Nelson, joined by Sen. Mel Martinez and U.S. Reps Corrine Brown and Ander Crenshaw told a Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce committee Tuesday they have a fight on their hands with the Virginia delegation, which says the Navy should not spend the $500 million to make the base at the mouth of the St. Johns River nuclear ready.

"It's a little piggy of the Nor"/>
Nelson, joined by Sen. Mel Martinez and U.S. Reps Corrine Brown and Ander Crenshaw told a Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce committee Tuesday they have a fight on their hands with the Virginia delegation, which says the Navy should not spend the $500 million to make the base at the mouth of the St. Johns River nuclear ready.

"It's a little piggy of the Nor"/>
Nelson, joined by Sen. Mel Martinez and U.S. Reps Corrine Brown and Ander Crenshaw told a Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce committee Tuesday they have a fight on their hands with the Virginia delegation, which says the Navy should not spend the $500 million to make the base at the mouth of the St. Johns River nuclear ready.

"It's a little piggy of the Nor" />
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Fla. lawmakers discuss aircraft carrier at Mayport

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) _ U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson says Virginia officials are being “a little piggy” for trying to block a decision to move a nuclear aircraft carrier from their state to Mayport Naval Station in Florida.

Nelson, joined by Sen. Mel Martinez and U.S. Reps Corrine Brown and Ander Crenshaw told a Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce committee Tuesday they have a fight on their hands with the Virginia delegation, which says the Navy should not spend the $500 million to make the base at the mouth of the St. Johns River nuclear ready.

“It’s a little piggy of the Norfolk, Va., delegation to say they want to have all five nuclear carriers,” Nelson, D-Fla., said.

Rear Adm. Joseph Kernan, commander of the U.S. 4th Fleet at Mayport, said the Navy studied the issue thoroughly before deciding that at least one of the nuclear carriers should be based at Mayport.

“It’s a strategic decision. It had nothing to do with politics. It had nothing to do with the economy,” Kernan said, who noted the West Coast has three carrier bases.

Florida lawmakers say the Navy should not put all the East Coast nuclear carriers in the Virginia port because of a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, or a terrorist attack. They said the U.S. should learn the lesson from Pearl Harbor, when the Japanese attacked the Pacific fleet on Dec. 7, 1941.

Nelson said the Virginia carrier base is about 10 miles from the ocean and it takes a carrier about 10 hours to make its way to sea, while Mayport is “at the lips at the mouth of the St. Johns River,” and it takes about an hour before it is at sea. Martinez said carriers could be blocked from departing or arriving if something happened to the channel in Virginia.

Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton said the new carrier would bring about 3,190 military jobs and pump about $500 million a year into the north Florida economy in salaries and spending.

“It’s as close to a recession-free business that we have,” Peyton said.

The Virginia delegation sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates asking him to hold off on making a decision until President-elect Barack Obama takes office. But Florida officials said there is no need to wait.

“The decision is going to be made by this administration prior to the end of this calendar year,” said Martinez, who said he would like to see the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush be placed at Mayport. The carrier is to be commissioned Jan. 10, he said.

Brown, a Democrat, and Crenshaw, a Republican, said it is important to stay on track and get the money appropriated to dredge the channel and build facilities to host a nuclear carrier at Mayport.

“This is not a done deal, but looks awfully good,” said Martinez, a Republican.

The Navy announced last week it planned to make Mayport, just north of Jacksonville, a base for a nuclear aircraft carrier. The base has been without a carrier since the John F. Kennedy was mothballed last year. In 1987, it had two carriers, the USS Forrestal and USS Saratoga.

Virginia’s U.S. Sens. John Warner, a Republican, and Jim Webb, a Democrat, and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine said last week the plan to create a new homeport at Mayport, instead of using the nuclear-capable one at Norfolk is “strategically flawed and fiscally irresponsible.”

Virginia officials argued the money could be better spent on the more than $4.6 billion in higher-priority, unfunded Navy budget requirements, including a $791 million backlog in restoration and modernization projects at the nation’s four naval shipyards.

The Navy said it chose Florida in order to spread out its Atlantic fleet beyond Norfolk. But Warner and Webb, both former Secretaries of the Navy and members of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, said the Florida base offers no strategic advantage over Norfolk.

Preparing Mayport for a nuclear carrier will cost about $564 million, including $47 million for deepening the channel and $426 million for construction and infrastructure.

The Navy re-established its Fourth Fleet, which was disbanded following World War II, in July and based it at Mayport. The Fourth Fleet is in charge of directing U.S. naval forces operating in the Caribbean, Central and South America.

“At the end of the day, we will prevail,” Nelson said.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.