U.S. Commissions Newest Nuclear Aircraft Carrier

ABOARD THE USS HARRY S. TRUMAN —  President Clinton used the dramatic backdrop of the nation’s newest nuclear aircraft carrier Saturday to chastise Congress for failing to approve Pentagon funding requests.

“Harry Truman knew that a president’s ability to persuade others in the world is greatly enhanced when commanding the world’s strongest military,” Clinton said, standing in the hangar deck of the 20-story carrier that covers 4 1/2 acres and will be home to as many as 6,000 personnel.

“And on this day, our persuasiveness has been enhanced considerably.”

While pledging U.S. forces will remain “fully capable of meeting our commitments around the world,” Clinton stressed that Congress must do its part. He singled out congressional defense committees for failing to respond to a month-old emergency funding request for $1 billion for training and maintenance programs. And he complained that Congress has failed to include in its fiscal 1999 budget $1.9 billion for the ongoing missions in Bosnia and the Persian Gulf.

But the focus of the day was a celebration of the United States’ military might and the role that the Harry S. Truman, named for the nation’s 33rd president, will play in maintaining it.

An elaborate commissioning ceremony for the $4.5-billion ship began when Clinton landed in a helicopter on the carrier and received a 21-gun salute. After speeches from Clinton and other dignitaries, contemporary and World War II warplanes flew overhead. At the command “bring her alive,” hundreds of sailors jogged from the pier up the gang planks and onto the deck of the massive ship.

The next Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, due in 2002, is to bear President Reagan’s name.

Truman resisted yearnings of a nation to turn inward after World War II and approved massive aid for war-torn Europe and ordered the unprecedented Berlin Airlift when Soviet dictator Josef Stalin blockaded the German city.

In particular, Clinton applauded Truman’s decision to integrate the Armed Forces 50 years ago Saturday.

“From that day forward, our men and women in uniform have truly been a force for freedom and a shining example to all humanity,” Clinton said.

Early in his life, Clinton recalled, Truman experienced business difficulties. He wrote his sweetheart Bess, who later became his wife, that he was confident: “My ship’s going to come in yet.”

Said Clinton: “Now we all know that Harry Truman was a man of his word. It took 85 years, but . . . Harry Truman’s ship has come in.”

And what a ship it is.

It is almost 1,100 feet long. It is powered by two nuclear reactors and is capable of exceeding speeds of 30 knots (34.5 mph) using four bronze propellers--each of which are 21 feet across and weigh 50 tons. There are more than 80 tactical aircraft aboard.

It took more than 3,000 shipyard workers about seven years to construct the carrier out of 60,000 tons of steel and a million pounds of aluminum.