Good afternoon, everyone.

Thank you to the New York Stock Exchange for hosting us today, and for welcoming the United States Navy and so many of our international navy leaders to this historic floor.

To the leaders of the Exchange, to the men and women who make this market work every day, to our allies and partners, and to the Sailors and Marines here with us – thank you.

It’s an honor to stand on one of America's most iconic stages as we begin celebrating 250 years of American independence. Few places better represent the confidence, ingenuity, and entrepreneurial spirit that have helped build our Nation.

This anniversary is more than a celebration of our past. It’s a call to prepare for the next 250 years.

Our founders understood a truth that remains just as relevant today: enduring prosperity, national security, and independence all depend upon maritime strength.

A young republic needed ships, Sailors, merchants, shipbuilders, private enterprise, and international partners willing to stand with us.

That was true at the beginning. And it remains true today.

This floor represents many of the same qualities this Nation displayed at its founding – confidence, risk, competition, innovation, capital, and the productive power of our people.

Strong navies do more than win wars. They prevent them by preserving the stability upon which free nations and free markets depend.

More than 90% of global trade moves by sea. And when the maritime system is threatened, the effects are felt far beyond the horizon in factories, in ports, in boardrooms, in households, and on trading floors like this one.

That is why navies matter.

Every day, American Sailors and our allies and partners operate forward to help keep the seas open, protect freedom of navigation, deter aggression, and preserve the conditions that allow free people and free enterprise to thrive.

It matters to our national security. It matters to our economy. And it matters to every American whose livelihood depends upon a stable, connected world.

I often talk about the Navy’s work in three parts: the Foundry, the Fleet, and the Fight.

The Foundry is where maritime power begins. It is our people, our suppliers, our technology base, our industrial partners, and the broader American system that gives the Fleet strength before a ship ever gets underway.

Every innovative company, every investor, every manufacturer, every shipbuilder, and every entrepreneur contributes to the Foundry that underpins American sea power.

The New York Stock Exchange represents the confidence, capital, innovation, and industrial depth that allow us to design, build, repair, sustain, and modernize the Fleet.

There are Americans who never wore the uniform but still served the Navy’s mission by strengthening the financial power, maritime commerce, and industrial capability that American sea power depends on.

One of them did it right here in New York.

In 1907, during one of the greatest financial crises in American history, confidence in our financial system was faltering. Here at the New York Stock Exchange, J.P. Morgan rallied financial and industrial leaders to restore confidence and stabilize the market.

Additionally, he helped build U.S. Steel, one of the defining industrial enterprises of the twentieth century. That is more than financial history. It’s a reminder that America's economic strength and maritime strength have always reinforced one another.

By strengthening America's industrial foundation, he also strengthened the foundation upon which American sea power would grow.

He understood something every maritime strategist understands: confidence, capital, commerce, industry, and sea power are inseparable elements of national power.

Every ship we build, every capability we field, every advantage we generate for the Fleet depends on the strength of the Foundry behind it.

Deterrence doesn't begin when a ship leaves the pier. It begins years earlier – with investment, innovation, skilled workers, resilient supply chains, and the confidence to build what freedom requires.

That connection between the New York Stock Exchange and the Navy still matters today.

Sea power does not begin when a ship gets underway. It begins in the shipyard, in the factories, in the supplier networks, in the research labs, and in the financial markets and institutions that help American industry build, scale, and deliver.

As we begin this celebration of 250 years of American independence, we should remember that independence has never meant going at it alone.

America has always been strongest when free people, free enterprise, capable armed forces, and trusted allies move together toward a common purpose.

Together, free markets generate prosperity, free nations preserve liberty, and maritime power protects both.

So, as we ring this bell today, let it symbolize more than the close of another trading day. Let it remind us that America's strength has always depended upon the partnership between enterprise and security, commerce and sea power, innovation and service.

Together, those forces built the first 250 years of our Nation – and together they will build the next 250 years as well.

Thank you.