Defense Chairman Tester Tours Naval and Industrial Installations, Receives Briefings on Defense Research and National Security Technology

Tour included naval shipyards, Navy Undersea Warfare Center, and MIT Lincoln Laboratories; Chairman Tester was joined by Secretary of the Navy, Senate Armed Services Chairman, four Senate colleagues, and one Congressman

As part of his responsibilities as Chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense (SAC-D), U.S. Senator Jon Tester met with top military officials, including the Secretary of the Navy, and visited naval installations in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, where he toured naval shipyards, received updates on technologies being developed to counter global threats, and inspected America’s naval defense readiness.

“America’s Navy is the strongest in the world, that’s a fact, and our maritime forces play a critical role in our ensuring our nation’s defense and security,” said Chairman Tester. “It was an honor to tour these state-of-the-art naval installations across the Northeast as well as meet with the Navy Secretary to get real-time information about what Congress can do to support the Navy’s mission. As Chairman of the Defense Subcommittee, I am fully committed to ensuring that these folks have the very best resources to do their jobs, and I’m going to continue to fight to ensure Congress passes an appropriations package that meets their needs to protect this country.”

An outline of Chairman Tester’s trip is below:

• On Friday, January 7, Tester was joined by Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) for a tour of Bath Iron Works (BIW) in Bath, Maine and a meeting with BIW senior leadership to discuss critical shipbuilding programs. Tester and King then traveled to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine where he was joined by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) for an inspection of the yard, its reactor servicing facility, and its dry dock. He also met with the Shipyard commander and senior leadership for a discussion on the facility’s role in America’s naval preparedness. Afterward, Tester traveled to Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts to tour the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, where he met with senior staff for an overview of the lab’s work and inspected its 3D Laser Radar and Space Mission technology as well as its microelectronics laboratory.
• On Saturday, January 8, Tester was joined by Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro and Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed (D-R.I.) for an visit to the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, Rhode Island. At the Center, Tester met with the leadership and reviewed undersea technologies, weapons, and logistical capabilities associated with undersea warfare. Tester was then joined by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) for a tour of the Electric Boat submarine construction facilities in Quonset Point, RI and Groton, CT, including portions of the Virginia and Columbia class submarines under construction.

Tester took the gavel of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee in January. The Subcommitee is responsible for providing more than $720 billion annually to the Department of Defense and related agencies. This is more than 95 percent of the military’s yearly budget, and includes matters ranging from pay and benefits for millions of service members and civilians to the development of advanced technologies and next-generation weapons. The Subcommittee also oversees funding for nearly all major U.S. intelligence agencies.

You can find photos from Chairman Tester’s trip HERE.