; Whereas former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert testified on March 12, 2014, that, [t]oday, in the world that we live in, the world that the Navy and Marine Corps lives in, and the future, we probably need 50 [amphibious ships]. ; Whereas, on April 5, 2017, Marine Corps leaders testified that, The most dire readiness situation lies within our Aviation element. An unhealthy percentage of our aviation units lack the minimum number of ready basic aircraft (RBA) for training, and we are significantly short ready aircraft for wartime requirements. We simply do not have the available aircraft to meet our squadrons’ requirements. ; Whereas during parts of 2016, only 43 percent of the Marine Corps’ total aviation fleet was available for operational employment, including less than 1/3 of its F/A–18 Hornets; Whereas from fiscal year 2013 through fiscal year 2017, Marine Corps aviation accidents increased by 80 percent from 56 to 101 per year; Whereas between 2011 and 2017, aviation accidents killed more than 60 Marines, including 19 over a 2-month period in 2017; and Whereas, on March 10, 2017, Deputy Commandant Gary L. Thomas stated, Unstable fiscal environments prevent the deliberately planned, sustained effort needed to recover current readiness of our legacy equipment in the near term, and to modernize in the longer term * * *. We must work to avoid a budget-driven strategy and return to a strategy-driven budget, informed by the strategic requirements of the current and future operating environments. Unless we do so, the range of options we have to address current and future threats will further erode. : Now, therefore, be it