I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 700 

To increase the number of operational aircraft carriers of the Navy, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 22, 2019 

Mr. CONAWAY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To increase the number of operational aircraft carriers of 

the Navy, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘12 Carrier Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) The aircraft carrier can fulfill the Navy’s 

8 core missions of forward presence, sea control, en9 suring safe sea lanes, and power projection as well 


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1 as providing flexibility and versatility to execute a 

2 wide range of additional missions. 

3 (2) Forward airpower is integral to the security 

4 and joint forces operations of the United States. 

5 Carriers play a central role in delivering forward air6 power from sovereign territory of the United States 

7 in both permissive and nonpermissive environments. 

8 (3) Aircraft carriers provide our Nation the 

9 ability to rapidly and decisively respond to national 

10 threats, as well as conducting worldwide, on-station 

11 diplomacy and providing deterrence against threats 

12 to the United States allies, partners, and friends. 

13 (4) Since the end of the cold war, aircraft car14 rier deployments have increased while the aircraft 

15 carrier force structure has declined. 

16 (5) Considering the increased array of complex 

17 threats across the globe, the Navy aircraft carrier is 

18 operating at maximum capacity, increasing deploy19 ment lengths and decreasing maintenance periods in 

20 order to meet operational requirements. 

21 (6) To meet global peacetime and wartime re22 quirements, the Navy has indicated a requirement to 

23 maintain two aircraft carriers deployed overseas and 

24 have three additional aircraft carriers capable of de25 ploying within 90 days. However, the Navy has indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Feb 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H700.IH H700

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1 cated that the existing aircraft carrier force struc2 ture cannot support these military requirements. 

3 (7) Despite the requirement to maintain an air4 craft carrier strike group in both the United States 

5 Central Command and United States Pacific Com6 mand, the Navy has been unable to generate suffi7 cient capacity to support our combatant com8 manders and has developed significant carrier gaps 

9 in these critical areas. 

10 (8) Because of continuing use of a diminished 

11 aircraft carrier force structure, extensive mainte12 nance availabilities result which typically exceed pro13 gram costs and increase time in shipyards. These ex14 pansive maintenance availabilities exacerbate exist15 ing carrier gaps. 

16 (9) Because of maintenance overhaul exten17 sions, the Navy is truncating basic aircraft carrier 

18 training to expedite the deployment of available air19 craft carriers. Limiting aircraft carrier training de20 creases operational capabilities and increases sailor 

21 risk. 

22 (10) The Navy has adopted a two-phase acqui23 sition strategy for the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy 

24 (CVN–79), an action that will delay the introduction 


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1 of this aircraft carrier by up to two years, exacer2 bating existing carrier gaps. 

3 (11) Developing an alternative design to the 

4 Ford-class aircraft carrier is not cost beneficial. A 

5 smaller design is projected to incur significant de6 sign and engineering cost while significantly reduc7 ing magazine size, carrier air wing size, sortie rate, 

8 and on-station effectiveness among other vital fac9 tors when compared to the Ford class. Furthermore, 

10 a new design will delay the introduction of future 

11 aircraft carriers, exacerbating existing carrier gaps 

12 and threatening the national security of the United 

13 States. 

14 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN NUMBER OF OPERATIONAL AIRCRAFT 

15 CARRIERS OF THE NAVY. 

16 (a) INCREASE.—Section 8062(b) of title 10, United 

17 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘11 operational air18 craft carriers’’ and inserting ‘‘12 operational aircraft car19 riers’’. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

21 subsection (a) shall take effect on September 30, 2023. 

Æ 


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