Navy Challenged Over Spending on New Home Ports
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WASHINGTON — The General Accounting Office recommended Tuesday that spending on new home ports be suspended until the Navy can justify the program in light of changing world conditions and cuts in defense spending.
Martin M. Ferber, director of the GAO’s national security and international affairs division, told a House armed services subcommittee that the Navy still is relying on a 1982 analysis to justify the strategic home ports in six Gulf Coast cities and in Staten Island, N.Y., and Everett, Wash.
“We believe it is even more important to revisit that analysis now because of the changing worldwide threat, declines in the size of the Navy and budgetary pressures,” Ferber said.
Of the estimated $799-million cost of developing the eight home ports, $624.7 million already has been appropriated by Congress and an additional $25.7 million had been requested for fiscal 1991.
In addition to the $799 million in federal outlays for the program, the GAO said, state and local governments have contributed $198.7 million.
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