Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) has teamed up with Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA) to introduce bipartisan legislation to boost domestic production of cargo vessels that support military operations.
Specifically, the Ready Reserve Force Modernization Accountability Act expands the number of vessels in the Ready Reserve Force (RRF), which can be rapidly deployed to move troops, military equipment, vehicles, ammunition, fuel, and supplies across oceans during a crisis.
The RRF currently maintains 51 ships, many of which are over 45 years old.
As such, Sen. Kelly's Ready Reserve Force Modernization Accountability Act demands progress on the new roll-on/roll-off vessel design that Congress initiated in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, a procurement strategy for the construction of 10 new ships and the subsequent phased payment program, and maintaining the transition without gaps between new ships being built and deployed.
"America's military is relying on decades-old ships to move troops, equipment, fuel, and supplies, and they're getting harder to maintain," said Sen. Kelly in his press release, adding, "his bill replaces these vessels before it becomes a crisis, prioritizing our national security and creating good-paying jobs."
Similarly, Sen. McCormick said, "Anyone who has served knows the importance of logistics and supply to the warfighter."
"If the United States cannot move its military equipment and supplies across the ocean quickly and reliably, our ability to respond to a crisis, or deter one from happening in the first place, is weakened," Sen. McCormick added. "The ships that make that possible are decades past their prime. This bill gets us moving on replacing them before it's too late."
The Arizona Senator's bill builds upon his SHIPS for America Act, another bipartisan bill which Kelly first introduced in December that seeks to incentivize and ramp up domestic production of new naval vessels.
After all, China has approximately 5,500 internationally flagged vessels, while the United States has approximately 800.
