NEW HAMPSHIRE, MAINE SENATORS ANNOUNCE MORE THAN $17 MILLION FOR PORTSMOUTH NAVAL SHIPYARD

(Washington, D.C.) -U.S. Senators Judd Gregg (R-NH), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) today announced that their request to fund the construction of a consolidated Structural Shop at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard has passed the Senate Appropriations Committee as part of the Fiscal Year 2011 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations spending bill. The Senators secured $17,240,000 for the project, which is part of continued efforts to physically realign facilities to better support Shipyard operations.

"This funding is critical to modernizing the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and ensuring that the Shipyard is able to operate as efficiently as possible. In addition, this continued construction will provide a boost to our local economy by creating jobs while improving our defense infrastructure," said Senators Gregg, Snowe, Collins, and Shaheen in a joint statement.

With this funding, the existing the Structural Shop will be modernized and a new 51,484 square foot annex will be constructed between the Structural Shop and the Forge and Heat Treat Shops. This is the second in a series of projects to consolidate the Shipyard facilities to increase efficiency.