WASHINGTON, D.C.--With the support of U.S. Senator Susan Collins, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Fiscal Year 2014 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill to provide $594.4 billion in funds for the Department of Defense (DoD). The bill includes an additional $100 million and report language for the Arleigh Burke destroyer program to fund a tenth ship in the DDG-51 multiyear procurement-a ship Bath Iron Works would build. The bill also included funding for many other investments in Maine.
"The funding of another DDG-51 ship as provided in this measure and report language would result in additional savings for the taxpayers which have totaled more than $1.5 billion to date through the multi-year procurement contract. It would also allow the Navy to send another DDG-51 to sea that is capable of performing many roles and missions in support of our national defense." said Senator Collins, who is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. "I am grateful to Chairman Durbin and Vice Chairman Cochran that the Defense Appropriations bill illustrates the importance the Senate places on this program and our nation's Navy as a whole."
Senator Collins was able to successfully appropriate funding for the following defense programs:
• $2.4 billion for the Navy's DDG-51 program, including an additional $100 million to allow the Navy to put the tenth DDG-51 destroyer under contract with the funding included in this bill.
• $231 million for the DDG-1000 ships, which are built at Bath Iron Works.
• $5.7 billion for procurement of 29 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft. Components for the F-35 are built at Pratt & Whitney in North Berwick, at General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems in Saco, at Hunting Dearborn Inc. in Fryeburg, and at Fairchild Semiconductor in South Portland.
• $1.4 billion for Ship Depot Operations Support, which is $30 million more than the President's budget request. This supports funding at each navy shipyard, including Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY). The measure also directs the Navy to induct no fewer than 100 apprentices at each naval shipyard, including at PNSY.
• $471.3 million in funding for research and development for the CH-53K helicopter. Hunting Dearborn in Fryeburg manufactures the rotor shaft for this helicopter.
• $233 million for National Guard depot maintenance, including work performed at Maine Military Authority in Limestone. The Committee adopted an amendment to the Committee Report by Senator Collins urging the National Guard to fund the repair and return of equipment at its Readiness Sustainment and Maintenance sites, including Maine Military Authority, at a funding level consistent with the previous year.
• $150 million in Rapid Innovation Program funding to increase investment in small businesses and developing technologies that benefit DoD.
• $36.5 million for the Procurement Technical Assistance Program, which has six offices in Maine, to assist small businesses seeking to do business with the federal government.
• $56.5 million for procurement of the Common Remotely Operated Weapons System (CROWS). Vingtech in Biddeford and Arundel Machine in Arundel produce components for the CROWS.
• $33.69 million for M2 .50 caliber machine gun modifications performed at General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems in Saco.
• $28.4 million to support important Civil Air Patrol operations and maintenance nationwide, which is $3.7 million more than the President's budget request. The Civil Air Patrol has nine stations in Maine.
• $28 million for the STARBASE program, which the President had sought to eliminate. Maine has a STARBASE location at the Bangor Air National Guard facility that serves over 700 students annually.
The bill also includes policy initiatives supported by Senator Collins:
• The bill includes $25 million to fund the establishment of a Special Victims' Counsel Program across all of the military services, which will provide victims of sexual assault with important legal assistance and support. Senator Collins and Senator McCaskill advocated for the provision of such legal counsel for victims in their BE SAFE Act, portions of which were included in the Fiscal Year 2014 National Defense Authorization Act.
• The bill includes an amendment offered by Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Senator Collins that urges the Department of Defense to treat more than 53,000 dual-status military technicians the same as active-duty personnel who are exempt from sequestration. Our nation's dual-status military technicians are the effective equivalent of uniformed personnel in the active-duty component because they maintain the same individual level of readiness as their active-duty counterparts. Maine is home to 539 dual-status military technicians.
• Senator Collins supported several provisions to provide for better health care for our men and women in uniform. The bill provides funding vital to medical research programs, including $120 million for efforts to understand and fight breast cancer through the innovative and efficient Breast Cancer Research Program, where more than 90 percent of the funds go directly to competitively-awarded research grants. In addition, the bill includes $60 million for Traumatic Brain Injury and Psychological Health that is directed towards Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.
• The bill increases funding to reduce the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) claims backlog by accelerating the transfer of DoD health care records. The bill adds $297 million for TRICARE to ensure service members are not paying more from their own pockets for their health care.
• The bill eliminates $8 million in funding associated with the proposed 2015 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round which has not been authorized.
• The bill eliminates $8 million to reduce the unusually large number of 3- and 4-star generals in the officer corps. Senator Collins has long argued that returning the number of general officers and flag officers to historical levels is one way the Department of Defense can do its part to reduce our nation's current budgetary problems.
• The bill also includes a provision supported by Senator Collins stipulating that U.S. assistance to Afghanistan shall be reduced by $5 for every $1 that the Government of Afghanistan imposes in taxes or penalties on the U.S. for transport of our property in or out of that country.
The Fiscal Year 2014 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill now goes to the full Senate for consideration.