On Tuesday, Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine asked the chair and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense to protect funding for the Carrier Replacement Program during the Fiscal Year 2017 appropriations process.

If a defense bill is not passed—which is probable—the Department of Defense will be funded temporarily via a Continuing Resolution. If that happens, the advance procurement funding for the program will continue at Fiscal Year 2016 levels. That reduction would cause delays in shipbuilding, jeopardize national security and threaten jobs in Hampton Roads. The senators are requesting that legislation for the CR include an exception for the Navy to move forward with the FY 2017 funding levels requested by President Obama.

The senators wrote: “The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier fleet is already stretched thin, and as a result, the Navy has required a waiver to have one fewer operational carrier than the 11 required by Congress. The current fleet of ten nuclear-powered aircraft carriers is being utilized at unprecedented rates because of a complex security environment and a delayed procurement of additional ships. This over-utilization is resulting in extended deployments, deferred maintenance, reduced operational availability, increased ownership costs and potentially shortened life spans for these strategic assets.”