(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and
Congressman Rick Larsen (WA-02) sent a letter to Secretary of the Navy Ray
Mabus and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead urging them once
again to station an aircraft carrier at Naval Station Everett after the USS
Abraham Lincoln departs in fiscal year 2012. Murray and Larsen stressed the
advantages of locating an aircraft carrier at Naval Station Everett, where
sailors enjoy a first-rate quality of life and strong support from the local
community. Murray and Larsen sent a similar letter
to Mabus and Roughead in August.
“We are writing
to express our continued support for stationing a replacement aircraft carrier
at Naval Station Everett following the departure of the USS Abraham Lincoln in
fiscal year 2012 to conduct refueling operations. Naval Station Everett
offers not only the strategic advantages we highlighted in our letter of August
11, but an outstanding quality of life that makes it a desirable homeport for
all sailors,” the
members of Congress wrote.
The full text of the
letter appears below:
Dear
Secretary Mabus and Admiral Roughead:
We
are writing to express our continued support for stationing a replacement
aircraft carrier at Naval Station Everett following the departure of the USS
Abraham Lincoln in fiscal year 2012 to conduct refueling operations.
Naval Station Everett offers not only the strategic advantages we highlighted
in our letter of August 11, but an outstanding quality of life that makes it a
desirable homeport for all sailors.
Recent
investments in Naval Station Everett have contributed to its reputation as the
most modern Navy base in the world. It is home to two of the four most
sustainable buildings in the Navy as rated by the US Green Building Council’s
Leadership in Energy Efficiency Design (LEED), including a new barracks
building that is the only LEED Gold building in the entire Navy. A new housing
development in Lake Stevens offers enlisted sailors and officers the
opportunity to live in spacious homes near first-rate public schools. And
while some sailors at Everett used to have to travel to San Diego to complete
training requirements, a new Fleet Readiness Center will allow more sailors to
complete more training on base and near their families in the Pacific
Northwest. All of these investments combine to make Naval Station
Everett a great place to house and train a carrier crew and their families.
Sailors
stationed in Everett also benefit from strong support from the surrounding
community. Local businesses, non-profits, and religious groups eagerly
serve the sailors in the community – even the Silvertips, the local hockey
team, has named its mascot Lincoln in honor of the carrier. As an example
of this community support, electric utilities, research universities, and local
government officials recently gathered with Navy leadership to discuss how
local organizations could help the Navy achieve its renewable energy and energy
efficiency goals.
In
this era of high operational tempos and frequent family separation, it is
essential for the Navy to consider the quality of life impacts of carrier
basing. Bringing a new aircraft carrier to Everett when the USS
Abraham Lincoln departs will benefit the thousands of sailors and their
families who enjoy the quality of life and sense of community at Naval Station
Everett.
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