[StBernard] Fate of Avondale Shipyard Rests in Congress hands

[Westley Annis]

Fate of Avondale Shipyard 

Rests in Congress' hands
A column by Unites States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La.

 

WASHINGTON - The following op-ed was published today in New Orleans
CityBusiness:

AS WE WORK to rebuild the New Orleans region, we must focus on strengthening
every sector of our economy - from our hospitality industry to our offshore
oil and gas industry and our port system on the Mississippi River. But
another essential aspect of our economy deserves Congress' immediate
attention: the full funding of 11 LPD-17 ships built on the West Bank at
Northrop Grumman's Avondale shipyard. Failure to commit to producing these
ships will jeopardize the shipyard's manufacturing jobs, endanger our
economy and deny our sailors and Marines the most cutting-edge technology as
they serve our nation. 

The U.S. Marine Corps leadership has repeatedly told Congress that a force
structure containing fewer than 10 LPD-class ships would put the Marines at
"significant risk" for meeting our global presence commitments and
supporting our troops in the fight against al-Qaida and other terrorist
groups. Funding for the full fleet is the Marines' highest priority, and the
Navy has also weighed in, considering full LPD funding to be its second most
important priority. The Marine Corps' amphibious ship plan calls for 33
ships, including 11 LPDs, but the present force structure comes up short. 

Last year, Congress appropriated $50 million for the 10th LPD. While this
was a good start, I am pushing my colleagues on the Senate Appropriations
Committee to fully fund the additional $1.7 billion needed to complete this
ship. Full funding for this vital program will not only prevent layoffs at
Avondale, it will also save the military $500 million in shutdown costs. 

A cutoff at only nine LPD ships would severely impact the nation's
shipbuilding base and a regional economy still reeling from the catastrophic
hurricanes of 2005 and the federal levee breaks that followed. Avondale is
the largest manufacturing employer in Louisiana, with about 5,500 workers.
About 1,000 of these jobs are at risk. Truncating the program also threatens
a supplier and vendor industry in 39 states, including a $131 million
Avondale support economy here in Louisiana. 

In a tight budget year, there are many competing programs for federal
appropriations dollars. But we cannot sabotage national defense programs
that protect our troops in a time of war. It is equally foolhardy in this
strained national economy to further imperil American manufacturing jobs
when so many of them are moving overseas. We must keep our Louisiana
production lines open, our shipbuilders working and our Marines and Sailors
as safe as possible..

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