American Shipbuilding Association

Senator Trent Lott Receives Herbert H. Bateman Award

In a ceremony before Members of Congress and industry leaders on April 20th, the American Shipbuilding Association (ASA) awarded Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) with the shipbuilding industry’s highest honor, the Herbert H. Bateman Award. 

“Trent Lott, throughout his 30 plus years of service in the U.S. House of Representatives and in the U.S. Senate, has been a tireless advocate of a stronger shipbuilding industry, and our Nation’s sea services.  He has consistently worked for larger shipbuilding budgets to fund more naval ships to ensure the security of the country.  He has worked to recapitalize our aging fleet of Coast Guard cutters, and to revive commercial shipbuilding in the United States.  He is also a leader in the fight to preserve and strengthen defense acquisition laws to require that ships and critical ship components be manufactured in America to provide our men and women in the military with the most survivable, safest, and most technologically advanced ships in the world”, said Cynthia Brown, President of the American Shipbuilding Association.

“His long and impressive record in support of a larger Navy, Coast Guard, and merchant fleet, and the supporting American shipbuilding industry has made him a deserving recipient of the Herbert H. Bateman Award,” continued Brown.   

The Herbert H. Bateman Award was established by the American Shipbuilding Association in 2000.  This Award is given annually to an individual in the Executive Branch, Legislative Branch, or industry who has demonstrated years of consistent, outstanding, and inspirational leadership in fighting for a stronger shipbuilding industry.  Congressman Herb Bateman of Virginia, the award’s namesake, demonstrated these qualities throughout his tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 – 2000.

Previous recipients of the Herbert H. Bateman award are:  Herbert H. Bateman (R-VA); Olympia Snowe (R-ME); Gene Taylor (D-MS); Ted Stevens (R-AK), and Duncan Hunter (R-CA).  

Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus Meets with Industry

In the third meeting of the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus, Caucus Members engaged in an energetic dialogue with shipbuilding industry representatives during the Shipbuilding Industry Day Conference, on April 20th in Washington, DC.  Visiting with the Presidents of the Big Six shipyards, representatives from major ship system and component manufacturers from across the country, and representatives from shipbuilding labor, the Caucus outlined what Congress is doing to address the threats facing the Nation if our naval fleet and shipbuilding industry continue to decline.

Caucus Chairs Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis (R-VA) and Congressman Gene Taylor (D-MS), joined by fellow Caucus Members Representatives Tom Allen (D-ME), Rodney Alexander (R-LA), Jim Langevin (D-RI), Mike Michaud (D-ME), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Rob Simmons (R-CT), and Joe Wilson (R-SC) discussed the progress the Caucus has made in educating Members of Congress on the need to increase the naval shipbuilding budget.  Representative Gene Taylor emphasized the threat this country faces, both militarily and commercially, if the U.S. continues to allow the fleet to fall while China builds a naval fleet large enough to control the world’s sea lanes.  Representative Jo Ann Davis assured industry representatives that the Caucus is leading the charge to increase the fiscal year 2006 naval shipbuilding budget by $984 million, and is presently working on legislation to limit leasing of foreign-built ships by DOD to no more than two years. 

Davis and Taylor both urged all within the shipbuilding industry to ask their Representatives to join the Shipbuilding Caucus, if they have not yet done so.  Caucus Members gave their assurances that the Shipbuilding Caucus will continue to work to guarantee our national security by increasing our naval fleet and strengthening the health of the shipbuilding industry. 

Senate Adopts Amendment to Maintain U.S. Aircraft Carrier Force Strength

On April 20th, the Senate, in a 58-38 vote, adopted an amendment to the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill that seeks to block the Pentagon’s plans to pre-maturely retire the USS John F. Kennedy.  If left unchanged, the Navy’s decision will reduce the Nation’s carrier fleet from 12 to 10 if construction of CVN-21 is also delayed, as proposed in the FY 06 Budget.  Critical of the Navy’s decision to arbitrarily retire an aircraft carrier after years of having stated that 12 or more are needed, amendment sponsor Senator John Warner (R-VA) noted that “the decision to take the Kennedy and put it in a situation where it is going into mothballs was made in the final hours of the budget process.”

