DATE: Saturday, July 12, 1997               TAG: 9707120290

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   79 lines

SENATE'S OK OF DEFENSE SPENDING BILL BOOSTS HAMPTON ROADS SHIPBUILDING

The Senate on Friday kept alive hopes for an early start next year on construction of an aircraft carrier that would be built at Newport News Shipbuilding and for an innovative plan to get the yard back into the submarine business.

Both items, and the thousands of jobs they carry for Hampton Roads, were included in a $268 billion defense spending plan for 1998 that passed 94-4. They had been omitted from a House version of the legislation, approved last month.

A conference committee will attempt to fashion a compromise bill over the next few weeks. Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., who as head of the Senate's seapower subcommittee led the drive for the carrier and sub programs, said he's optimistic that the final bill will include both.

The Senate version of the bill also would provide for 20 new F/A-18 ``Super Hornet'' fighter jets sought by the Navy, eight more than the House approved. At least some of those planes are likely to end up at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach.

Both bills also would block the Clinton administration's plan to conduct two more rounds of military base closings, in 1999 and 2001. Civilian and uniformed military leaders say the services have too many bases for the pared-down force of the post-Cold War era.

The $345 million in early carrier work approved by the Senate represents a downpayment on the $5 billion ship and is to be used for the purchase of components that will be needed when construction begins in earnest after the turn of the century.

The Navy's schedule for carrier construction did not provide for any funds for the ship, designated CVN-77, until 2000. But shipyard officials launched a lobbying campaign this spring for the spending approved Friday, saying the early investment would save $600 million on the final price of the ship.

Newport News, and a consulting firm that reviewed the yard's figures for the Navy, said that by doing some preliminary work sooner the yard and the Navy would avoid having to lay off and then rehire hundreds of yard employees who are now working on other ships but will be needed for the carrier.

Newport News and a rival-turned-partner Electric Boat of Groton, Conn., also got their way in the Senate on a plan to team up on construction of the first four submarines in a new series the Navy hopes to put in service during the first quarter of the 21st century.

The House version of the bill had ordered the yards to stick with an earlier plan to build the boats independently, with two going to Electric Boat and two to Newport News. The yards contend that by cooperating in the work, they can save the taxpayers $700 million of the original $10 billion price tag for the four subs.

Friday's overwhelming Senate vote provided more evidence of the broad support that has emerged in recent years for maintaining a military force of slightly less than 1.5 million active duty troops, with 12 aircraft carrier battle groups, 10 Army and three Marine Corps divisions and 12 active and eight reserve Air Force fighter wings.

Senators ducked one major fight, or at least deferred it to the House-Senate conference committee, when they completed action on the bill without considering amendments that would effectively block the administration from turning a pair of Air Force aircraft repair facilities over to private operators.

A 1995 base closing commission ordered the Air Force to shut the facilities at Kelly Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas, and McClellan Air Force Base near Sacramento, Calif.

The administration has sought to soften the economic damage to both areas by proposing to let civilian defense contractors take over the facilities and their work, an option permitted under the base closing law but one which critics say circumvents the law's intent.

The depot controversy is ``like Mount Vesuvius; it's simmering,'' Warner said.

The Senate bill also includes:

A 2.8 percent pay raise for military members, the same total recommended by the House.

Almost $600 million in additional spending, beyond the $3.5 billion originally sought by President Clinton, for missile defense systems.

Approval of construction for military housing, child care centers, dining facilities and schools worth $218 million.

More than $2.8 billion for the construction of three new Arleigh Burke class destroyers for the Navy. KEYWORDS: DEFENSE BUDGET

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu