Michael J Connor News

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, held a hearing January 12, starting development of a 2022 Water Resources and Development Act. One Subcommittee goal is a new and updated WRDA every two years. Michael L. Connor, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) and Lieutenant General Scott A. Spellmon, Chief of Engineers and Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were guests, making opening remarks and then taking questions from each Subcommittee member.In addition…

The U.S. Army on Wednesday announced  the Civil Works studies, projects and programs that the Corps would implement in Fiscal Year 2022 with the $22.81 billion in supplemental funding provided in two recently enacted laws — the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; and the 2022 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act.The spend plan supports the Administration hitting the ground running by focusing on current Fiscal Year 2022 spending. Future announcements will provide spend plans for subsequent years.

Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), hosted a keel-laying ceremony Saturday for the future USS Washington (SSN 787), a Virginia-class submarine named for the Evergreen State. The submarine’s sponsor is Elisabeth Mabus, daughter of Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. Acting as the keel authenticator, during the ceremony she chalked her initials onto a metal plate. Her initials were then welded onto the plate, which will be permanently affixed to the submarine as a symbol of her relationship with the ship, its shipbuilders and crew.

General Dynamics Electric Boat, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics, will christen North Dakota (SSN-784), the U.S. Navy’s newest and most advanced nuclear-attack submarine, at its shipyard here on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 11 a.m. Katie Fowler, wife of retired Vice Adm. Jeff Fowler, is the ship’s sponsor. The event’s principal speaker is Vice Adm. Michael J. Connor, commander – Submarine Forces. The submarine North Dakota is the 11th ship of the Virginia class, the first U.S. Navy combatants designed for the post-Cold War era.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) christened the 10th Virginia-class submarine, Minnesota (SSN 783), at the company's Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division. The ship's sponsor, Ellen Roughead, performed the traditional honor of breaking a bottle of American sparkling wine across the submarine's hull. Roughead, a Minnesota native, is the wife of former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead. "Minnesota is the sum of all her parts," Mrs. Roughead said. "Everything and everyone who has contributed will be an ingredient in the spirit and the force that makes Minnesota.