Congressman Rob Wittman Speaking at August Luncheon
We were honored to host Congressman Rob Wittman at our recent General Membership Luncheon on August 12th. His message reinforced one of our Association's key advocacy priorities: securing a bigger, more stable workload for Virginia's shipyards as the Navy sends more work overseas and to other homeports.
Congressman Wittman identified challenges, calling the inconsistent demand from the Navy a "roller coaster ride". He pointed out that this instability directly impacts our industry's ability to recruit, train, and retain skilled tradespeople. The Congressman highlighted that the ship repair industry workforce in Hampton Roads has already been reduced by 30%.
Furthermore, he criticized the Navy’s strategy to retire ships with remaining years of service life, instead of properly maintaining them. As the Congressman noted, this often becomes a "self-fulfilling prophecy" that shrinks the fleet and reduces vital repair work for our yards. Keeping these ships in the fleet through their full service life is a common-sense solution that supports our naval readiness and our local industrial base.
The Congressman mentioned potential solutions, including better integration between the ship repair and shipbuilding industries to level-load workloads. He shared his staunch defense of the American industrial base and his position that foreign partnerships should not displace U.S. workers until our own capacity is fully utilized.
VSRA will continue to work closely with leaders like Congressman Wittman who understand the critical link between a strong ship repair industry, a robust national defense, and a thriving Virginia economy. We thank him for his support and his commitment to our shared goals.
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