Senator Olympia J. Snowe

SNOWE TOURS KITTERY-PORTSMOUTH NAVAL SHIPYARD WITH ADMIRAL WILLIAM FALLON; SENATOR HIGHLIGHTS UNIQUE, UNSURPASSED STRENGTHS OF SHIPYARD

Contact: Antonia Ferrier/ (202) 224-5344
Monday, November 22, 2004

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A longtime advocate for a strong Navy, U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) was pleased to join Admiral William Fallon, Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, and of the Atlantic Fleet, in touring the Kittery-Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (KPNSY) in Kittery, Maine this morning. Snowe was pleased that during today’s tour, Admiral Fallon, as the Shipyard’s principle customer and user, was able to witness firsthand the quality workmanship that KPNSY provides to both the Navy and the Atlantic fleet in particular.

“I want to thank Admiral Fallon for coming today to visit the best Shipyard in the Navy. The dedication and professionalism of the workers at Kittery-Portsmouth Naval Shipyard was certainly on display as it is every day. During our visit with Admiral Fallon, we demonstrated to him to the Shipyard's many strengths – a well-known source of pride. I know he was impressed by the quality of worksmanship that have allowed the Shipyard to deliver 6 ships ahead of schedule, saving both the Navy and the nation’s taxpayers $26 million,” said Snowe.

“The Shipyard has proven time and again that a standard of true excellence for every project can be achieved with fewer dollars in fewer days, and those savings are vital to the Navy's mission and Admiral Fallon's command both of U.S. Fleet Forces Command and the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet, making him the principle customer and user of the Shipyard’s high quality work product,” continued Snowe.

Snowe also congratulated both KPNSY and its workers for successfully completing the Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s (OSHA) extensive review and, subsequently, for its recommendation for the VPP Star Site status for safe work standards. “The standard of excellence demanded at KPNSY has truly set it above the rest as demonstrated by its nomination for the VPP Star Safety Award. I congratulate everyone at the shipyard - both labor and management - for working together as a team to ensure that every worker leaves the yard just as they enter it. The tremendous relationship between labor and management is good not only for the yard, but for the Navy and the Nation.”

Among the contributions highlighted during today’s visit were the shipyard's technical and production achievements, the quality of the workforce, uninterrupted stream of innovations – and the quality of life enjoyed by the sailors and workers stationed. Additionally, Snowe noted the strategic location of KPNSY that makes it a true anchor of our Naval defense capability.

Snowe congratulated the Shipyard worker’s for continuing a 15-year trend of nuclear powered submarine overhaul successes in terms of both cost and schedule – with the highest caliber of workmanship – the Shipyard once again set a record for an Engineering Refueling Overhaul with the completion of work on the USS Norfolk.

“I think Admiral Fallon would agree after his tour today that the critical enabler for such a track record is a highly skilled workforce of unparalleled talent – a workforce raised in a nautical culture, many descended from generations of local seacoast families that have worked at KPNSY over the past two centuries. In light of the years it takes to train and qualify nuclear workers, I believe Portsmouth's specialized workforce – really America's ‘virtuosos’ of naval submarine maintenance – constitutes a human resource that would be difficult, if not impossible, to rebuild,” continued Snowe. “What sets KPNSY apart from other shipyards is the workforce's ability to develop innovative practices and then export them to other Naval shipyards where those practices become the standards for naval vessel maintenance and repair.”

KPNSY is one of only two nuclear certified public shipyards on the East Coast with numerous attributes that set it apart from other shipyards, including its natural deep harbor, a nuclear license, and drydock certifications. Given the realities of coastal development and environmental permitting, KPNSY is also a site that would be virtually impossible to reconstitute.

KPNSY, situated further north and east than any other Navy owned ship and submarine repair facility, is strategically ideal for Navy warfighter platform support and joint-use missions with the Department of Homeland Security. KPNSY is also currently providing homeporting for the U.S. Coast Guard and collaborating with them to provide added base protection, even as the yard continues as the Navy's top performer in submarine overhaul and holds the current cost and schedule records for Los Angeles Class submarine maintenance.

“When you consider the whole picture, I believe the conclusion is inescapable: Kittery- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard has and will always be what is today, a national treasure, and a vital mainstay of the Navy's mission,” concluded Snowe.

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