Romney calls for bigger U.S. Navy

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PENSACOLA, Fla., Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney took his call for a bigger Navy Saturday to Florida, home of Naval Air Station Pensacola.

Romney addressed about 10,000 supporters, NBC reported. He reminded them that President Obama, during a 2010 visit to Pensacola, said he had stopped reductions in U.S. naval forces.

"But today, he again has shrunk to a smaller version of the Navy and his view of the Navy's role," Romney said.

Romney also emphasized the importance of military spending in Florida in his speech at the Pensacola Bay Center, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"His vision is not greatness in America's Navy or America's military. His vision is to cut our military spending by a trillion dollars," Romney said. "And by the way, a trillion dollars in cuts would cost about 41,000 jobs here in Florida, and think of all the businesses that depend on all those jobs."

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla., who is trying to unseat Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, urged Republicans to take advantage of early voting, which opened Saturday in Florida.