{"id":51429,"date":"2024-02-15T17:31:58","date_gmt":"2024-02-15T17:31:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2024\/02\/15\/del-toro-asks-navy-contractors-to-consider-taxpayers-over-shareholders\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:57:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:57:18","slug":"del-toro-asks-navy-contractors-to-consider-taxpayers-over-shareholders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/industry\/2024\/02\/15\/del-toro-asks-navy-contractors-to-consider-taxpayers-over-shareholders\/","title":{"rendered":"Del Toro asks Navy contractors to consider taxpayers over shareholders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SAN DIEGO \u2014 U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro has a message for government contractors: Ask not what you can do for your shareholders, ask what you can do for your country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the West naval conference in San Diego on Feb. 15, Del Toro, a former businessman, said that in a time of war abroad and political uncertainty at home<\/a>, the U.S. needs companies to deliver weapons, warships, aircraft and more on time, on budget and without excuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t be asking the American taxpayer to make even greater public investments while you continue, in some cases, to goose your stock prices through stock buybacks, deferring promised capital investments, and other accounting maneuvers that, to some, seem to prioritize stock prices that drive executive compensation rather than making the needed, fundamental investments in the industrial base, in your own companies, at a time when our nation needs us to be at all-ahead flank,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThrough initiatives like the Taxpayer Advocacy Project, I have directed our contract community and the Office of General Counsel to ensure that we will leverage all legal means at our disposal to ensure that the American people are also getting what they paid for<\/a>,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\t