Historic Support for U.S. Navy Shipbuilding and Submarine Construction Included in House’s Final FY 2022 Omnibus

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), Chairman of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, voted to pass the FY 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 2471). The House's 2022 Omnibus includes critical new support for Ukraine, increased funding for eastern Connecticut priorities like the special education and workforce development, and more. The House passed the bill today by a vote of 361-69, it is expected to receive a vote in the Senate in the coming days.

As Chairman of the Seapower Subcommittee, which oversees all U.S. Navy shipbuilding, Courtney and his colleagues are responsible for ensuring a strong and capable U.S. Navy. In September, their subcommittee helped authorize a final 2022 National Defense Authorization (NDAA) that provides new support to America's servicemembers, and that includes a historic amount of funding for U.S. Navy shipbuilding and submarine construction and procurement—the most since the 1980's. Now, the House's 2022 Omnibus provides full funding to back Courtney and the Seapower Subcommittee's top priorities, delivering on behalf of the U.S. Navy and eastern Connecticut's manufacturing workforce and supply chain.

"America's national security priorities and challenges around the world have an impact here at home every day—on our democracy, our economy, and our everyday lives. That fact has become apparent to many people lately," said Chairman Courtney, "and it's why my colleagues and I on the House Armed Services Committee authorized an NDAA in December that focused heavily on boosting our naval and maritime fleets, and on our submarine capabilities—some of the most important priorities for our U.S. Navy. We led the effort to build on President Biden's budget request, we delivered the largest combined investment in submarine procurement and development in recent history, and we authorized my provision to prepare America's shipyards for future increased attack submarine production. All of that and more was included in our 2022 NDAA, and now the House's 2022 budget officially backs it up with full funding."

Courtney continued: "We've done nearly a full one-eighty from 2021, when we met the challenge to restore construction of an entire submarine in the 2021 NDAA that the Trump Administration sought to cut in its budget. Instead, our 2022 Omnibus maintains stability for submarine construction, for domestic sealift capabilities, and for our servicemembers—provisions that our Seapower Subcommittee originally authored and authorized. This is a great bill for servicemembers, shipbuilders, and our supply chain, we've pressed hard to bring it all home once and for all, and tonight the House got it done in bipartisan fashion. Now that the House has done the heavy lifting, the Senate should waste no time in moving our budget on to President Biden's desk for signature."

Defense and Submarine Priorities

Submarines and Undersea Capabilities—The FY22 omnibus provides a total of $12.5 billion for submarine procurement, repair, research & development priorities including:

• Virginia-class Submarine – supports the sustained two-per-year build rate of new Virginia-class submarines in 2022 and beyond, continuing the Block V multi-year contract and reflecting Courtney's bipartisan work to preserve the two a year build rate. The bill also provides $35 million to allow the Navy to support shipyard facility and industrial base improvements to support sustained two-a-year production.
• Columbia-class Submarine – fully supports the second year of funding for the first Columbia class submarine and supports advanced procurement to support the second, in line with the contract announced in June 2020, as well as a Courtney-authored provision providing $130 million to continue efforts to improve the nationwide submarine supplier base.
• Research and Development of Future Submarine Capabilities – the bill includes $773 million in research and development of future submarine capabilities—efforts vital to sustaining the health of the design and engineering workforce at Electric Boat.
• USS Hartford repair availability – the bill fully supports the budget request of $710 million to support the remainder of the maintenance availability for the USS Hartford in 2022. In June, the Navy awarded the "smart start" contract to Groton's Electric Boat (EB) for initial maintenance work on the boat, one of the largest submarine maintenance availabilities ever executed by the yard. Click here to learn more.
• USS Connecticut Repair – the bill includes a $40 million addition to repair and prioritize the USS Connecticut, highlighting the importance of the boat's mission-critical capabilities.

The bill also includes other Courtney-led provisions to augment undersea priorities such as:

• Academic Partnerships for Undersea Research – The bill provides $25 million, which was driven by the House Armed Services Committee's mark, to support partnerships with academic institutions conducting research on undersea capabilities, such as the National Institute for Undersea Vehicle Technology, a collaborative program between the University of Connecticut and the University of Rhode Island.
• Submarine Workforce Development – appropriates $20 million to support training programs to help support expansion of the skilled submarine workforce as the industrial base ramps up construction of new submarines. Courtney has strongly supported workforce development efforts in the region to support hiring at Electric Boat and the supply chain through programs like the Eastern Connecticut Manufacturing Pipeline.
• Remote Acoustic Sensors – the agreement provides $22 million to support operational testing of unmanned acoustic sensor systems, which will help the Navy evaluate existing off-the-shelf platforms like those developed by Groton's ThayerMahan.

