THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 13, 1996 TAG: 9603130506
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
The Navy's senior leaders urged senators on Tuesday to give top priority to submarine construction - and specifically to a new sub that would be built at Newport News Shipbuilding - if Congress decides to add funds to the Pentagon's $39 billion weapons procurement program for 1997.
A $504 million appropriation for the nuclear reactor and other components for a sub to be built at Newport News in 1999 is the first thing lawmakers should address in adding to the budget, Adm. Mike Boorda, the chief of naval operations, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Pentagon planners and the Clinton administration left the project out of the budget they submitted last week, claiming funds are not available. That move infuriated Virginia's congressional delegation, which noted that the Pentagon agreed last year to a 1999 schedule for building the sub.
Though actual construction is almost three years away, the reactor appropriation is needed in 1997 if the project is to begin and be completed on time.
The ship in question will be the second in a new line of attack subs. The lead ship is to be built at Electric Boat of Groton, Conn., beginning in 1998. The Connecticut yard also will build a third new sub, in 2000, with Newport News doing a fourth sub in 2001 and the yards competing for contracts after that.
The building schedule and division of work between the two shipyards are the product of a deal made last year by Virginia and New England lawmakers.
One key New Englander, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn., signaled Tuesday that he'll hold up his end of the bargain. Lieberman, perhaps Electric Boat's most prominent congressional supporter in last year's battles, joined Virginia Sens. John W. Warner and Charles S. Robb in urging that funds for the 1991 Newport News reactor be found this year. ``I'll do everything I can,'' he promised.
Republicans have all but promised to add to the Pentagon's procurement accounts, but a variety of ship, aircraft and missile defense programs are competing for whatever money is made available.
Warner on Tuesday accused Boorda and Navy Secretary John H. Dalton of ``failing in your responsibilities'' by not recommending enough money for weapons purchases. He dismissed their arguments that the Pentagon's long-range budget projections, if met by Congress, will cover the cost of the weapons the services will need.
KEYWORDS: MILITARY BUDGET DEFENSE BUDGET by CNB