More Dem Lies, I thought This Was A Done Deal

I thought Doyle , Kagen, Stupak and Herb Kohl had a party in Marinette announcing a done deal?

What' this from the Peshtigo Times

Congress Needs To Act On LCS Contracts

Decision on awarding a contract for Marinette Marine Corp., Marinette, and its partner, Lockheed Martin, to construct 10 Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) and 10 ships to the U.S. unit of Australia’s Austal Ltd., in Alabama and its partner, General Dynamics, will be up to the U.S. Congress, according to Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin). Congress is slated to convene next week but it is not known when the contract will be up for a vote, possibly in December.

Each shipbuilding firm has a different design.

Sen. Kohl announced that he had been contacted by the U.S. Navy reporting they will speed up their plans to buy the ships and intend to award ten ships to Marinette Marine to be built over the next five years. He said, “This will get these valuable ships to our sailers faster, and bring 5,000 jobs to Wisconsin.”

Currently, Marinette County has the fourth highest unemployment rate in the state at 9 percent. Richard McCreary, president of Marinette Marine, reported the contract to build 10 ships would double the number of workers to about 2,000.

One ship would be built yearly in 2011 and 2012 and then go to two ships yearly through 2015.

Both Senators Kohl and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) who is chairman of the Armed Service Committee, feel the support of Congress to award the contracts is there.

However, plans are still in place to select a single winner as proposed in September 2009 by the Navy if Congress does not approve the new proposal.

Originally, the Navy indicated it was to be an all-or-nothing contract. Then last week, the Navy approached Congress with the new plan, to split the contract.