MAINE/NH DELEGATION PREPARES TO MAKE CASE FOR PORTSMOUTH NAVAL SHIPYARD

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Senators Judd Gregg (R-NH), Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME) and John Sununu (R-NH), Congressmen Jeb Bradley (R-NH), Tom Allen (D-ME) and Charlie Bass (R-NH), and Governor John Baldacci met to prepare for the July 6th BRAC regional hearing in Boston. In a mock hearing, the delegation and Governor finalized their parts of the presentation that will make the case for removing Portsmouth Naval Shipyard from the Pentagon's base closure list.

"With the regional hearing just over one week away, we are fine-tuning our arguments for our presentation to the BRAC Commission," said Senators Gregg, Snowe, Collins and Sununu, and Congressmen Bradley, Allen and Bass. "Working with military experts and community groups in Maine and New Hampshire, we have built a strong, fact-based case, dissecting the Navy's flawed rationale for closing the shipyard. These facts clearly show what we already know - Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is a model for other shipyards, not a candidate for closure."

The Maine Delegation and Governor Baldacci will hold similar meetings this week to prepare their case for Brunswick Naval Air Station and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service in Limestone.

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