Mark Kelly News

A bipartisan, bicameral group is emerging in Congress as the thought leaders for future maritime policy. On January 30, 2024, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Representative Mike Waltz (R-FL-6) led a letter to President Biden, joined by 17 other members of Congress, urging the White House to embrace a “bold and clear vision” for the future of U.S. sea power. Among other recommendations – including establishing an interagency maritime policy coordinator – the Congressional group urged President Biden to issue a Presidential Determination to establish “commercial…

With the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard FY 2025 budget requests offering uninspiring news for traditional shipbuilders, industry observers might be forgiven for checking out and dismissing 2024 as just another dull year in the frustrating business of government shipbuilding.But with an election season underway and an increasingly disorderly sea, the year may end up being far more exciting for industry than most U.S. shipbuilders expect.In fact, it might even be time to prepare for a “Remember the Maine” moment.

The U.S. Senate on Thursday failed to pass a bill to slap sanctions on Russia's Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline sponsored by Republican Senator Ted Cruz, a day after Democrats unveiled their own legislation.The tally was 55 in favor and 44 against the bill that needed 60 votes to pass, a major hurdle in the 50-50 Senate. The vote spanned nearly seven hours as Majority Leader Chuck Schumer considered options on voting rights legislation.Senator Robert Menendez won the support of many of his fellow Democrats, including President Joe Biden, for an alternative bill he introduced on Wednesday.

Late last night, SUNY Maritime College alumnus Scott Kelly, ’87, felt Earth’s gravity for the first time in nearly a year. The astronaut safely landed in Kazakhstan after plummeting hundreds of miles to Earth from the International Space Station with Russian astronaut Mikhail Kornienko. The two have spent more than 11 months on the International Space Station to determine the effect of extended amounts of time in space on the human body. “All of us at SUNY Maritime are thrilled to have Scott back on Earth…

Austal joined the Honorable Gabrielle Giffords, her husband, retired Navy captain Mark Kelly, and ship’s sponsor Dr. Jill Biden in celebrating the christening of the future USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) today in Mobile, Alabama. This is the third littoral combat ship (LCS) in Austal’s 10-ship, $3.5 billion block-buy contract. The Independence-variant littoral combat ship is a 127-meter (419-foot) aluminum trimaran, capable of being outfitted with reconfigurable payloads (mission packages) which can be changed to support mine countermeasure, anti-submarine and surface warfare missions. It is named Gabrielle Giffords after the former Congresswoman from Tuscon, Arizona. This is only the sixteenth U.S.

The U.S. Captain Mark Kelly, Class of '86 and a former NASA astronaut, gave the commencement address before a crowd of more than 2,000 graduates, family members and representatives from the federal government, Armed Forces and maritime industry. "However today's graduates choose to continue serving their country, I'm certain that Captain Kelly's remarkable life story will be an inspiration to them all," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The congressionally-nominated…