IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 998 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States 

Navy’s total readiness remains in a perilous state due to high operational 

demands, increased deployment lengths, shortened training periods, and 

deferred maintenance all while the Navy is asked to ‘‘do more with 

less’’ as financial support for critical areas waned in the era of sequestration and without consistent Congressional funding. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 16, 2018 

Mr. WITTMAN (for himself, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. GALLAGHER, 

Ms. CHENEY, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. BYRNE, and Ms. MCSALLY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Armed Services 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the United States Navy’s total readiness remains in a 

perilous state due to high operational demands, increased 

deployment lengths, shortened training periods, and deferred maintenance all while the Navy is asked to ‘‘do 

more with less’’ as financial support for critical areas 

waned in the era of sequestration and without consistent 

Congressional funding. 

Whereas Navy readiness could further deteriorate in areas 

such as training, ship construction, ship repair, and 


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•HRES 998 IH 

deployability if Congress does not provide stable funding 

for the Department of Defense; 

Whereas the USS Fitzgerald, a United States Navy destroyer, collided with a container ship while transiting 

through Sagami Bay near Japan on June 17, 2017, resulting in the deaths of seven sailors and hundreds of 

millions of dollars in damage; 

Whereas the United States Navy’s investigation of the USS 

Fitzgerald collision concluded that the event was ‘‘avoidable’’ and that numerous failures included failure to plan 

for safety, failure to adhere to sound navigation practice, 

failure to execute basic watch standing practices, failure 

to properly use available navigation tools, and failure to 

respond deliberately and effectively when in extremis; 

Whereas the USS John S. McCain, a United States Navy destroyer, collided with an oil tanker while transiting 

through the Straits of Singapore on August 21, 2017, resulting in the deaths of 10 sailors and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage; 

Whereas the United States Navy’s investigation of the USS 

John S. McCain collision concluded that the crew suffered from a ‘‘lack of preparation, ineffective command 

and control, and deficiencies in training and preparations 

for navigation’’; 

Whereas the Navy the Nation Needs, the United States 

Navy’s plan for building and sustaining a lethal, resilient 

force through balanced investments across readiness, capability, and capacity, explicitly states a need for 355 

Battle Force ships, yet the Navy’s 30-year shipbuilding 

plan peaks at only 342 Battle Force ships in 2039 before 

a predicted decline; 


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•HRES 998 IH 

Whereas an efficient and supported industrial base will be 

vital to building and maintaining a 355 ship Navy; 

Whereas over the previous 5 decades, 14 defense-related newconstruction shipyards have closed, 3 have left the defense industry, and only 1 new shipyard has opened; 

Whereas stable and predictable funding allows for Navy leaders to properly forecast their missions and adhere to the 

Optimized Fleet Response Plan while also enabling industry partners to prepare for ship repair work at the most 

competitive prices to the United States Government; 

Whereas China’s shipbuilding industry, according to a Naval 

War College professor, is poised to make the People’s 

Liberation Army Navy the world’s second largest navy by 

2020, and, if current trends continue, a combat fleet that 

in overall order of battle is quantitatively on par with 

that of the United States Navy by 2030; 

Whereas China continues to develop forward operating bases 

on manmade islands in the South China Sea and, by 

doing so, consolidate its control over the strategic corridor between the Indian and Pacific Oceans through 

which 1⁄3 of global maritime trade passes; and 

Whereas Russia’s shipbuilding industry’s focus on undersea 

warfare has positioned the Russian Navy to add six modernized nuclear attack submarines to its naval inventory 

by 2023 and aggressively modernize its aging Oscar-class 

nuclear attack submarine fleet: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes the United States Navy’s need 

3 for congressional support to address readiness, 


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•HRES 998 IH 

1 training, and modernization challenges that threaten 

2 to weaken naval superiority; and 

3 (2) finds that failing to provide the United 

4 States Navy with stable, predictable funding nega5 tively affects its ability to project power around the 

6 world, reassure critical allies, and defeat adversaries 

7 when necessary. 

Æ 


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