COLLINS SUCCESSFUL IN AUTHORIZING $248 MILLION IN FUNDING FOR REFUELING OF NUCLEAR SUBMARINE AT PORTSMOUTH NAVAL SHIPYARD

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Susan Collins, the only representative of Maine's congressional delegation on the Armed Services Committee, today announced that she has secured a $248 million authorization for the refueling of the USS Jacksonville, which will employ 800 workers at the Kittery Portsmouth Naval Shipyard over the next two years. The authorization, which has been approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee, must now be approved by the full Senate and then moved to a conference committee with the House.

"The Committee's approval of this authorization is excellent news for the Shipyard," said Senator Collins. "It is a testament to the quality of work performed by the men and women employed at the Kittery Portsmouth Naval Shipyard that the Committee has entrusted to them the responsibility for optimizing the lifespan of this nuclear submarine and for ensuring that our Navy has the resources it needs to maintain a strong national defense."

Senator Collins, who has been engaged throughout the week with the full Committee, as well as members of the Seapower, Personnel, and Emerging Threats Subcommittees, on which she also sits, requested the refueling of the Jacksonville by the Shipyard. She urged the Committee to select PNS for the task in order to maintain an adequate number of submarines in the Navy's fleet as well as to stabilize the workload as a round of base closures approaches in 2005.