The U.S. Senate could soon vote on a bill that contains provisions important to Bath Iron Works and other defense contractors in Maine.
In July, the House passed its version of the bill that authorizes funding on defense projects and sets policies for that spending. But while the Senate Armed Services Committee completed its work on a Senate of the National Defense Authorization Act in June, the full chamber has yet to vote on what is considered a must-pass measure. Any differences between the two versions will have to be ironed out before Congress adjourns later this month.
Maine Sen. Angus King, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee that crafted the Senate version of the bill, said he is optimistic Congress will finish work on the bill before the end of the year. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York also listed passage of the NDAA as a top priority during the lame-duck Congress.
"Well, we'll finish up to the marriage equality bill when we get back and I think that the defense bill is the next item on the agenda – and that should move,” King said. “I always hesitate to say this, (but) it's passed every year for 62 years. . . . They are working out whatever differences there are with the House now so that we should have a final package ready to vote on fairly soon. Now, ‘fairly soon’ in congressional times is sometime in the next two to three weeks. But nobody wants to leave the troops in the lurch.”
In addition to authorizing pay raises for members of the military, the NDAA contains provisions strongly supported by King and other members of Maine’s congressional delegation.
For instance, both the House and Senate versions would authorize a multi-year contract for the Navy to build up to 15 Arleigh Burke destroyers. BIW and its rival shipyard, Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi, would compete for their share of the work. But members of Maine’s delegation have said the larger, multi-year contract could enable BIW to average 1.5 ships per year rather than one per year.
The NDAA also contains funding for infrastructure improvements at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard as well as funding for additional F-35 jet fighters that contain components made in Maine.
The House version of the bill that passed last summer also contains language that would allow the four Wabanaki tribes in Maine – the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and the Mi’kmaq Nation – to benefit from future federal laws and programs that apply to other federally recognized tribes. That language successfully added by Maine Rep. Jared Golden, D-District 2, who worked on the NDAA as a member of the House Armed Services Committee. But it’s unclear if the provision, which was sought by the Wabanaki tribes but opposed by Gov. Janet Mills, will make it into the final version taken up by Congress.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-District 1, serve on their chambers’ respective Appropriations Committees that actually earmark federal money.
