{"id":66260,"date":"2023-12-14T14:57:29","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T14:57:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2023\/12\/14\/del-toros-case-for-funding-the-us-navy-and-marine-corps\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:52:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:52:04","slug":"del-toros-case-for-funding-the-us-navy-and-marine-corps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/opinion\/2023\/12\/14\/del-toros-case-for-funding-the-us-navy-and-marine-corps\/","title":{"rendered":"Del Toro\u2019s case for funding the US Navy and Marine Corps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Since our founding, the United States of America has always been a maritime nation. For hundreds of years, the sea has proved a vital artery of American prosperity, fueling our economic engine by allowing us to engage in commerce on a global scale. We rely on our world\u2019s oceans for food, for natural resources, for the transportation of goods and people, and more recently to carry vast amounts of data via undersea cables<\/a>. To maintain our nation\u2019s unrestricted access to sea, and to guarantee the free flow of maritime commerce for ourselves, our allies and our international partners, our nation requires a capable, agile, and lethal Navy and Marine Corps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further congressional inaction puts the Department of the Navy \u2014 and our nation\u2019s unrestricted access \u2014 under a real and substantial threat<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I became the 78th secretary of the Navy over two years ago, I made a commitment to the American people that I would passionately advocate for and strenuously defend our nation\u2019s naval services. That includes communicating our nation\u2019s requirement for a well-funded Navy and Marine Corps to Congress, as well as the impacts of failing to pass our budget in a timely manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For fiscal 2024, President Joe Biden requested a 4.5% increase in funding<\/a> for the Department of the Navy, providing us with nearly $255 billion to ensure our Navy and Marine Corps are properly manned, trained and equipped<\/a>. This budget provides the right mix of personnel, platforms and capabilities to ensure freedom of the seas, deter our adversaries and, if necessary, be victorious in combat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, as we enter the third month of the new fiscal year, Congress has yet to pass the Department of Defense\u2019s annual budget<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Congress should be commended for working in a bipartisan manner to thus far avoid a painful and disastrous government shutdown, the Department of the Navy is now working under a cloud of uncertainty due to the temporary nature of our appropriations. Holding our funding at prior year levels \u2014 as this temporary measure does \u2014 prevents us from adequately responding to the pacing challenge of the People\u2019s Republic of China<\/a>, supporting our Ukrainian partners<\/a> in their conflict with Russia to restore their national and territorial sovereignty, or dealing<\/a> with the crises<\/a> in the Middle East<\/a>, where the U.S. Navy destroyers Carney and Thomas Hudner recently shot down several missiles and drones launched by Iranian-aligned groups<\/a> in Yemen, and where the U.S. Navy destroyer Mason was called upon to protect merchant traffic from piracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\t