PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) - Recently retired U.S. Senator Thad Cochran announced a multimillion-dollar contract for the U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter 10.
Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula will provide the work for the more than $90 million contract, The Clarion-Ledger reported Sunday.
Cochran said in a news release that the Department of Homeland Security contract award to Huntington Ingalls comes less than a week after Congress provided significant funding to sustain the acquisition schedule for a new fleet.
“National Security Cutters excel at protecting our homeland because they have proven to be the most effective and advanced security ships in the Coast Guard fleet,” Cochran said. “I am certain our Mississippi shipbuilders will continue to do excellent work.”
The contract was issued as the General Accountability Office conducts an investigation sought by Cochran into whether the Department of Homeland Security was delaying contracting actions and ignoring clear congressional directives.
Cochran asked in a 2017 letter that GAO determine whether withholding the FY2017 funding violated the Budget and Impoundment Control Act and whether there could be wasteful cost escalations associated with the impoundment of NSC 10 long-lead-time material funding.
The Budget and Impoundment Control Act operates on the premise that when the Congress appropriates money to the executive branch, the president is required to obligate funds, Cochran said in the letter.
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Information from: The Clarion-Ledger, http://www.clarionledger.com
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