Money coming through for carrier George Washington

Fears that the aircraft carrier George Washington's overhaul at Newport News Shipbuilding might be called off because of sequestration were laid to rest Tuesday with a key Senate panel's endorsement of $848 million for the project, according to Virginia lawmakers.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat, said credit for securing the funding goes to the state's 13-member congressional delegation.

"It shows there's still a Virginia way in terms of the delegation working together," he said.

The carrier funding "couldn't have been done without the cooperation between the House and the Senate and between Republicans and Democrats," he said. "It was all hands on deck."

The three-year nuclear refueling and renovation of the ship, which provides thousands of jobs at the shipyard, was put in jeopardy early this year when President Barack Obama's defense budget request did not include the hundreds of millions needed for the first year.

The administration said unless sequestration - a 10-year reduction in defense and domestic spending - was resolved, the Pentagon wouldn't allocate money for the carrier's midlife overhaul in 2015. The administration said it would put off a decision about the vessel's future until 2016.

Retiring the George Washington, which would reduce the nation's carrier fleet from 11 to 10, would save about $6 billion, the Navy has said. The total cost of the overhaul is estimated at more than $3 billion.

However, separate House and Senate committees, which include Virginia lawmakers, disagreed. The panels inserted a chunk of money for the carrier overhaul in a series of bills that set the 2015 defense budget and authorized the money to pay the bills.

The House's armed services and appropriations committees have approved spending plans that include the first year of carrier refueling. The Senate Armed Services Committee had done the same.

On Tuesday, the defense subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee agreed to a Pentagon budget that included $848 million for the George Washington. The full committee is expected to endorse it Thursday.

The full House and Senate still have to pass their defense bills and settle disagreements in the budget. The House legislation, for example, would provide $789 million for the carrier in 2015.

The Senate and House actions send a "very powerful signal," said Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat. "I think we have succeeded in our six-month effort to tell the administration that you're going to keep funding an 11-carrier Navy."

Warner and Kaine acknowledged that Congress also will need to find the money to complete the overhaul, despite the continuation of the automatic defense cuts in 2016.

It would be "financially irresponsible" not to complete the work, Warner said.

Kaine added, "It is inconceivable to me that we would do this much refueling work on the George Washington and then stop."

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