{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=413341", "APP news article; Rep Smith addresses Navy Secretary, vets, 5,000+ attendees at Earle Navy base'The USS New Jersey sub joins the US Navy\u2019s fleet'", "2024-09-17", "2024", "2024-09", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher H. Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", "chrissmith", "https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Juan Carlos Castillo\n\nAsbury Park Press USA TODAY NETWORK \u2013 NEW JERSEY\n\nNew Jersey\u2019s Sandy Hook Bay witnessed the commissioning of the most complex warfare machine ever built in the country \u2014 the USS New Jersey, now dubbed as the fastest submarine in the U.S. fleet and the first to be designed with gender inclusion in mind.\n\nThe commissioning ceremony took place Saturday at the Naval Weapon Station Earle in Middletown, where close to 4,000 attendees including veterans, sailor\u2019s family members, and Navy and government officials.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s an absolute honor to be here with all of you today in this beautiful state, the birthplace, yes, the birthplace of the United States Submarine Force,\u201d said Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro.\n\nGov. Phil Murphy was present at the event and said he was proud to witness the launch of this Virginia-class submarine, now nicknamed the \u201cJersey Girl.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis ceremony is a proud and joyous occasion, but it is also one that marks the beginning of a journey that will take the officers and crew of the USS New Jersey far from home,\u201d Murphy said.\n\n\u201cOn behalf of your nine-and-a-half million- member New Jersey family, let me say thank you for your service and thank you for your commitment to maintaining peace and freedom in our fragile world,\u201d he added.\n\nAnd the submarine is very Jersey. Besides the nickname given to the vessel by Newport News Shipbuilding President Jennifer Boykin, its interior spaces were decorated with all things Jersey.\n\n'The deterrence that this USS New Jersey\n\nhelps to procure, makes us safer. Of course,\n\nyou never want a war, but the way you prevent\n\na war is by having a credible defense and\n\ndeterrence.'\n\n- Rep. Smith\n\nThe walls of this nuclear-powered, fast-attack submarine feature posters from Rutgers University, New Jersey Devils memorabilia, a guitar gifted by Jon Bon Jovi and more. Members of the crew said they are even considering making the communal eating area look like a New Jersey diner.\n\nThis is the third naval vessel named after the Garden State. The first two, code-named BB-16 and BB-62, were battleships that contributed to the Navy\u2019s efforts during World War I and World War II respectively. Vessel BB 62, which also participated in the Korean, Vietnam and Persian conflicts, is one of the most decorated ships in the Navy\u2019s history.\n\nThe new USS New Jersey is prepared to continue the legacy of the ships with the same name that preceded it, being now the most complex warfare machine ever built in the U.S. said the vessel\u2019s commander Steven Halle. Code named SSN 796, this submarine counts with enhanced stealth, special warfare enhancements, and sophisticated surveillance capabilities that can even detect sound waves from sea animals far away.\n\n\u201cThe deterrence that this USS New Jersey helps to procure, makes us safer,\u201d said Chris Smith, U.S. Congressman for New Jersey\u2019s 4th district.\n\n\u201cOf course, you never want a war, but the way you prevent a war is by having a credible defense and deterrence,\u201d Smith added.\n\nWhat is a gender-inclusive submarine?\n\nIt wasn\u2019t until 2010 when the Navy started allowing women to serve aboard submarines. Since then, some submarines have been modified to accommodate women aboard, however, the USS New Jersey embraced a gender-inclusive design from its inception.\n\nThat means that bathrooms come with longer stalls, more privacy in shower rooms, and secluded berths for sleeping.\n\n\u201cSo before, the older submarines, they didn\u2019t have, like, as much privacy. The bathrooms would have spaces in the stalls, and there wasn\u2019t a specific berthing set aside that could be closed off completely,\u201d said Claudia Casillas a sailor on the USS New Jersey. She has trained inside the vessel for about one year.\n\nThe USS New Jersey has a 131-member crew, 29 of them women, according to the roster of the USS New Jersey.\n\n\u201cI think it\u2019s about time. The whole year I\u2019ve been here, it\u2019s been pretty obvious that U.S. females are just capable of just as much, sometimes even more, than the males on this boat,\u201d she said.\n\nAt the ship, the crew decided to assign some berth rooms for women only, while keeping some co-ed berths, but specifying which beds are exclusively reserved for women.\n\n\u201cI think with everything that comes brand new, there\u2019s gonna be struggles. There\u2019s going to be some confusion, some problems, but I think the Jersey has been able to overcome every problem she has had.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=413341"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5520150773227215, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}