What do four U.S. representatives from three states and two coasts — not to mention two political parties — have in common? We represent the districts that are home to nine of the Navy’s 10 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers: five in Virginia, two in California and two in Washington.

We also support the law requiring a minimum of 11 carriers in the fleet.

With the inactivation of the legendary USS Enterprise (CVN 65) after more than 50 years of service, the carrier fleet has temporarily dipped to 10. (The 10th carrier is forward-deployed to Yokosuka, Japan.) That’s one less than the 11 mandated by law.

The good news is that the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), the first in a new class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, will be christened on Nov. 9 and will join the fleet in 2016, re-establishing the 11-carrier fleet. But as the Pentagon grapples with a more constrained budget, some have proposed making cuts to the Nimitz-class carrier fleet and retiring the ships earlier.

These proposals should not move forward, and we are committed to helping the Pentagon find other ways to manage lower budgets than by cutting into the carrier fleet. While these proposals might save money in the near term, the potential for long-term damage to our national security is incalculable.