The Kennedy was originally scheduled for a complex overhaul from May 2005 through August 2006.  Stating that the carrier was not needed, and that the funds allocated for overhaul could be spent elsewhere, the Navy decided to accelerate the retirement date from 2018 to 2006.  Co-sponsored by Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL), George Allen (R-VA), Jim Talent (R-MO), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), the Warner amendment requires that funding be made available to extend the life of the Kennedy, in order to maintain a twelve aircraft carrier fleet, at least until DOD submits its next quadrennial defense review to Congress, and a new agreement has been reached regarding the permanent forward deployment of carriers in the Pacific. 

Many Members of House and Senate have repeatedly criticized the Navy for making force structure decisions based almost entirely on budget constraints.  In a March 3rd Senate Armed Services hearing, Senator Warner demanded that Secretary of the Navy Gordon England provide documentation and evidence that factored into the Navy’s decision to retire a carrier, and proof that the budget driven decision would not subject the United States to unnecessary risks.  In addition to concerns about the national security threat of only having eleven operable carriers, Senator Bill Nelson has called on the Navy to prove that its decision to retire the Kennedy will not end up costing the Nation more in the long run.  During the April 20th confirmation hearing for Deputy Secretary of Defense, Senator Nelson questioned Secretary England as to what will  happen to the U.S. carrier presence in the Pacific Ocean when the USS Kitty Hawk retires in 2008.  Japan is the homeport for U.S. forward deployed naval forces in the Pacific, and that country has traditionally prohibited nuclear powered ships from being stationed in its waters.  If the Japanese continue this position, Senator Nelson demanded to see the cost analysis of extending the life of the Kitty Hawk, without putting the ship in dry-dock, and the cost of bringing the only other conventional powered carrier, the Kennedy out of mothballs if a non-nuclear carrier is needed to maintain a forward presence in the Pacific. 

In a separate provision, the Senate moved to block the Navy’s proposal to award a “winner-take-all” contract to build the next generation of surface combatants, DD(X).  The Navy’s plan to remove competition could result in the closing of one of the Nation’s two surface combatant shipyards.  The language included in the Supplemental Bill would prevent DOD from spending money on shifting the destroyer work from two shipyards to one.  Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS), sponsored the amendment, which was strongly supported by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and Trent Lott (R-MS). 

The Emergency Supplemental Bill now moves to conference between the House and Senate.  The House version of the Supplemental contains neither the DD(X) or aircraft carrier provisions. 

China Emphasizes Importance of Domestic Shipbuilding Industrial Base

In an article that appeared in an April 14th issue of Lloyd’s List International, China, whose government owns all the commercial and naval shipyards in the country, warned of the dangers of their country relying on foreign sources for ship systems and components.  The president of the China Association of National Shipbuilding Industry, Wang Rong Sheng, was quoted as saying  that “’the government should plan in entirety for this [shipbuilding] industry, and create some enterprises which are able to innovate and compete with international rivals.’”  According to the Lloyd’s List International article, “only 40% of ship parts made in China are produced in China and the rest are imported…”  With China’s understanding of the importance of possessing a strong navy and shipbuilding industrial base in order to be a world power, and with the unlimited labor and manufacturing resources at its disposal, China is on its way to becoming the dominant force on the seas. 

New Partner

D.G. O’Brien, Inc., of Seabrook, New Hampshire has joined as a Partner member of ASA.  A leading manufacturer of electrical and optical products, from deep submergence connectors, to hull penetrators for submarines, to towed array connection systems, D.G. O’Brien has been an industry leader since 1962. 

Well Said!

“Several years ago, the Chief of Naval Operations opined that we needed about 375 ships in the U.S. Navy to meet the national military strategy, basically to protect our security.  We now have around 288 [ships]… We need to make the point to everyone around the world that we are going to sustain naval strength at the levels necessary to protect the security of the United States.  So we as a Congress need to begin resolving now that we are going to do what is necessary to accomplish that… to buy the ships we need to sustain a 300-ship or more Navy.”

Senator Jim Talent (R-MO)
April 20, 2005