Nuclear carrier rift expected to spark battle between Dems

The Navy’s announcement this week that it prefers stationing a nuclear aircraft carrier in Florida will ignite a bitter congressional battle over next year’s defense budget.

The fight will go beyond pitting the Florida delegation against the Virginia delegation. It will test the newly expanded Democratic majority in both chambers and the White House as both states press President-elect Barack Obama to influence the decision, which could bring billions of dollars and jobs to the winner.

{mosads}Whichever way the decision goes could have a lasting impact, with some freshman members of Congress likely to secure their jobs based on which state gets the ship.

The secretary of the Navy will make a final decision by the end of December on whether to send a nuclear carrier to the Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville, Fla. But the secretary will only determine the environmental impact of permanently stationing a carrier there. Funding that move — at least $500 million — will fall on Obama’s Pentagon and Congress.

The Navy signaled Monday in an announcement that it wants a nuclear carrier in Florida based on the results of the environmental impact study.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush (R) made the bold pitch to take the newest carrier named after his father, President George H.W. Bush, to Florida at the ship’s 2006 christening at Newport News, Va. Northrop Grumman built the carrier there. Virginians have feared that the weight of the former first family could be the difference in a bidding war for the newest nuclear-powered carrier.

The Bush carrier will be commissioned on Jan. 10, 2009, a mere 10 days before President George W. Bush, the namesake’s other well-known son, leaves the White House.

Virginia is fighting to hang on to as many carriers as possible at the Norfolk Naval Station. The carriers represent an economic lifeline for the Hampton Roads region, but moving one could revive the Jacksonville ship repair industry and economy.

As the Florida delegation rejoiced at the Navy’s announcement on Monday foreshadowing its decision, the Virginia delegation was disappointed.

The Virginia House delegation plans to raise the issue in open letters to Obama and his next secretary of Defense, stressing the Pentagon’s and the Navy’s budget pressures, which would make the cost of any carrier move to Florida unreasonable. On Wednesday they already sent a letter to Obama.

The fight over nuclear carriers will pit several defense authorizers against each other: Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) will go against Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), a veteran authorizer, and Mel Martinez (R-Fla.).

The fight will also test Virginia’s newest senator, former Gov. Mark Warner (D), and will likely determine the fate of newly elected Democratic Rep. Glenn Nye (Va.), whose district will feel the absence of moving the carrier to Florida.

Nye is expected to secure a seat on the House Armed Services Committee, according to sources. There he will closely work with Reps. Randy Forbes (R-Va.), a senior member of the committee and an outspoken critic of moving nuclear carriers to Florida, and Rob Wittman (R-Va.).

Florida could have Reps. Jeff Miller (R) and Kendrick Meek (D) as advocates on the committee, but the Sunshine State tips the scales in the House Appropriations Committee with Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R), who represents Jacksonville, and Rep. Bill Young (R), the most senior and powerful Republican on the Defense panel. Florida and Virginia have no representation on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

{mospagebreak}Virginia is also counting on Gov. Tim Kaine (D), a friend and political ally of Obama’s. Virginia community leaders are keeping all options on the table, including a lawsuit challenging the Navy’s process and decision.

Norfolk is the only East Coast base ready to accommodate the new carrier without a large upgrade.

Norfolk lost one of its longtime carriers — the USS George Washington — which is changing homeports to Yokosuka, Japan, as the nation’s only carrier permanently stationed overseas. Virginians calculate that the economic activity related to one carrier can reach $1 billion a year. Norfolk is now home to four aircraft carriers.

{mosads}Currently, all the fighter jets that would go on the carriers based on the East Coast are housed at the Oceana Master Jet base near Norfolk.

Mayport was home to the conventionally powered John F. Kennedy carrier until it was decommissioned last March. To house a nuclear-powered carrier, the base would need special maintenance facilities, road improvements and dredging. All that work will cost at least $500 million and could take until 2014 to be completed.

Mayport will lose other ships, too. Ten frigates will be decommissioned by 2014, and the number of sailors will go down from 13,300 to less than 9,300.

Unless a carrier or other ships are added, the ship repair industry around the area will deteriorate. Nelson and the Florida delegation have argued that having too many carriers in one port could create a strategic target for an enemy of the U.S. The Navy also justified its preference to move a carrier to Mayport partly on its desire to disperse the fleet in case of a natural disaster or terrorist attack.

Mayport was also designated the home of the 4th Fleet with responsibility over the Southern Hemisphere. That designation could bolster not only Mayport’s military role, but also its chances of getting a nuclear-powered carrier.

The Virginia delegation in the House was successful in passing legislation in the 2009 defense authorization bill that would have delayed the Navy secretary’s decision on Mayport. The legislation required the secretary to submit a report to Congress on the socioeconomic impact of a move to Mayport.

That legislation was scuttled last minute in conference negotiations with the Senate, where senior lawmakers did not want to interfere with the process of the Navy’s environmental study.