord injuries. To help these people achieve a better quality of life, there is a need to increase education and invest in research. U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) successfully led a bipartisan...
Rubio, Warnock Reintroduce Protecting Sensitive Personal Data Act
Foreign investment is one of the legal means that adversaries, like China, can use to collect Americans’ data, exasperating both privacy and national security risks. To counter this, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) reintroduced the...
ICYMI: Rubio Joins Special Report
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined Special Report with Bret Baier to discuss the impending government shutdown, the possibility of a Saudi-Israeli normalization deal, and the indictment of Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ). See below for highlights and watch the full...
Rubio on DHS’ Continued Minimal Steps to Implement UFLPA
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced three additions to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List. These are the first additions by the Biden Administration since June. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), author of the bipartisan...
ICYMI: Rubio: Congress Should Think Before It Regulates AI
Congress should think before it regulates AI U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) September 26, 2023 Washington Times To prevent next-generation computer programs from wreaking havoc on American society, [some members of Congress want] to enact comprehensive regulation at...
Rubio, Nelson Urge Trump to Bring Nuclear Aircraft Carrier to Mayport
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) today urged President Trump to “include funding in the Fiscal Year 2019 Presidential Budget to support a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CVN) at Naval Station Mayport.” Last March, the entire Florida delegation reaffirmed its commitment on holding the Department of Defense accountable in fulfilling its own recommendation to strategically disperse nuclear aircraft carriers throughout the nation.
The full text of the letter is below:
Dear President Trump:
We urge you to include funding in the Fiscal Year 2019 Presidential Budget to support a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CVN) at Naval Station Mayport. The security, availability, and redundancy of our aircraft carrier fleet is critical to our national security in light of the increased global security threats.
The U.S. Navy has a long history of homeporting aircraft at least one aircraft carrier at Naval Station Mayport. Since the 2007 decommissioning of the conventionally powered U.S.S. John F. Kennedy, no aircraft carrier has been homeported at Mayport. In 2009, the US Navy officially announced its decision to homeport a CVN at Mayport, and the DOD’s 2010 Quadrennial Defense review supported the Navy’s decision. Then Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead testified, “a catastrophic event…has the potential to severely limit East Coast Carrier operations,” as justification for its inclusion in the DOD’s 2010 Quadrennial Defense review and the US Navy Fiscal Year 2011 budget. Despite the fact that the Navy has conducted a multi-year review process for building the appropriate facilities at Mayport for a CVN, and has carefully weighed the strategic, operational, and environmental consequences, to date, no action has been taken by the DOD or Navy to mitigate this risk.
Naval Station Mayport is an ideal location because it offers a strategic and operational value that enhances our national security posture. We strongly recommend you fund the necessary improvements at Naval Station Mayport to include construction of nuclear propulsion maintenance facilities and a parking structure in your FY19 Presidential Budget.
Strategic dispersal of our capital ships is a long held Navy requirement and only prudent considering the cost and strategic value to our national defense. The urgency of dispersing our East Coast fleet should not be underestimated. We appreciate your attention to this important matter and look forward to working with you to ensure the DOD’s budget in Fiscal Year 2019 reflects this urgency.