Courtney Tapped to Serve as Ranking Member Of House Seapower Panel

EASTERN CONNECTICUT — The House Armed Services Committee Friday announced that U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-02) was selected to serve as Ranking Member of the influential Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces throughout the 119th Congress.

The Seapower Subcommittee is responsible for authorization and oversight of all U.S. Navy shipbuilding, including submarine construction, and has played an increasingly important role in growing America's skilled manufacturing workforce to meet the rising demand signal for a larger Navy fleet. Courtney previously served as Chairman of the Seapower Subcommittee in the 116th and 117th Congresses, and as Ranking Member (the top Democrat) in the 118th Congress.

Courtney will also continue serving as a member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land.

"I am honored to return as the Ranking Member of one of the most effective and bipartisan panels in Congress that directly connects to my work back home – the submarine capital of the world," Courtney said. "The Seapower Subcommittee holds an important role in carrying out our constitutional duty to provide and maintain a Navy. Together, under the leadership of my good friend and Chairman of the subcommittee, Congressman Trent Kelly, the subcommittee met that call in 2024 and delivered robust investments in shipbuilding, redoubled our commitment to the AUKUS security agreement, and ensured our men and women in uniform have what they need to be a grounding power and protector of peace and prosperity. At a time when all eyes are on the sea services to safeguard our nation and allies, the Seapower panel once again has a tall order to ensure readiness in a contested security environment."

On the Education and Workforce Committee, Courtney will continue serving on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee and the Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee.

"The House Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee is directly connected to my work on the Education and Workforce Committee where I am focused on investing in workforce development programs that allow students and workers to skill-up and access the thousands of good-paying manufacturing jobs across Connecticut. I look forward to working with my colleagues this Congress to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which powers eastern Connecticut’s highly successful Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative,” Courtney said about his role in the Education and Workforce Committee.