U.S. House committee approves defense bill calling for second Virginia-class sub

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, and all but one other member of the House Armed Services Committee voted late Wednesday night to advance the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, another step in the Courtney-led effort to secure funding for a second Virginia-class submarine in the $850 billion defense budget.

The bill, which moves to the House floor and then the Senate, passed, 57-1, with Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, casting the lone dissenting vote.

Courtney, who hosted a virtual news conference Thursday, said the bill reverses the Navy’s request to cut $1 billion in incremental funding for a Virginia-class submarine, keeps the AUKUS trilateral partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States on track, and provides quality-of-life improvements, including substantial pay hikes, for service members and their families.

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