House Armed Services Committee members from shipbuilding states yesterday took the Bush administration to task for only budgeting for five new ships in its fiscal year 2003 defense budget request. "The president's budget requested five ships," House Armed Services procurement subcommittee Ranking Member Gene Taylor (D-MS) told Under Secretary of Defense for Industrial Affairs Suzanne Patrick at a March 19 hearing on the defense industrial base. "We have six shipyards. And it is directly in your purview to say how...
