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Virginia delegation cheers carrier move delay
Virginia’s congressional delegation cheered a move by the Navy not to include funding for moving a Naval nuclear-powered aircraft carrier from Virginia to Florida in the 2013 Defense budget released Monday.
The fight over moving one of the East Coast carriers to Mayport, Fla., from Norfolk, Va., has been raging in Congress for years. The Navy did not include funding in the 2013 budget for the move, which the military wants to do for security reasons, but at a significant cost.
“Historic fiscal challenges and the devastating prospect of a trillion dollars in defense cuts have only bolstered our argument that such a move would not just be strategically unnecessary, but also fiscally irresponsible,” said Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.), in a statement with state colleagues Reps. Rob Wittman (R) and Scott Rigell (R).
Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) said the Navy’s decision “affirms the strategic and fiscal logic behind it.”
While the Virginia delegation said the move was now cancelled, Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.), whose district includes Mayport Naval Station, said that the project has only been delayed. He said he’s been “assured by the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) that the Navy remains committed” to moving the carrier to Mayport.
“This makes no sense,” Crenshaw said in a statement. “We are already three years into making Mayport nuclear capable. Further delay will only drive costs higher.”
The Pentagon has planned to move one carrier out of Norfolk because it did not want all its East Coast nuclear carriers stationed in the same place.
The brawl over the move has occurred in large part because of the economic impact and jobs associated with wherever the carrier is located.
