Having failed to produce timely defense spending bills or avoid a chaotic end to a year-long march toward sequestration, the recently-deceased 112th Congress also failed for two straight years to approve a normally prosaic measure allowing the transfers of old U.S. Navy ships (like the USS Carr, shown above) to friendly navies.
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NORFOLK (Dec. 3, 2012) The guided-missile frigate USS Carr (FFG 52) returns to its homeport of Norfolk after a six-month deployment to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of responsibility conducting counter transnational organized crime operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jeff Atherton/Released)