[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2860 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2860
To appropriate an additional amount to improve the Navy shipyard
infrastructure of the United States.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 26, 2021
Mr. Wittman (for himself and Mr. Gallagher) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and in
addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To appropriate an additional amount to improve the Navy shipyard
infrastructure of the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Supplying Help to Infrastructure in
Ports, Yards, and America's Repair Docks Act of 2021'' or the
``SHIPYARD Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Since the beginning of our Nation, the four public
shipyards that support the United States Navy have continued to
be foundational cornerstones of the strategic infrastructure of
the United States, and those shipyards will continue to be so
in the future.
(2) Although originally built in the age of sailing ships,
the shipyards have been incrementally updated overtime, but in
2021, are in need of a generational investment to modernize and
upgrade the outdated facilities to ensure they can continue to
repair the United States Navy for another 200 years. This Act
would provide the necessary authorities and appropriations to
make those strategic assets ready to meet the future demands of
the United States, while securing and expanding domestic
capabilities across many sectors of the economy critical to
ensuring the independence of the United States from, and
preventing over-reliance, on foreign commerce.
(3) On November 1, 1767, Andrew Sprowle, a merchant and
ship owner, established Gosport Shipyard on the western shore
of the Elizabeth River, in the Colony of Virginia, under the
British flag. The shipyard developed and prospered as both a
naval and merchant shipyard, supporting the maritime industry
that was critical to the survival of the early colonies and
then to the fledgling United States. When the American
Revolution began, the infrastructure resident at this former
colonial shipyard became a nucleus in the Hampton Roads,
Virginia, area for the United States Navy. For more than 230
years, the Norfolk Naval Shipyard has assisted the United
States in winning nine major wars, putting an end to piracy,
sending the Great White Fleet around the world, supporting
scientific exploration of the Pacific, and opening Asia to
United States trade. Today, the Norfolk Naval Shipyard conducts
critical maintenance to the Nation's Nuclear Navy to include
aircraft carriers, ballistic missile submarines, and fast
attack submarines.
(4) On June 12, 1800, under the administration of President
John Adams, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard was established. The
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is the United States Navy's oldest
continuously operating shipyard. In 1776, during the
Revolutionary War, the USS Raleigh was built in Kittery, Maine,
and became the first vessel to fly an American flag into
battle. For more than 221 years, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
has contributed to the Nation's security and has been
instrumental in United States diplomacy, when, in 1905,
President Theodore Roosevelt selected the Portsmouth Naval
Shipyard as the location to host the Treaty of Portsmouth,
which ended the Russo-Japanese War. Today, the Portsmouth Naval
Shipyard overhauls, refuels, and modernizes the Nation's fast
attack submarine fleet.
(5) In 1889, Congress approved a budget to purchase land
around Sinclair Inlet in Kitsap County, Washington. In 1892,
additional land was added and the United States Navy broke
ground for the construction of the first of six dry-docks that
would form what is now the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Since
that time, the shipyard was front and center in supporting the
Nation's efforts in World War I, World War II, and the Korean
War by constructing submarines, surface ships, and support
vessels required to win those wars. In late 1965, the USS
Sculpin (SSN 590) became the first nuclear-powered submarine
worked on at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The Shipyard site
at Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton provides longer-term, full-
service maintenance and inactivation and recycling work on
aircraft carriers, surface ships, and submarines, utilizing six
drydocks and adjacent piers.
(6) On May 13, 1908, Navy Yard Pearl Harbor was officially
established on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu, and the Navy Yard
has proven to be vital to the defense of the United States and
its interests in the Asia-Pacific region. The shipyard has been
instrumental in enabling the United States to secure sea-lanes
of communication and commerce that has strengthened the
Nation's ability to project power across the expansive Pacific
and Indian Oceans. For generations, the shipyard has supported
the global interests of the United States in a critical
geographic region. On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor and the
Navy Yard at Pearl Harbor were the scene of a devastating
attack on the United States by the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Despite the devastating attack, the shipyard and its workers
were able to return ships damaged in the attack back into
service and enabled the United States to win the Pacific War.
For more than 113 years, the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard's
strategic location in the Pacific has assured the safety and
prosperity of the United States through the maintenance of Navy
ships. Today the shipyard supports the maintenance of the
Navy's nuclear submarine fleet as well as surface ships.
