SHAHEEN PRESSES NAVY SECRETARY ON PORTSMOUTH NAVAL SHIPYARD MODERNIZATION EFFORTS

(Washington, D.C) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) today continued her push to support investment in infrastructure at New Hampshire’s Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing this morning, Shaheen pressed U.S. Navy Secretary Raymond Mabus on the steps being taken to support the shipyard’s modernization efforts and to increase the military’s energy independence.

Last year, Shaheen supported a bipartisan amendment in the Defense Authorization bill requiring the Department of Defense to produce a shipyard modernization plan that is due to Congress by September 1st. Shaheen urged Secretary Mabus today to produce a timely and comprehensive report. 

"I'm … concerned about our four public shipyards and the fact that this year's military construction budget does not again contain much needed dollars for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard," Shaheen told Mabus. "We have a request for a modernization report that Senator Collins, Senator Ayotte and I included in the Defense Authorization bill last year and it's due back by September 1st. I hope that report will be on time and we will see what your commitment is to supporting our public shipyards."

Secretary Mabus assured Senator Shaheen that the report would be submitted by the deadline.

Shaheen also thanked Secretary Mabus for his testimony in a Senate Energy Committee field hearing earlier this week on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge in Norfolk, VA. Shaheen chaired the hearing to discuss how the Navy’s ongoing work in energy efficiency could reduce dependence on foreign oil and enhance national security.