Governors join aircraft carrier debate

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine says federal funds should not be used to repair a Florida naval station despite a plea from Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.

Kaine said in a letter to U.S. Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and John McCain, R-Ariz., that the $46 million in defense spending funds being sought by Crist would be better spent on other naval projects, The Newport News (Va.) Daily Press said Thursday.

The governors' pleas come amid an ongoing discussion on which U.S. state will host a base for all East Coast aircraft carriers.

Kaine told Levin and McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee's chairman and ranking member respectively, that spending the funds on the dredging of a Naval Station Mayport channel is ill-advised.

"It makes little sense to prepare infrastructure at NS Mayport the Navy may well never need while leaving critical modernization and operational needs unattended," Kaine said.

Crist said in a letter to the two senators this month that without the $46 million in federal funds, the naval station in Duval County, Fla., will likely not be tabbed as a port for a nuclear carrier.

"The dredging of the Mayport channel is a critical step for the eventual home-porting of a nuclear carrier at Mayport," the Florida official said.