Press Releases

"I am deeply disappointed by the decision not to repair the Miami. I had a long conversation with Admiral Hilarides this afternoon and he made it very clear that both the deep budget cuts and the uncertainty caused by the sequester had a significant impact on that decision...."

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree issued the following statement tonight on the decision by the Navy not to repair the USS Miami, the submarine damaged in a fire at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in May, 2012.

"I am deeply disappointed by the decision not to repair the Miami. I had a long conversation with Admiral Hilarides this afternoon and he made it very clear that both the deep budget cuts and the uncertainty caused by the sequester had a significant impact on that decision. It is shameful that this ill-conceived law has contributed to the loss of work at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. I know the men and women at the yard in Kittery would have not only repaired the Miami but made it better than it was before the fire. They deserved the chance to do that work and the Navy needed that ship. It's outrageous that that the yard won't get the chance to put the Miami back in service because of sequestration."

Hilarides is the Commander of Naval Sea Systems Command and oversees the Navy's workforce.

Pingree voted against the Budget Control Act, which created the sequester mechanism.