U.S. Sen. Susan Collins met with leaders from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) Metal Trades Council (MTC) to discuss the Trump Administration’s proposal to divert funds, appropriated by Congress, from military construction projects.
The PNSY was among the military installations that were placed on a list by the Defense Department as being under threat of losing funding as a result of the emergency declaration at the southern border. The leaders at the shipyard, President Richard Smith and Vice President Gary Buertin have been advocating on behalf of the shipyard to defend the funding secured by Congress. Last week they met with Collins in her Washington, D.C. office.
“Proceeding the productive discussion with Rick and Gary from PNSY’s Metal Trades Council, I was encouraged by the Navy’s testimony earlier in the day assuring me PNSY’s fiscal year 2019 construction projects would be awarded as scheduled,” Collins said. “PNSY is critical to southern Maine’s economy and our national security, and I will continue to work with my colleagues until we have concrete assurance for Shipyard workers that this funding is secured.”
Collins, along with Sens. Angus King (I-ME), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) issued a joint statement stating that military construction projects with fiscal year 2019 award dates be exempt from having their funding diverted to pay for a border wall. Congress had already appropriated the funding for PNSY with fiscal year 2019.