WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton announced today that Congress has agreed to buy three Aegis DDG51 destroyers for $3.2 billion, as part of the 2004 defense authorization.

The development means hundreds of millions of dollars and years of additional contracts at Lockheed Martin’s Maritime Systems & Sensors, formerly Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems (NE&SS) in Moorestown, N.J. to provide Aegis naval ship technology for the United States Navy.

“This will lead to years of work for employees at the Lockheed Martin Plant,” Saxton said. “Aegis destroyers will continue to be the shields the of the U.S. fleet and its carrier groups into the foreseeable future.”

Late Thursday night House and Senate conferees reached an agreement on H.R. 1588, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004. The legislation sets policies, programs and funding levels for the nation’s military. This bill includes a significant pay raise, along with other retention and recruitment incentives, such as housing allowances and strengthened programs for our National Guard and Reserve personnel.

Conferees authorized $400 billion in budget authority for the Department of Defense (DOD) and the national security programs of the Department of Energy (DOE). The bill was passed by the House today 362-40 and is expected to be approved by the Senate next week, and then sent to President Bush for his signature.

“The final product contains important provisions such as concurrent receipt pay for the nation’s veterans, and important new benefits for military personnel and their families,” Saxton said.

One of Saxton’s closest allies on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), Chairman Duncan Hunter of California, said the budget is a step to improve national defense over the results of cuts in the 1990s.

“Working with President Bush, we are slowly but surely transforming and rebuilding our military after years of neglect by the previous administration,” Hunter said. “Much remains to be done, however, to counter years of cuts to procurement accounts, force structure and readiness. The funding gap created during the past decade will require many years of significant increases in defense spending.”

The House Armed Services Committee noted that President John Kennedy spent 9 percent of America’s gross domestic product on defense, and President Ronald Reagan spent 6 percent.  In 2004, the Congress will spend 3.4 percent on defense.

“In dangerous world where Americans are facing many threats at home and abroad, the Congress must rise to the occasion and must fund a national defense to meet these threats,” said Saxton, the fourth-highest ranking of 61 members of the committee.

The agreement includes:

Concurrent Receipt for Military Retirees:  Currently, disabled veterans’ retirement benefits are offset by the amount of disability coverage for which they are eligible. H.R. 1588 provides full concurrent receipt of benefits for the most severely disabled veterans.

Personnel Benefits:  A pay raise and important new benefits for military personnel and their families are included in the conference report. 

Personal benefits provisions include:

• A 4.15 percent average increase in base pay for our men and women in uniform.
• A reduction in the average amount of housing expenses paid by service members from the current 7.5 percent to 3.5 percent in fiscal year 2004 - with  elimination of the out-of-pocket expense completely by fiscal year 2005.
• Extension of special pay and bonuses for active duty personnel through December 31, 2004.
• An increase in the family separation allowance for service members with dependents, worldwide, from $100 per month to $250 per month for the period beginning October 1, 2003 and ending on December 31, 2004. 
   
• An increase in the rate of special pay for those subject to hostile fire and imminent danger, worldwide, from $150 per month to $225 per month for the period beginning October 1, 2003 to December 31, 2004.