The U.S. House Appropriations Committee has given initial approval to adding a second navy destroyer to the two ships President Biden has proposed in his budget. Maine’s delegation has been pressing for the second ship on behalf of Bath Iron Works.
Democratic Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, who serves on the Committee, says all four members of Maine’s delegation have been working hard to get the additional funding since the President announced his budget. She says while the initial vote was important, the effort is far from over.
"Of course there are hurdles. We have to get it through the full committee, we have to get it to the floor and then the Senate has to agree with us as well" Pingree says.
Pingree says Maine’s delegation members hold seats on key committees in both the House and Senate and that could help to convince other members of Congress of the importance of the second destroyer. She says the final budget votes probably won’t occur until September.
“This has truly been a full court press and we were really pleased that our colleague Joe Courtney from Connecticut who worked with Jared on the Armed Services Committee came up to BIW to be able to understand the rationale of why its important," Pingree says.
