A top House Republican is pushing for a massive increase in Navy shipbuilding that would bump spending to levels last seen in the mid-1980s.

Rep Randy Forbes (R-Va.), who is chairman of the sea power subpanel of the House Armed Services Committee, said his goal in the 2014 budget deliberations is to rebuild the Navy’s fleet, not just preserve it.

"We are entering the decade of sea power ... [so] what is the risk to the United States" if naval power continues to fall by the wayside, Forbes asked during a hearing.

Forbes’s move sets the stage for a battle over the Armed Services panel’s spending plan for fiscal year 2014.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is pushing attacks blaming Senate Democrats for current airline delays.

The NRSC sent out emails against four Democrats blaming them for not acting to avoid the furloughs air traffic controllers are facing due to sequestration.

The targets: Sens. Mark Pryor (Ark.), Mary Landrieu (La.) and Kay Hagan (N.C.), and Rep. Bruce Braley (Iowa), Democrats' anointed candidate for Iowa's open Senate seat.

Senate Democrats and Republicans offered competing bills to avoid the cuts to air traffic control, though neither could get enough support to pass. Pryor, Landrieu and Hagan voted for the original bipartisan compromise that created sequestration — as did two GOP Senate candidates, Reps. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).

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Congress is getting an earful from hoteliers who fear sequester-induced flight delays will ruin the tourism season.

House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) on Wednesday said the air traffic controller furloughs that have led to flight delays this week could be avoided if the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cut its budget in a “smarter way.”

"There are 47,000 employees at the FAA and 15,000 controllers,” Shuster said at a House Republican leadership press conference to spotlight the flight delays. “They don’t need to start with the 15,000 controllers.

The senator said the FAA is purposely delaying flights to gain support in the fight over the sequester.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Passengers can expect problems to continue through the summer. 

Two people were hospitalized as a precaution at Bolling Air Force Base in Southeast Washington, D.C., according to the FBI.

Two House Democrats have proposed legislation that would require the government to set up an appeals process for people who are delayed at airports by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) after being "wrongly identified as a threat."

The Fair, Accurate, Secure and Timely (FAST) Redress Act, H.R. 1583, would give people an avenue for contesting TSA decisions to screen them against the terrorist watch list. Misidentification by the TSA against the terrorist watch list can lead to delays or even banning people from boarding a flight.