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Washington, DC – Congressman Steven Palazzo, (MS-4), member of the House Homeland Security Committee, today welcomed the announcement of the contract award for a seventh national security cutter to be built for the U.S. Coast Guard at Huntington Ingalls’ Pascagoula shipyard. The  $497 million contract will provide the remaining funds for construction of the seventh National Security Cutter (NSC); initial procurement funds were first announced in June 2013.

 In a statement, Palazzo said: “These extremely versatile, high-value ships are employed by the U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Defense, and law enforcement agencies. Each of these cutters bear the proud mark of Mississippi’s world-class workforce which continues to deliver these ships on-time and on-budget. We worked hard to ensure this year’s budget included funding for both the seventh and eighth National Security Cutters.”

 At a recent House Homeland Security Committee Hearing, Palazzo questioned the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Robert J. Papp, regarding a two-year budget bill signed in January that provided funding for both a seventh and an eighth NSC.

 In that exchange, Papp admitted that budget relief made the extra cutters possible, stating: “We did not think we were going to get to eight National Security Cutters, and we are on the verge of getting that now.”

 In addition to the seventh and eighth NSC’s, all previous NSC’s have been built or are currently under construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

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 Palazzo serves on the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Armed Services Committee, and was recently awarded the G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Eagle Award for his work on behalf of the National Guard.