Senate Armed Services Committee Approves Defense Bill That Includes Senator Colins' Provisions For BIW, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, SACO Defense,

Press Release

SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE APPROVES DEFENSE BILL THAT INCLUDES SENATOR COLLINS' PROVISIONS FOR BIW, PORTSMOUTH NAVAL SHIPYARD, SACO DEFENSE, AND UMAINE

The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved the fiscal year 2008 Defense Authorization bill, which includes key provisions authored by Senator Collins for Bath Iron Works, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, the University of Maine, Saco Defense, Pratt & Whitney, and other Maine companies.

"This legislation contains a variety of crucial provisions that will provide critical force protection to our men and women in uniform ensure the long-term viability of our Armed Forces by increasing the end-strength of the Army and Marine Corps, restore our military's readiness, and continue the development of technologies to counter existing and emerging threats. It also includes key shipbuilding provisions that are important to the Navy and our overall national security, " said Senator Collins, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "In addition, the Senate Armed Services Committee has again recognized the valuable contributions of Maine companies to our national security by funding important defense programs in our state."

At Senator Collins' request, the Senate bill ensures a continued and steady workload at Bath Iron Works by authorizing $2.9 billion for the second (and final) fiscal year of funding for construction of the dual-lead DDG-1000 Zumwalt class destroyers. In addition, Senator Collins authored an amendment, which was included in the Senate Armed Services Committee bill, to restore $480 million for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program. One of the two LCS variants is being designed and built by a Bath Iron Works-led team. The Senate version of this legislation as drafted initially cut all funding for this program in fiscal year 2008, but Senator Collins was able to restore funding to ensure continued development of this important program.

Senator Collins expressed concern, however, that the House version of the Defense Authorization bill includes a provision to prohibit the start of construction on lead ships until the Secretary of Navy certifies that detailed design is complete. This provision, if enacted, would create yet another obstacle to and could further delay the Navy's awarding of the construction contract for the first Bath Iron Works DDG-1000 destroyer.

The House version would also require that the next-generation class of Navy cruisers, which will be the follow-on to the DDG-1000 destroyer, be powered by nuclear propulsion systems, even though neither of the U.S. Navy's proven surface combatant shipyards, Bath Iron Works and Ingalls Shipyard, have the facilities or certifications required to construct nuclear-powered surface combatant ships. This provision could dramatically increase the costs of future surface combatants, thereby reducing the overall number of ships built at a time when the Navy is seeking to revitalize and modernize its fleet.

Senator Collins was successful in ensuring that these provisions were not part of the Senate bill, and she vowed to fight against them during conference negotiations.

Also at Senator Collins' request, the Senate version of the Defense Authorization bill provides $4.1 billion above the President's budget request to expedite procurement of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, which will further protect service members from improvised explosive devices (IED) in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate Armed Services Committee also authorized a 3.5 percent across-the-board pay increase for service members, 0.5 percent above the President's budget request, and includes provisions to improve mental health screening of and treatment for service members.

In addition, highlights of the Senate Armed Services Committee bill includes:

* $6.1 billion for continued development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Pratt & Whitney builds the F135 engine for the JSF with partial work performed at the Pratt & Whitney North Berwick facility.

* $442.3 million for C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, the engines of which are built by Pratt & Whitney with partial work performed at the Pratt & Whitney North Berwick facility.

* $51.3 million for M2HB .50 Caliber Machine Guns and $67.1 million for MK19 MOD 3 40mm Grenade Launchers, both of which are manufactured at Saco Defense in Saco.

* $9.7 million for construction of a Consolidated Emergency Control Center at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

* $6.9 million for the Maine Army National Guard to field the Integrated Disaster Management System, developed by Global Relief Technologies in Kennebunk and Portsmouth, in support of critical medevac operations in Iraq. This system provides near real-time data management and analysis to and from field operators via hand-held devices.

* $5.9 million for the Defense Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, which benefits the University of Maine.

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