Establishes legislative agenda for the Council.  Establishes key relationships with Minnesota House, Senate, veterans affairs committee and Minnesota Congressional delegation to support Council mission to educate the public and Congress on the importance of our Sea Services to our nation’s defense. 

 Director Business Development.  Research, identify corporate entities to provide funding and support of Minnesota Council activities.   Corporate sponsors should be offered membership in the Navy League, and be identified on Minnesota Council Website.  Identify other non-profits that the Navy League should establish as partners for the elements that the Council will undertake (i.e., MACV, DAR, etc.)

June 2024

It has been a busy quarter for the Navy League of the United States Minnesota Council. 

In April we held the first Midwest Regional Conference in Minneapolis hosted by Joe Fraser, President and Ward Cook Region President at the Hilton Hotel in Minneapolis. There we gathered for two days and held discussions on a wide range of subjects including memberships, strategic planning, youth development programs, Sea Cadets, NROTC, and how to share best practices across the councils. Attending were members from Kansas City, St. Louis, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Iowa. It was a great event with some fun included during the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers baseball game where in true form it snowed in the 6th inning.

In mid-May we led a successful hill surge in the US Capital resulting in meetings with a wide range of Congressional staff and House and Senate leaders. There we presented the Navy League’s priorities for the four core services we represent. We were well received and the Navy League Congressional Fly-In talking points were punched home.

Key advocacy points included:

⚓Expanding Navy shipbuilding capacity
⚓Coast Guard Infrastructure and Shipbuilding
⚓Support for Future Sailors
⚓Marine Corps Unfunded Priorities (Quality of Life, Critical Weapon Systems, Needed Construction)
⚓Expand the Tanker Security Program and increase the stipend per vessel
⚓Defend the Jones Act
⚓Fund MARAD Sealift Program

I also attended the Memorial Day Memorial Service held each year at Ft. Snelling National Cemetery and had the opportunity to meet and greet with Governor Tim Walz and Senator Amy Klobuchar who were in attendance. It always seems to rain on Memorial Day, and we were not spared the showers but overall there was a large turnout for the ceremony to remember America’s heroes.

And just a week ago I attended the Navy Leagues annual three-day National Convention in San Diego, CA whereby the NLUS elects officers for the coming year. Chris “Towny” Townsend our National President for one more year will be followed by our new President elect Larry Salter, of the Bremerton Council who will take over the helm in June 2025. A full update on this event will be in the forthcoming Sea Power magazine.

Recently, I came across an article by Liz Schrayer, opinion contributor for the Telegraph and she provides an interesting perspective on the world stage. I’ve elected to select some portions of her article for this quarter’s Legislative Affairs update.

“Two weeks ago, Beijing rolled out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin to deepen their “no-limits” partnership. Just last week there were dangerous new reports on how Russia, China and Iran are attempting to disrupt the United Kingdom’s election next month.

As Russia opens new fronts in Ukraine, China and Iran continue to provide the country with significant economic and military support, respectively. China’s purchases of Iranian oil and gas fuel proxy wars across the Middle East while Iran continues to produce weapons to kill Ukrainians and Americans. And Russia hosted Hamas leaders at the Kremlin just days following the Oct. 7th terrorist attacks on Israel.

House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) has called out how these influence campaigns impact policymakers: “We see directly coming from Russia attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor.”

Even in an election year, here are three areas where I believe Republican and Democratic policymakers can work together to protect our nation’s security and economic interests.

First, when we think of national security spending, it’s not just defense — it’s also strengthening our civilian national security toolkit. In fact, the national security emergency funding package that Congress just approved underscores how supporting our allies and providing essential economic and humanitarian assistance matters to protecting America’s interests.

Second, the need for supplemental resources has grown even more urgent in recent years, as core U.S. development and diplomatic funding remain flat while global threats have skyrocketed. Given this threat-resource mismatch, Congress has been forced to rely on emergency supplementals to bridge the gap.

At a time when China has increased its development investments around the world by 525 percent in the last 15 years alone, America cannot afford to take its foot off the gas.

Third, global crises have reached a fever pitch with nearly 300 million people in need of humanitarian assistance from Sudan to Gaza to Haiti. In addition to the human toll, the growing conflict and turmoil from these crises add to mounting instability and security risks — making the world and America less safe.

The good news is America has the diplomatic and development tools to meet this moment. The question is whether America will confront these threats at the scale required because the fact is we can pay now or pay later.

As Gen. James Mattis, first told Congress more than a decade ago, “If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition.”

I think Liz nailed the current situation we are seeing and hearing. We live in precarious times on the world stage. China. Russia. Gaza and Hamas. Ukraine at a $60 billion spend of American military aid. The threats to our electorate process are front and center.  Politics aside, we live in a dangerous and challenging time, and these times require focus, hard work, and courage.

I just returned home from a recent trip to Spain and Portugal and in my travels, I was asked by people from numerous countries “what is going on with the USA?” In Cartagena Spain I spoke with a Captain in the Spanish Navy based there and we talked about the drumbeat of chaos they see within our Congress. I tried to provide this perspective. We are a young country, compared to Europe and Asia. In the grand scheme of things we are like a 15-year-old Nation compared to the Alhambra Castle I visited, built in 1128 in Granada. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella dispatched Christoper Columbus to go off in search of the New World. Fortunately he found the teenager in the Americas. 

While we are a restless teenager on the world stage, we are a highly valued one, the European Union knows when we are in the game, the world is a safer place. From terror, dictators, and arrogant nations who think they can manhandle any one they wish.  When we stand united, we give the dictators, and threats to freedom a reason to pause. We give hope, all is not lost.