Wednesday on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Sen. Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook) called on his colleagues to support funding for additional production of a U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) in this year’s defense bill, which would be built at Austal USA’s facility in Mobile.
Such a move by the U.S. Senate would protect 4,000 Alabama jobs. Given the current legislation includes funding for one new LCS, Jones has sponsored an amendment to add an additional LCS to the bill.
If the additional LCS isn’t added to this defense bill, the current workforce supporting LCS production in South Alabama could remain idle until 2021.
“By not recognizing the importance of the LCS to our nation’s security, we hurt the long-term viability of the workforce in Alabama and all the suppliers across 41 other states. And, to some extent, we don’t recognize their importance in national security,” he said. “The [Navy’s] Future Frigate, which Alabama stands ready to support, won’t come online for a few more years. Those 4,000 workers in South Alabama need to keep working, not just sit tight and wait to be employed again in 2021. They need to work now. They need to continue the lines to make sure we have seamless transitions.”
“Let me be clear: this isn’t just about one or two ships,” he continued. “We need to consider this in terms of our long-term goals. We need to build the ships the Navy needs to do its job. We need to keep our production lines ready to go for future products. And we need to maintain the American jobs that make these efforts possible.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and is the editor of Breitbart TV.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.