Connecticut National Guard

• Tactical Airlift & C-130 Modernization – The bill funds $142 million in enhancements to the C-130 fleet, including critical engine and propeller upgrades to enhance power, speed, and efficiency of the tactical airlift fleet flown by the Air National Guard. The 130rd Airlift Wing of the Connecticut Air National Guard flies the C-130.
• Putnam National Guard Readiness Center – funds a new Connecticut National Guard Readiness Center in Putnam. The new Putnam Readiness Center would primarily support the CT Guard's 643rd Military Police Company and its training, administrative, and logistical requirements. Currently, the unit is stationed at an armory in Westbrook, CT, which was built in 1955 and does not meet current anti-terrorism and force protections standards. Click here to read more.
• Bradley Air National Guard Base – appropriates $17 million for the Connecticut Air National Guard's Aerospace Ground Equipment and Vehicle Maintenance Facility. The facility is the last major C-130 specific mission-driven project to execute on Bradley Air National Guard Base since the installation started the conversion to the C-130 aircraft back in 2013, and will ensure mission readiness of the 103^rd Air Wing.

Additional Connecticut Aerospace Priorities

• F-35 Joint Strike Fighter – Supports procurement of 85 F-35 aircraft for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, equal to the budget request. The bill reprioritizes F-35 program funding to support the services' Unfunded Priority Lists that would accelerate and bolster F-35 maintenance activities and procurement of additional engine modules, built at Pratt & Whitney.
• Blackhawks – Supports the budget request for 24 UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, including an additional 9 aircraft dedicated to the National Guard, built at Sikorsky.
• CH53-K – Increases the budget request to procure an additional two aircraft to bring the total to 11 CH-53K heavy lift helicopters, built at Sikorsky.
• Kaman/K-Max – funds $7 million to continue development of unmanned logistics capabilities with the CQ-24A helicopter manufactured by Bloomfield-based Kaman Aerospace

Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee Priorities

Shipbuilding – the FY22 omnibus increases the budget request by $4.1 billion to expand the Navy's shipbuilding and conversion account and increase industrial base capacity. The increase was driven by the House Seapower and Projection Subcommittee, which is reflected in the FY22 Department of Defense appropriations package. The increase includes:

• Two DDG 51 Arleigh Burke destroyers, one more than the budget request;
• Two Virginia-class submarines;
• One guided missile frigate (FFG);
• One LHA amphibious assaults ship;
• Two John Lewis Class T-AO fleet oilers;
• One T-AGOS(X) surveillance ship;
• Two T-ATS towing, salvage, and rescue ship;
• Two expeditionary fast transport ships (EPF)

Sealift and Maritime – the FY22 omnibus provides necessary capabilities to improve the performance of the fleet's sealift and maritime security enterprise:

• Tanker Security Program (TSP) – The bill fully supports the budget request of $60 million for the new Tanker Security Program, created by the Seapower Subcommittee in the FY21 NDAA to address critical gaps in at-sea refueling and logistics.
• National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) – The bill fully funds the fifth and final planned NSMV, a vessel first authorized by the Seapower Subcommittee to meet urgent mariner training needs at the nation's state maritime academies.
• John Lewis Class T-AO fleet Oilers – The bill fully funds the construction of two John Lewis Class T-AO fleet oilers, which will be operated by Military Sealift Command to provide critical services like underway replenishment of fuel to U.S. Navy and other vessels, allowing them to operate efficiently worldwide.
• Expeditionary Fast Transport Ships (EPF) – The bill supports the construction of two expeditionary fast transport ships (EPF) to be operated by Military Sealift Command, which support the rapid transit and deployment of equipment, supplies, and personnel.
• Used Sealift – the bill also fully funds the budget request to purchase five used auxiliary vessels for the National Defense Reserve Fleet. While Chairman Courtney supports the limited use of used vessels to meet near term sealift gaps, he has consistently called on the Department to prioritize the domestic construction of new-build ships to meet sealift requirements and support the shipbuilding industrial base.

Other notable provisions

• A pay raise for servicemembers – the bill provides a 2.7% pay increase for American military personnel
• Defense Impact Aid – funds $50 million for the DOD supplemental impact aid program, which provides support to local school districts with high proportions of military children, including Groton public schools, and $10.0 million for local educational agencies eligible to receive a payment for children with severe disabilities and $10 million to local educational agencies determined by the Secretary to have higher concentrations of military children with severe disabilities. This program is in addition to the primary Impact Aid program funded through the Department of Education, which does not fall within the jurisdiction of the House Armed Services Committee.

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