Document: Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus Sept. 11, 2013 ‘American Seapower Today’ Speech

The value of the Navy and Marine Corps team is as apparent today as it was at the founding of our nation. Enshrined in our Constitution is the direction to Congress to “provide and maintain a Navy.” There’s a reason for including “maintain.” At that time, the Navy was a tangible and permanent signal of our independence and of our presence on the world’s stage. Throughout our history, the Navy and Marine Corps team has been called on to act in both war and in peace, and today continues to play a large and vital role on that stage. The framers of the Constitution understood that the Navy had to provide constant and persistent presence—it had to be “maintained.” Presence is what the Navy and Marine Corps are all about.