Page 21: of Marine News Magazine (September 2022)

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economic security and that of our allies.

The United States must reaf? rm its position as the world’s unequivocal maritime superpower. The U.S. shipyard indus- try and industrial base stand at the ready, annually support- ing nearly 400,000 jobs across the United States, producing $28.1 billion in direct labor income and contributing $42.4 billion in direct GDP to the national economy.

As we face these signi? cant challenges ahead, we must start ? rst with stable and predictable government funding processes that are designed to build and maintain our na- tional and domestic security assets and invest in our mari- ners and industrial base. Budgets need to be designed for decades, not political cycles. Our domestic and national security depend on it.

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