WASHINGTON, DC-The US Senate has approved the final version of the fiscal year 2006 budget resolution with the support of both Senators Snowe and Collins. At the urging of the Senators Snowe and Collins, the budget includes two crucial provisions affecting Bath Iron Works. "With the fate of Maine's shipbuilding industry hanging in the balance, we decided to support the budget, in large part because of provisions essential to the future of Bath Iron Works and its 6200 employees," Senators Snowe and Collins said. "Provisions in this budget, specifically putting the entire Congress on record against the Navy's one shipyard proposal and providing authority for advanced appropriations for shipbuilding, are crucial to preserving our industrial base and the strength of our Navy. " "This budget is far from perfect. It contains provisions with which we disagree. On balance, however, our concerns with the flaws in the budget were outweighed by the critical language that helps return stability to the future of the shipyard. No cause is more important to us than preserving the jobs of the working men and women of Maine," the Senators added. The FY 2006 budget conference report includes two provisions that are critical for Maine's Bath Iron Works, including one that would allow for Advanced Appropriations for future U.S. Navy ships, including the DD(X) destroyers. Advance appropriations would allow Congress to spread out the costs of major ships, such as the DD(X), over several years, instead of in a lump sum. The other provision puts the Senate on record in opposition to a policy by the Department of Defense to pursue a winner-take-all strategy for the acquisition of destroyers under the DD(X) program. It states that the amounts identified in the Budget Resolution assume that the Department of Defense will not acquire any destroyer under the DD(X) program through a winner-take-all strategy by awarding all contracts to a single shipyard. "We recognize the flaws in this budget and had hoped that a better balance could have been struck for other national priorities. We have shared our concerns with many of our colleagues and with Senate leadership. We will work to address these issues when the Senate considers reconciliation bills. Nevertheless, a strong Navy with two destroyer shipyards is crucial to our nation's future security, and this budget moves this policy forward, which we believe is in the best interest of BIW, the State of Maine, and our nation." ####