SENATOR COLLINS WELCOMES INCOMING BIW PRESIDENT DUGAN SHIPWAY AT MEETING IN HER WASHINGTON SENATE OFFICE

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Susan Collins, the only member of the Maine delegation who serves on the Armed Services Committee, today welcomed incoming BIW President Dugan Shipway at a meeting in her Washington, D.C. Senate office. Shipway traveled to Washington as the Senate is considering the FY 2004 Defense Authorization Bill, which includes millions of dollars in authorizations for defense work to be completed by BIW and other Maine defense firms.

"As the Senate considers the Defense Authorization bill, I will reiterate to Mr. Shipway my commitment to working on behalf of BIW's highly skilled workforce and to strengthening naval shipbuilding," The Fiscal Year 2004 Defense Authorization bill, which is expected to win approval by the full Senate today, contains funding for several projects being conducted at BIW that are key to our national defense. Notably, Senator Collins worked to retain $3.198 billion for the construction of three DDG-51 Destroyers, two of which will be built by Bath Iron Works. Additionally, Senator Collins secured a $20 million authorization to fund research at BIW to develop ways to further automate the DDG-51 to increase its capabilities while reducing crew work load and size.