By all accounts, JOHN CORNELIUS STENNIS always remembered the "great body of the people who actually carry the burden of everyday life." He remembered them because he was one of them. And by all measures, it can be said that JOHN STENNIS did in fact “plow a straight furrow." And not only did he plow it, but he watered, and tended, and harvested, and then he plowed again, and harvested again. JOHN STENNIS plowed the straight furrow and we are better because of who he was and what he did for every one of us. We will miss JOHN STENNIS but because of the fruits of his life, which were justice, compassion, and integrity, we will never forget the furrow he plowed. Christening of the Aircraft Carrier John C. Stennis CVN–74 NEWPORT NEWS SHIPBUILDING, NOVEMBER 11, 1993 Senator JOHN C. STENNIS had a sign on his desk while he served in Washington. It said: "Look Ahead." That sign was a symbol of this great man's forward-thinking philosophy. Senator STENNIS believed strongly in national defense preparedness, and he fought hard for a fleet of modern ships. That's one reason the Senator has frequently been called the "Father of America's Modern Navy." That same "Look Ahead" philosophy prevails here at Newport News Shipbuilding. We look forward as we have throughout our history to building each ship the very best we can and to improving our efficiency and cost effectiveness. Nimitz, the first ship of the class, was constructed in 7 years. Stennis will be delivered in less than 5 years. This constant improvement is the result of countless ideas and suggestions from NNS employees to do things better, faster and smarter. Through a program we call "Opportunity For Improvement," employees have shown that they are not satisfied with the status quo. They have demonstrated time and again that they "Look Ahead" by getting involved and by contributing their ideas on how to make a good ship even better. The involvement of our employees in this ship's construction is duplicated throughout the Shipyard-in shops, on platens, in offices. That kind of effort echoes our founder Collis P. Huntington's admonition to "always build good ships." We always will. W.R. PHILLIPS, JR., President and Chief Executive Officer. JOHN C. STENNIS, FATHER OF AMERICA'S MODERN NAVY (By Mack R. Herring, Historian, John C. Stennis Space Center, Mississippi) U.S. Senator JOHN C. STENNIS is the senior statesman honored with the christening of the nuclear aircraft carrier CVN-74 in his name. A living legend in American politics, JOHN STENNIS occupies a unique place of honor that he earned in more than four decades of distinguished service in the United States Senate. The courtly Senator from Mississippi, who was unanimously elected President Pro Tempore of the Senate for the 100th Congress, has been justly referred to as "the father of America's modern Navy" because of his years of consistent and steadfast support. He was compared to a great "ship of the line" by former President Ronald Reagan. When announcing that the aircraft carrier would be named for JOHN STENNIS, President Reagan said, "Senator, when I consider your career there's a certain comparison that |