 On 17 March 2006, the Secretary of the Navy exercised his authority to strike Iowa and Wisconsin from the NVR, which cleared the way for both ships to be donated for use as museums; however, the United States Congress remains "deeply concerned" over the loss of naval surface gunfire support that the battleships provided, and has noted that "... navy efforts to improve upon, much less replace, this capability have been highly problematic." Partially as a consequence, Congress passed Pub.L. 109 – 163, the National Defense Authorization Act 2006, requiring that the battleships be kept and maintained in a state of readiness should they ever be needed again. Congress had ordered that the following measures be implemented to ensure that, if need be, Wisconsin could be returned to active duty:
