BATH

An effort by Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley late Wednesday night to amend a major defense appropriations bill — and cut nearly $1 billion from the restarted DDG-51 destroyer building program — failed by a vote of 60 to 359.

The ship is scheduled to be constructed at Bath Iron Works.

On Thursday, Bath Iron Works issued a release lauding U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat who represents Maine’s 1st District, for her efforts in defeating Quigley’s amendment, which would have eliminated funding for the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

In a release issued Thursday, Pingree said Quigley introduced an amendment to the defense appropriations bill that would have cut nearly $1 billion — and eliminated an entire ship — from the DDG-51 program.

“This was a last-minute attempt to sneak in and cut funding for a DDG-51 and that could have had some pretty dire consequences for Bath Iron Works,” Pingree said in the release. “But these ships are the workhorses for the Navy, they are a key part of our military strategy and BIW is getting them to the Navy on time and on budget. I think in the end we convinced my colleagues that it didn’t make sense from a strategic or a fiscal point of view to cut this ship.”

In a BIW statement released Thursday afternoon, shipyard spokesman Jim DeMartini said, “The Navy’s plan for meeting its national defense obligations is based on full funding for the DDG-51 program. The Maine delegation has always demonstrated an ability to balance budget pressures with the need for affordable shipbuilding capability to provide the Navy with the ships it needs. Congresswoman

Pingree’s leadership in defeating (Wednesday) night’s attempt to reduce DDG-51 program funding in the 2013 House Defense Appropriations Bill exemplifies this leadership and commitment.”