WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today released the following statement in response to President Biden’s recently released 30-year shipbuilding plan: 

“President Biden’s shipbuilding plan is a blueprint for American weakness. For years, our Navy fleet has suffered from underinvestment and a lack of planning to meet our nation’s 355-ship requirement. President Biden’s plan would worsen this trend by ending the production of critical ships early, without a plan to replace their capabilities. 

“I have fought to build a 21^st-century Navy to help America reclaim its place as the world’s leading seapower. If the President will not help us get there, Congress must step in and do the job ourselves. We cannot afford to surrender naval superiority to our adversaries.”

Read more about President Biden’s shipbuilding plan here. Read more about Wicker’s recent work on defense issues here. Read Wicker’s op-ed on shipbuilding from earlier this year here.