The House Armed Services Committee voted this week to include funding for shipyard improvements and a third DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in its markup of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2023, a move Rep. Jared Golden said will benefit both Maine shipbuilders and American Naval power.
“It’s important, I think, to be trying to hit a two- to three-ship pace for the next several years,” said Golden, whose $37 billion amendment to the annual defense bill included funds for the third ship, which would be built at Bath Iron Works or Mississippi-based Huntington Ingalls Industries, the two shipbuilders who build Arleigh Burkes. “These destroyers are key to our Navy’s strength and power.”
Bath Iron Works has been building DDG-51s since 1987, but international tension, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, has heightened the Navy’s need for the new Flight-III versions of the ships, which are equipped with new radar, anti-air and ballistic missile defense capabilities, Golden said. He cited the DDG-51’s role in maintaining an American presence in the Taiwan Strait, a contested strip of water that separates China and Taiwan.
“If (China) were able to close that straight to maritime travel, that would set a bad precedent everywhere in the world,” Golden said. “It’s just really critically important that there there’s a US Navy presence out there that’s viable and able to maintain freedom of navigation.”
The House Armed Services Committee approved Golden’s $37 billion amendment on Wednesday afternoon before voting 57-1 in favor of the bill during Thursday’s early hours. While greater than President Joe Biden’s requested $772.5 billion budget, the House Committee’s proposal is less expensive than the $817 billion the Senate Armed Services Committee approved earlier this week.
The House will vote on the bill later this year.
Like the Senate bill, the House version would authorize a multi-year contract for up to 15 DDG-51s over the next 5 years, Golden said. This will provide stability to Bath Iron Works, which can compete to build the ships.
The bill includes $250 million for shipyard upgrades, at least some of which would go to the Bath shipyard, according to Golden. It offers $1 billion in aid to the Ukrainian military.
It also authorizes a 4.6% pay raise for service members, as well as $800 million in inflation-related bonuses.
“Because I’ve served myself and understand what that means, I put a lot of money into bonuses for service members who are in that mid- to lower-level pay scale,” said Golden, who lobbied for the bonuses. “They’re probably really feeling the pinch of inflation. The pay isn’t nearly what it should be.”
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