THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 29, 1995 TAG: 9512290560
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Rep. Herbert H. Bateman of Newport News - the lone Republican among Hampton Road's delegation to the House of Representatives - will hold a news conference this morning to ``address his future,'' his office announced Thursday.
Spokesman Dan Scandling, contacted Thursday afternoon, declined to be more specific about the congressman's intentions. But the announcement fueled speculation that Bateman may join a lengthening list of long-term congressional members who are calling it quits.
Bateman, 67, indicated last year that he would retire after his term. But shortly before the November election, he began backing away from that promise, saying he would make no final decision until the end of the year.
In July, Bateman suffered a mild heart attack. He spent a week undergoing tests at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. He then returned to Capitol Hill.
Bateman has represented the 1st District since 1983. He is best known for his advocacy of maritime interests and the shipbuilding industry, particularly Newport News Shipbuilding.
A senior member of the House National Security Committee, Bateman became chairman of the panel's military readiness subcommittee when Republicans took control of the House in January. The position has put him in the center of GOP efforts to increase the defense budget.
Bateman played a critical role last month in engineering a compromise over who would build America's submarines: the Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, Conn., or Newport News Ship-building.
The Clinton administration and the Pentagon wanted to give all contracts - worth $60 billion and involving thousands of jobs over the next 20 years - to Electric Boat. The House and the Senate each passed decidedly different plans, including work for Newport News.
Bateman called for a meeting Nov. 9 that brought together eight senators, representatives and naval officers who met in House Speaker Newt Gingrich's office to reach a compromise.
Bateman proposed a compromise alternating sub contracts between the two yards until 2002, when the fifth of a new class of submarines is to be built. At that point, the two yards would compete for further contracts.
The proposal won the day. Newport News will begin work on one sub in 1999 and a second two years later.
If Bateman retires, he would be the 15th member of the House - and the fifth GOP lawmaker - in the 104th Congress to bow out. In the Senate, 11 members have announced plans to retire. That is the largest number since 1896, according to the Senate Historian's office. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Rep. Herbert H. Bateman of Newport News is Hampton Roads' only
Republican in the House.
by CNB