Warner and McCain, Hunter Rally Forces for Trade Fight

Sea Power, Jul 2004 by Klamper, Amy

House Republicans and Senate Democrats are finding some common ground this summer on so-called "Buy American" legislation intended to safeguard national security and protect the U.S. defense industry - and the American shipbuilding base - from losing jobs to foreign markets.

The unholy alliance took shape earlier this year when presidential hopeful John Kerry vowed to save U.S. jobs that the Bush administration wants to export overseas. Following Kerry's lead, Senate Democrats took up the charge, joining protectionist lawmakers in the House from across the aisle. Among them are California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Jo Ann Davis, a Virginia Republican who recently drafted legislation designed to curb the Navy's leasing of foreign ships. The Davis measure garnered strong bipartisan support from House lawmakers, passing the full chamber in late May as part of the 2005 Defense Authorization Bill.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have been busy thwarting the handiwork of pro-trade members, such as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., whose industrial base legislation in the Senate version of the Defense Authorization Bill would gut existing protectionist legislation and ease trade ties between the United States and its allies. In June, Sen. Mark Dayton, a Minnesota Democrat, filed an amendment to the Senate bill that would strike some of McCain's prodefense trade provisions.

And it's not just a jobs issue. Buy American advocates say it's a matter of national security, because if the Navy continues to buy foreign products, the United States will lose the ability to defend itself at sea. Globalization enthusiasts, including McCain and Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner, R-Va., invert that argument, asserting that if the Navy and other service branches can't peruse foreign markets for subsystems and componentry, they will miss out on low-cost, high-quality alternatives to American manufacturing and jeopardize critical military capabilities and readiness. They could also damage key alliances that will form the backbone of future coalitions in the war on terrorism and other potential conflicts.

But as both sides enter a House-Senate conference debate this summer on the 2005 Defense Authorization Bill, industrial base protectionists such as Hunter and Dayton can expect stiff resistance from McCain, Warner and other Senate Armed Services Committee members who fought bitterly last year to keep Hunter's sweeping Buy American reforms out of fiscal 2004 defense legislation.

This year, Hunter is getting his ducks in a row with a series of hearings related to industrial base issues and meetings with White House and State Department officials to discuss his proposals for 2005. And with his unlikely Democratic cohorts in the Senate, Hunter will give Warner and McCain a run for their money as conference deliberations heat up.

But the two senior Republican senators have done some homework of their own. Warner has already drawn early support from the administration for McCain's language, and engaged numerous U.S. defense companies, mid-level suppliers and nearly every American ally in preparation for a showdown that is likely to drag on beyond the November elections.

Coming This Fall: A Look At A 40-Knot Strategic Lift Ship

The Navy's Fleet Readiness and Logistics office has asked Naval Sea Systems Command (NavSea) to assess the feasibility of a Rapid Strategic Lift Ship especially designed for the high-speed transport of helicopters to world trouble spots. The ship also would carry approximately 1,000 troops and other materiel.

The Navy is searching for ways to expedite operations involving the Marine Corps CH-53, the huge heavy-lift helicopter that is invaluable whenever the Marines are on the move. Transporting the choppers by C-17 aircraft is a cumbersome, time-consuming process that involves taking the CH-53s apart, putting them back together at staging sites and testing each one before it is operable.

A ship able to move the choppers at 40 knots or more - with no disassembly - would eliminate the need for much of the existing process yet deliver the CH-53s in a reasonable time to marry up with Marines and their equipment. Once the choppers are delivered, the ship could perform shuttle service, transporting troops and materiel between advance bases and a Sea Base near an area of operations.

Logistics experts tentatively envision the need for two Rapid Strategic Lift Ships. A feasibility level concept design report is expected from NavSea in the fall.

Navy Faces Hurdles in Divesting Property in Washington State

While the Navy hopes to sell 25 acres of land and houses inside Seattle's Discovery Park to a private developer, it will have to get past Washington Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray first.

The two have joined forces with other members of their state's delegation to ensure the land is restored and incorporated into the surrounding natural habitat. Last month, the Washington delegation wrote to the Navy after learning of its plans to name a private developer for the property, known as Capehart, a 50-year-old military housing development built on the former site of Fort Lawton.