(7) In April 2013, the Navy provided Congress a public
shipyard investment plan, which identified investments needed
to optimize, improve, and rebuild shipyard facilities,
electrical infrastructure, environmental systems, and
equipment, and needed to improve the timely return of ships and
submarines back to the fleet following maintenance and
modernization, to support the combat readiness of the United
States. To this end, the Navy developed the Shipyard
Infrastructure Optimization Program, which is a comprehensive,
20-year, $21,000,000,000 effort to modernize infrastructure at
the four naval shipyards through--
(A) performing critical dry dock repairs;
(B) restoring and optimally placing shipyard
facilities; and
(C) replacing aging and deteriorating capital
equipment.
(8) In addition to the Nation's public shipyards, the
United States continues to rely on the capacity and
capabilities of private new construction and repair shipyards
to meet the strategic maritime needs of the United States Navy,
the United States Coast Guard, and the Nation's maritime
industry. Such shipyards, located on every coast of the United
States, also require substantial recapitalization and
reconfiguration in order to meet the construction and
sustainment requirements of our maritime Nation. This Act
recognizes the vital role such private shipyards play in the
United States and accordingly authorizes and appropriates funds
to ensure they are able to continue to provide those strategic
capabilities in the future.
SEC. 3. NAVY SHIPYARD INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT.
(a) Appropriation.--
(1) In general.--Out of any money in the Treasury of the
United States not otherwise appropriated, there is
appropriated, as an additional amount for ``Defense Production
Act Purchases'', $25,000,000,000, to remain available until
expended, to improve, in accordance with subsection (b) and
using the authority provided by section 303(e) of the Defense
Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4533(e)), the Navy shipyard
infrastructure of the United States.
(2) Supplement not supplant.--Amounts appropriated under
paragraph (1) shall supplement and not supplant other amounts
appropriated or otherwise made available for the purpose
described in paragraph (1).
(3) Waiver of certain limitations.--During the 10-year
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the
following requirements of the Defense Production Act of 1950
(50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.) shall not apply to amounts
appropriated under paragraph (1):
(A) The requirement for a determination of the
President under section 303(e)(1) of that Act (50
U.S.C. 4533(e)(1)).
(B) The requirement under section 304(e) of that
Act (50 U.S.C. 4534(e)) that amounts in the Defense
Production Act Fund in excess of the amount specified
in that subsection be paid into the general fund of the
Treasury at the end of a fiscal year.
(4) Emergency designation.--The amount appropriated under
paragraph (1) is designated by the Congress as being for an
emergency requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of
the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985
(2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)(A)(i)).
(b) Use of Funds.--
(1) In general.--As soon as practicable after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall make
the amounts appropriated under subsection (a) directly
available to the Secretary of the Navy for obligation and
expenditure.
(2) Allocation of funds.--The Secretary of the Navy shall
allocate the amounts appropriated under subsection (a) as
follows:
(A) $21,000,000,000 for Navy public shipyard
facilities, dock, dry dock, capital equipment
improvements, and dredging efforts needed by such
shipyards.
(B) $2,000,000,000 for Navy private new
construction shipyard facilities, dock, dry dock,
capital equipment improvements, and dredging efforts
needed by such shipyards.
(C) $2,000,000,000 for Navy private repair shipyard
facilities, dock, dry dock, capital equipment
improvements, and dredging efforts needed by such
shipyards.
(3) Use of funds for procurement of certain services.--
Notwithstanding any provision of the Defense Production Act of
1950 (50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.), amounts appropriated under
subsection (a) may be used for the procurement of architect-
engineer and construction services at Navy public shipyards.
(4) Projects in addition to other construction projects.--
Construction projects undertaken using amounts appropriated
under subsection (a) shall be in addition to and separate from
any military construction program authorized by any Act to
authorize appropriations for a fiscal year for military
activities of the Department of Defense and for military
construction.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Navy public shipyard.--The term ``Navy public
shipyard'' means the following:
(A) The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Virginia.
(B) The Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Hawaii.
(C) The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Maine.
(D) The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Washington.
(2) Navy private new construction shipyard.--The term
``Navy private new construction shipyard''--
(A) means any shipyard in which one or more
combatant or support vessels included in the most
recent plan submitted under section 231 of title 10,
United States Code, are being built or are planned to
be built; and
(B) includes vendors and suppliers of the shipyard
building or planning to build a combatant or support
vessel.
(3) Navy private repair shipyard.--The term ``Navy private
repair shipyard''--
(A) means any shipyard that performs or is planned
to perform maintenance or modernization work on a
combatant or support vessel included in the most recent
plan submitted under section 231 of title 10, United
States Code; and
(B) includes vendors and suppliers of the shipyard
performing or planning to perform maintenance or
modernization work on a combatant or support vessel.
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