Blumenthal, Murphy, DeLauro, Himes Call on Navy to Keep Marine One Work in Connecticut

HARTFORD, CT (August 22, 2016) — In a letter today to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) and Congressman Jim Himes (CT-04) called on the Navy to suspend any possible plans to shift maintenance of the Marine One Presidential helicopter fleet from Stratford, Connecticut to a Navy facility in Florida.

"We strongly urge you to suspend any relocation until a thorough review of all direct and indirect costs of any relocation are made," the letter states. "No other facility has the standing expertise. Any other facility will require time and money to reach the same standard of maintenance, if they can ever meet this challenge. We are confident that Stratford workers are capable of continuing to complete this work – as they have done reliably and safely throughout the life of the program – with an irreplaceable level of expertise and familiarity with the aircraft that sets them apart."

The full letter is available here.

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