Washington, DC - In a joint letter to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner, and Congressmen Randy Forbes, Glenn Nye, Bobby Scott, and Rob Wittman urged the Committees not to authorize an appropriation of $46.3 million to dredge the channel and basin at Naval Station Mayport (NS Mayport), Florida, in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010.
The House Armed Services Committee voted overwhelmingly to remove the funding authorization after an in-depth review by the Committee determined that it was premature to expend $46.3 million to initiate dredging prior to the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). The Senate version contains the authorization which must be resolved by House and Senate conferees now meeting to resolve differences in the Senate and House versions of the bill.
“Mindful of our increasingly fiscally constrained budget environment, we believe the QDR’s review is the best approach to assess the military necessity, costs, and benefits associated with all aspects of carrier homeporting or port visits at NS Mayport.,” wrote Webb, Warner, Forbes, Nye, Scott and Wittman.
Specifically, the Virginia lawmakers cited the following reasons for the House position to be accepted in conference: Spending nearly $50 million of taxpayer funds before the QDR review is completed is poor policy; the expense of transforming NS Mayport into a homeport for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers is fiscally irresponsible; and the Navy has not justified the strategic or military requirements for deep dredging at NS Mayport nor creating an additional CVN homeport on the East Coast.
Text of the letter is available below or to view a PDF of the original letter, please click here.
September 18, 2009
The Honorable Carl Levin The Honorable John McCain
Chairman Ranking Member
228 Russell Senate Office Building 228 Russell Senate Office Building
United States Senate United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510 Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Ike Skelton The Honorable Howard P. McKeon
Chairman Ranking Member
House Armed Services Committee House Armed Services Committee
2120 Rayburn House Office Building 2340 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Chairmen Levin and Skelton, and Ranking Members McCain and McKeon,
During the current conference of the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, we write to urge your support for conferees adopting the bipartisan position taken by the House Armed Services Committee not to authorize an appropriation of $46.3 million to dredge the channel and basin at Naval Station Mayport (NS Mayport), Florida.
Since the early 1990s, Congress, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, the Navy, and the Department of Defense have assessed the costs, benefits, and environmental impacts of establishing a second homeport for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers (CVNs) on the East Coast. In each instance, Congress has not supported such proposals. The current homeporting project was a priority for former Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter. In January 2009, the Navy recommended that NS Mayport should become a homeport for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and added funding in the FY-10 budget for this purpose.
In light of questions raised regarding the strategic necessity for this homeporting proposal and costs that could reach $1 billion, the Department of Defense (DOD) decided to evaluate the project during the current Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). Mindful of our increasingly fiscally constrained budget environment, we believe the QDR’s review is the best approach to assess the military necessity, costs, and benefits associated with all aspects of carrier homeporting or port visits at NS Mayport.
Following the Department of Defense’s action to delay the homeporting decision, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) conducted an in-depth review to determine whether authorizing funding to dredge Mayport to accommodate a CVN was a prudent use of taxpayer dollars. The Committee concluded it would be premature to expend $46.3 million to complete the project’s first phase—dredging Mayport’s channel and basin—until the QDR review was completed.
The Committee’s bipartisan support for this position was clear and decisive. Both the Readiness Subcommittee and the HASC acted to remove the funding authorization, with the HASC voting decisively by an overwhelming 40-21-1 margin. There were no challenges to this position on the floor, and no amendments were offered to restore the funding authorization.
Because the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act differs from the House position by authorizing funding for channel dredging at NS Mayport, this issue must be resolved by House and Senate conferees. We believe that the House position on this funding authorization should be accepted by the conferees for the following reasons:
1. Spending nearly $50 million of taxpayer funds before the QDR review is completed is poor policy. Advocates for CVN homeporting assert the dredging project is the first step in homeporting a CVN at Mayport, but the QDR has not completed its evaluation of the Navy’s homeporting proposal. In addition, Congress will evaluate the QDR’s decision and may hold hearings to determine whether the DOD’s recommendation is in the best interest of the Navy, U.S. national security, and fiscal responsibility. It is premature to spend $46.3 million to complete the first step in the expensive process of converting NS Mayport into a homeport for CVNs.
2. The expense of transforming NS Mayport into a homeport for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers is fiscally irresponsible. Military construction costs to convert NS Mayport into a homeport for CVNs are estimated at more than $670 million and could easily reach $1 billion after accounting for annual operations and maintenance costs. These funds could be better spent on other critical shortfalls in funding Navy procurement accounts or the Navy’s $28 billion backlog in shore facilities restoration and modernization. This autumn, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) will begin an investigation of the material condition of the four naval shipyards owing to the Navy’s estimate of a $1.3 billion funding backlog in the yards’ validated sustainment, restoration, and modernization projects.
3. The Navy has not justified the strategic or military requirements for deep dredging at NS Mayport nor creating an additional CVN homeport on the East Coast. During the 48 years since the Navy’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was commissioned in 1961, the Navy has never had a second CVN homeport on the East Coast. The Navy did not strategically disperse its East Coast CVNs at the height of the Cold War, and it has not completed a comprehensive risk-based assessment of the costs and benefits to do so today. The Navy’s proposal for CVN homeporting at Mayport described the risk of a catastrophic event in Hampton Roads as “small” and stated “no clear, credible threat distinguishes one homeport from the other.”
While we appreciate that the Department of Defense has appealed the House’s decision to eliminate the dredging authorization, the Department’s appeal fails to present a compelling explanation for the immediate need to expend $46 million for dredging at Mayport before the QDR’s evaluation of the Navy’s homeporting proposal is completed.
As such, we urge the conferees to support the House position by not including authorization for funding for dredging at NS Mayport in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. We appreciate your consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
Jim Webb Mark Warner
United States Senator United States Senator
Glenn Nye Randy Forbes Robert Wittman Bobby Scott
Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress Member of Congress