1. United States
2. Md.
3. Letter

I am writing to express my serious concern about the reported conditions facing the sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, including the extraordinary length of their deployment and the extended periods they have spent at sea without adequate opportunities for rest and time ashore. The men and women serving aboard our Navy ships accept tremendous responsibilities and make sacrifices that most Americans will never be asked to make. Those sacrifices are also borne by their spouses, children, parents, and other loved ones at home. We should not compound those sacrifices by subjecting service members to unnecessarily prolonged deployments or conditions that jeopardize their physical and mental well-being. I understand that another ship is being sent to provide relief, and I welcome that development. However, simply transferring the burden from one crew to another is not an acceptable long-term solution. Congress and the Department of Defense must ensure that the sailors relieving the Abraham Lincoln do not eventually find themselves in the same situation. I urge you to demand immediate attention to the welfare of the sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and to seek assurances from Navy and Department of Defense leadership that appropriate deployment lengths, opportunities for rest and time ashore, access to mental-health resources, and the overall well-being of our sailors will be protected going forward. The people who serve in our military give an extraordinary amount of themselves in service to this country, often at great personal cost and at the expense of precious time with their families. We have an obligation in return to treat them with dignity, safeguard their health and well-being, and ensure that operational demands do not become an excuse for unacceptable conditions. Please use your oversight authority to address this situation immediately and to ensure that we do better—not only for the sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, but for every sailor and service member we ask to serve under similarly demanding circumstances. Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.