Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (ME-01) and Congressman Bruce Poliquin (ME-02) successfully worked to kill an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2018 that would have stripped $250 million from Bath Iron Work’s (BIW) DDG-51 destroyer program

The Courtney Amendment failed 144-267 after the Maine lawmakers worked together petitioning their colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives to reject the measure.

“I’m glad that Congressman Poliquin and I were able to beat back this amendment, which would have wastefully diverted funds away from Bath Iron Works. As a member of Appropriations, I was proud to work with the Chair and Ranking Member of the defense subcommittee to lead the committee’s overwhelming opposition to the amendment. In blocking this initiative, we’ve helped to ensure that the best ship builders in the world, the hardworking men and women of BIW, will continue to do this important work here in Maine,” said Congresswoman Chellie Pingree. 

“This is a big win for the thousands of hardworking, highly-skilled shipbuilders at BIW, whose work helps strengthen our national security and keep America safe. It was an honor to team up with my Maine colleague, Chellie Pingree, to fight for these men and women at BIW,” said Congressman Poliquin. “I’m thrilled this amendment was rejected, and I will continue to work to oppose any language that would cut funding from these ships.  We must ensure that BIW can continue doing its important work to keep America strong, safe and free.”

Background

The Courtney Amendment would have drastically cut $1 billion in funding from a variety of extremely important Navy and Air Force programs, including $250 million from the DDG-51 destroyer program at BIW, to fund advanced procurement for two Virginia Class submarines.  The Navy had not and will not budget for these additional submarines, meaning the Courtney Amendment would have created more than a $6 billion hole in future years, leaving the burden on Congress to come up with the additional funding and putting future funding for DDG-51’s at risk.