Conferees agree to boost funding for Navy shipbuilding
Army modernization program, however, would see $200 million trimmed as a compromise between House and Senate versions of the Defense appropriations bill.
House and Senate negotiators on the fiscal 2008 Defense appropriations bill have agreed to significantly boost the Navy's shipbuilding accounts while trimming money from the Army's Future Combat Systems.
The increase to at least three major Navy ship programs marks a victory for House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha, D-Pa., who has crusaded this year to augment what he considers an inadequate shipbuilding budget.
Specifically, conferees have approved $588 million in advanced procurement money for a second Virginia-class submarine, a move that will speed up purchases of the nuclear-powered boats, Murtha said Wednesday. The House-passed bill added $588 million for the second sub, while the Senate approved only $470 million.
Conferees also have agreed to fund two Littoral Combat Ships this year, despite the Senate's efforts to delete the $910 million requested to buy three of the ships next year. The conference report language will largely mirror the House-passed bill, Murtha said.
"We believe that if they get this program under control it would be the engine for building new ships," Murtha said. "They're smaller, they're the type of ships that we need at this point in time, and they're a lot less expensive" than other ships.
Meanwhile, the House and Senate compromised on Murtha's effort to add $1.4 billion for three additional T-AKE auxiliary dry cargo dock carriers to the fiscal 2008 budget by agreeing to $300 million for advanced procurement funding for the ships. Murtha said the intent is to procure the T-AKEs next year.
The final bill also includes the $456.1 million requested by the Pentagon to buy one T-AKE outright this year.
Appropriators have approved $50 million in advanced procurement for the LPD-17 amphibious warfare ship, along with the Bush administration's request to buy one LPD-17. The House had added $1.7 billion for a second amphibious ship next year, but Murtha acknowledged that the Navy would not be able to build the ship this year.
In other programs, conferees trimmed $200 million from the Army's Future Combat Systems. The size of the cut reflects a compromise between the Senate's approval of the Pentagon's $3.7 billion request for the Army's key technology transformation program and the House's decision to cut $406 million.
Murtha lost his bid to add $1 billion to the fiscal 2008 budget to buy Stryker armored vehicles for the Army. But he said he expects that funding to be included in the wartime supplemental spending bill Congress will consider early next year.
Lawmakers also have "tentatively agreed" to include money to buy 14 C-17 Globemaster III cargo planes in the supplemental spending bill, Murtha said. The bill for those planes, which enjoy substantial support in Congress, could top $3 billion.