Aircraft Carriers
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A small news item (May 8) tells us that “The House voted to approve two more aircraft carriers for the Navy at a cost of about $6.9 billion.”
This brings to mind an exchange between Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis.) and Adm. Hyman Rickover, known as the father of our nuclear Navy, at congressional hearings in 1982.
Proxmire: “ . . . how long do you think one of those aircraft carriers would last in case of an all-out war?”
Rickover: “About two days.”
Proxmire: “How about the whole fleet of carriers?”
Rickover: “I don’t know. If you use ballistic missiles, it does not make any difference whether or not you have carriers.”
Thus, in its wisdom, does Congress spend our tax dollars.
DAVID KINKEAD
Forestville
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