(16 Jul 2025)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pascagoula, Mississippi – 15 July 2025
1. Various of shipyard
2. Various of shipyard
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington D.C. – 16 July 2025
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew Paxton, Shipbuilders Council of America president:
"The shipyard industrial base has had years of probably being underutilized, but the shipyards are still here."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pascagoula, Mississippi – 15 July 2025
4. Various of shipyard
5. Workers walk at shipyard
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington D.C. – 16 July 2025
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew Paxton, Shipbuilders Council of America president:
"What we’re looking at is hopefully, hopefully, a generational investment to really expand the industry, and I think you’ll see our shipyards do just that."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pascagoula, Mississippi – 15 July 2025
7. Fairbanks Morse Defense sign
8. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves speaks at podium
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Gov. Tate Reeves, (R) Mississippi:
"Yeah, $150 billion investment in our nation’s defense in the one big beautiful bill act that was signed by President Trump. There’s no doubt that there is alignment in Congress and in the White House that we are going to rebuild our Navy fleet."
10. Fairbanks Morse Defense Bird-John Propeller Company sign
11. Propeller
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Steve Pykett, Fairbanks Morse Defense CEO:
"There’s been a much needed shot in the arm in terms of the approval of the big beautiful bill: the funding that secures, the long-term ability to start planning further investments."
13. Crowded room at event commemorating the Bird-Johnson Propeller Company being acquired by Fairbanks Morse Defense
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Jim Kenny, vice president of Navy affairs for Fairbanks Morse Defense:
"It took us a lot of years to get to the state we are right now, and we have to do those things that accelerate us to get out. So, right investment, right time. The executive order policy changes are building a structure that will support this."
15. Various of shipyard
16. Various of shipyard
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Gov. Tate Reeves, (R) Mississippi:
"We build things here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and we’re going to be a major benefactor of that increased spending at the Department of Defense. But really the big winner is the protection of our country."
18. Various of shipyard
19. Various of shipyard
STORYLINE:
At an event commemorating Fairbanks Morse Defense’s acquisition of the Bird-Johnson propeller foundry, one of only two facilities capable of casting propellers for the Navy, industry leaders praised President Trump’s budget bill and the money it sets aside for shipbuilding.
"There’s been a much needed shot in the arm in terms of the approval of the big beautiful bill: the funding that secures, the long-term ability to start planning further investments," said Fairbanks Morse Defense CEO Steve Pykett.
The budget includes $29 billion for Navy shipbuilding and the Maritime Industrial Base. The Shipbuilders Council of America called the provisions a "generational" investment that will help "right the ship" after years of labor shortages and inconsistent demand, among other challenges, weakened the industry.
"The shipyard industrial base has had years of probably being underutilized, but the shipyards are still here," said Matthew Paxton, the president of the Shipbuilders Council of America. "What we’re looking at is hopefully, hopefully, a generational investment to really expand the industry, and I think you’ll see our shipyards do just that."
AP Video by Sophie Bates
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