Defense Authorization Conference Report Includes Senator Collins' Provisions For BIW, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Saco Defense, And UMaine
Press Release
$39 million for Penobscot County ; Bill also contains $28 million for construction of new hangar at Bangor Air National Guard base
Conferees on the FY 2010 Defense Authorization Conference report, which included Senator Susan Collins, announced a final bill which authorizes $680.2 billion in funding for the U.S. Department of Defense. With Senator Collins' support, the bill includes more than $3 billion in funding for defense projects at Bath Iron Works (BIW), Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, the University of Maine, Saco Defense, 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; 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, Bath Iron Works, and our overall national security," said Senator Collins, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services and Appropriations Committees. "In addition, the Senate Armed Services Committee has again recognized the valuable contributions of Maine companies to our national security by supporting my request to funding important defense programs in our state."
The defense authorization bill must now receive final approval from the House and Senate before it can be signed by the President.
At Senator Collins' request, the final bill helps ensure a continued and steady workload at BIW by authorizing $1 billion in funding for construction of the third DDG-1000 and honors the agreement, that Senator Collins helped negotiate, to build all three of these ships at BIW. In addition, this legislation authorizes $2.2 billion for continued DDG-51 procurement, nearly $150 million for the DDG-51 modernization program, and $1.4 billion for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program and nearly $150 million for the DDG-51 modernization program.
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