Congresswoman Elaine Luria
The April General Membership Luncheon meeting was held virtually on Tuesday, April 20, 2021. The guest speaker was U.S. Congresswoman Elaine Luria, who serves Virginia’s 2nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Representative Luria began by introducing herself and her staff, discussing their backgrounds and combined naval experience. She also stressed her office’s recognition and positive focus on ship repair as a critical component of national security and Virginia’s economy.
Luria, who serves as Vice Chair of the House Armed Services Committee, discussed working alongside Representative Rob Wittman (VA-01) to provide a strong voice for the military interests of Hampton Roads. She went on to discuss her roles on the Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces and the Subcommittee on Readiness.
Rep. Luria then spoke about creating the Congressional Offshore Wind Caucus, a bipartisan group of lawmakers concentrated on improving offshore wind technology, investing in the offshore wind workforce, and promoting renewable energy in Virginia. Luria spoke of working to ensure the Jones Act is applied to offshore wind, including for turbine repair and maintenance vessels, in order to ensure jobs related to Offshore Wind development stay in Hampton Roads.
Rep. Luria took time to recognize the hard work of ship repairers, particularly for their service as mission critical, essential workers over the past year. She then opened the floor for questions from VSRA Members.
During the Q&A, Luria discussed ensuring the Ship Repair industry remains vigilant to keep COVID rates down post-vaccine rollout. She also discussed environmental issues including plans to counter sea level rise.
Rep. Luria also addressed the President’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure bill, discussing the need to ensure the bill includes ship repairers and their supply chains, including small businesses. Rep. Luria discussed the health of the industrial base and Navy’s efforts to ensure capacity and focus on helping small businesses maintain viability.
Rep. Luria closed by thanking those in attendance and praising the VSRA membership for their commitment to ensuring the Navy is maintained, modernized, and ready. She asked that anyone with additional questions or concerns reach out to her Virginia Beach office at 757-364-7650 or to her area District Director, Charles Stuppard, at Charles.Stuppard@mail.house.gov.
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