Bill Nelson, U.S. Senator from Florida: Media Release: Congress finally approves plan to upgrade Mayport

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Senate today approved the fiscal 2010 defense authorization bill – containing long-sought language for upgrades to Naval Station Mayport that will help make Jacksonville ready for a nuclear aircraft carrier.

The Mayport improvements are among a number of major military projects targeted for funding in a broader $680 billion national defense spending plan. The Senate passed it late Thursday afternoon by 68-29. It previously passed the House. Now it’s on its way to the president for his signature, and he is likely to sign it.

Beyond Florida and Mayport, the defense bill reportedly backs President Obama’s new plan for missile defense in Europe, which shifts from radar and missile sites in Poland and the Czech Republic to a ship- and land-based approach, using smaller and less costly missiles. The provision would permit the administration to reallocate fiscal 2009 money that was once slated for missiles in Eastern Europe to implement the president’s plan.

Also, according to published accounts, the measure includes a rewrite of some of the Bush administration’s rules for detaining, interrogating and prosecuting wartime detainees. It would prohibit the use of coerced testimony, limit the use of hearsay and change procedures for handling classified information.

Passage of the bill came Thursday about 5:15 p.m. after months and months of wrangling that saw lawmakers from Virginia try to strip out the Mayport upgrades on the House side.

Right now, the Atlantic fleet of U.S. nuclear carriers is based in just one port in Norfolk, Virginia, which Nelson and U.S. Reps. Corrine Brown and Ander Crenshaw, a Democrat and a Republican from Jacksonville, respectively, argue poses a potential national security risk.

The spending bill says $46.3 million should be used for dredging the St. Johns River, an improvement that’s necessary for carriers to access Mayport at all times. Currently, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers can only access Mayport with a light load and during high tide. The plan also includes authorization for $29.6 million for wharf improvements.

“We are on the way to bringing a nuclear carrier to Mayport,” Nelson declared after the Senate vote. “This is an important step in the process.”

On a separate but related note Thursday, North Florida’s congressional delegation of Sens. Nelson and George LeMieux ( R-FL ) and U.S. Reps. Crenshaw and Brown wrote a letter to President Obama, underscoring the importance of having two East Coast aircraft carrier homeports and calling on the president to reaffirm his commitment to strategic dispersal of critical assets such as aircraft carriers.

Besides Mayport, the defense bill also includes a number of other major military projects across Florida. Among them are $246 million for 30 projects at Eglin Air Force Base to upgrade and build new facilities for the F-35 aircraft and special forces training; $8.4 million to construct a new combat weapons training facility at Patrick Air Force Base; and, $55 million to complete construction of new headquarters for U.S. Southern Command in Miami.

All told, the spending plan includes $584 million in funding for Florida military construction projects. Other key Florida-related provisions in the bill include:

• Eglin AFB - $246.49M of military construction funding for various F-35 and 7th Special Forces Group basing projects

• Hurlburt Field - $28.05M of military construction funding for flight test operations facility, re-capitalization of an MC-130 simulator, and electrical improvements.

• Pensacola Naval Air Station - $26.2M for a new bachelors enlisted housing facility and a simulator facility.

• Whiting Field - $4.12M for a paraloft facility.

• Panama City - $7.3M to purchase land for a new Army Reserve Center

• Jacksonville Naval Air Station - $5.97M to modify existing facilities for the Navy's new P-8 aircraft

• Jacksonville International Air Port (Air National Guard base) - $11.5M to replace a jet fuel storage complex.

• Mayport Naval Station - $102.3M for channel dredging, wharf improvements, and a new fitness center

• Blount Island - $3.76M for a port operations facility

• Patrick Air Force Base - $8.4M for a combat weapons training facility.

• MacDill Air Force Base - $43.3M for a new child development center, communications facility and U.S. Central Command’s commandant facility.

• U.S. Southern Command headquarters - $55.4 M for the 3rd increment of the headquarters’ project

• West Palm Beach - $26M to purchase land for a new Army Reserve Center

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