The $105 billion emergency aid President Biden has proposed primarily for military aid to Ukraine and Israel also includes funding for the American submarine industry. Some of it could go to the General Dynamics Electric Boat facility in Quonset Point.
Biden has requested Congress send $3.4 billion dollars to go towards submarine naval shipyards and shipbuilding. Rhode Island does not host one of the public shipyards outlined in the funding plan, but the facility in Quonset Point produces hulls for the undersea vessels.
The funding would be a boost for Electric Boat, which is one of the largest employers in Rhode Island, and is already set to gain thousands of workers over the next two years. The money would in part go to building nuclear attack submarines, for which the Quonset Point facility builds the hulls.
Sen. Jack Reed’s office said that funding specifically for the Rhode Island plant is “very likely,” though the amount of money is uncertain.
Sen. Reed has previously fought in Congress to win contracts for Rhode Island-based defense suppliers.
The funding request released by the White House outlines the needs for greater submarine production in order to protect American allies in the Indo-Pacific region. In the request, Shalanda Young, the director for the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, wrote: “Our allies and partners in the region need our support more than ever, and this request provides resources to help them build the capabilities necessary to address threats from an increasingly assertive PRC [People’s Republic of China] and to meet emerging challenges.”
The proposal includes $61.4 billion in aid to Ukraine; $14.3 billion in aid to Israel; $13.6 billion in security efforts at the United States’ southern border; $10 billion in humanitarian assistance in Ukraine, Israel, Gaza and for migrants and refugees at the southern border; and $7.4 billion in assistance to Taiwan and other allies in the Indo-Pacific region.
Metro Reporter Olivia Ebertz can be reached at olivia@thepublicsradio.org.
