“If you want to make an exception, justify it,” Kasper said. “Maybe there is a perfectly good explanation for why Secretary Mabus circumvented the rule book. But this name in no way fits the Navy’s ship-naming convention for destroyers.”
Defense News "Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., echoed Wicker’s approval.
“Let me just add my congratulations to Senator Levin,” Ayotte said. “I can't think of a better person to name the ship after. That's great.”
"But at least one prominent Republican in the House begs to differ with the choice.
“I would like an explanation as to how this decision properly reflects Navy ship-naming rules,” Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., wrote Tuesday in a letter to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who oversees the service’s ship-naming process.
“ 'It is important that the Navy adhere to its own ship-naming rules and take every effort necessary to avoid politicization of this process,” Hunter wrote.
. . .
"Hunter is a long-time critic of Mabus’ choices for ship names, in particular the secretary’s 2011 choice to name a support ship after union organizer and activist César Chavez, a selection that annoyed many conservatives. Hunter raised enough of a ruckus that the Navy and the Congressional Research Service (CRS) each produced reports on current and past ship-naming practices.
"Hunter, in his letter, took pains to note this most recent objection was not directed at Levin personally, rather it’s aimed at the choice of the name of a non-veteran for a destroyer.
"Such ships, the Navy notes in its online explanation, are “named for American naval leaders and heroes.” The Navy and CRS also note that exceptions to the rule are not unusual." . . .
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