U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, welcomed Wednesday the Office of Management and Budget’s request to Congress to fully fund a second Virginia-class submarine in the 2021 defense appropriations bill.

“I’m pleased that the Trump Administration has finally recognized what the House of Representatives and the Department of the Navy already knew — the decision to fund a second Virginia-class submarine and to sustain the two-a-year build rate is in the best interest of our national security,” Courtney, chairman of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, said in a statement. “OMB and the White House’s proposal last February to cut a submarine in the 2021 budget was a short-sighted decision and should have never been in the budget in the first place.”

The 2021 budget requested one Virginia-class submarine, breaking the two-per-year build rate that has been in place since 2011.

“OMB’s last minute support for funding a second submarine this year should enable a final push over the finish line,” U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in a statement. “It should remove all doubt on the merits, and the compelling need for bipartisan action by the Conference Committee. As a Conference Committee member, I’ll make it clear and convincing proof.”