As I thought the IOWA transfer was passed by the House.:
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Stockton on radar to get ship
House OKs Iowa's docking at port; bill goes to Senate
By David Siders
Record Staff Writer
Published Friday, May 27, 2005
STOCKTON -- A defense spending bill approved late Wednesday by the House of Representatives would dock the historic USS Iowa at the Port of Stockton.
The measure, plugged into the $491 billion budget just days before it passed, was a victory for the city and a blow to San Francisco. A nonprofit group there has lobbied since 1996 to draw the Navy battleship to the Bay.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who had said she would support a bid by San Francisco, will not oppose the battleship's move to Stockton when the Senate considers the bill, a spokesman said Thursday.
The Senate is likely to consider the bill in June. Absent opposition from Feinstein, the USS Iowa's move is likely to pass without a fight, said Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, the lawmaker behind the move.
"We got the Iowa!" Stockton City Manager Mark Lewis said.
"The Big Stick" carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Casablanca conference in 1943 and sailed in both World War II and the Korean War. It was muscular and swift -- almost three football fields long and armed with nine 16-inch guns -- but now rests mothballed in Suisun Bay near Benicia.
The approved measure -- at the bottom of Page 362 of the National Defense Authorization Act -- would direct the Navy to release the 887-foot ship to Stockton provided the port submits a "donation application for that vessel that is satisfactory."
The port has been assembling that application since 2001. It would build roads and a bridge to create sufficient access to the ship, which would sit at the east edge of Rough and Ready Island. The port would donate a dock, 15 acres for parking and a 90,000-square-foot building for exhibits, port Director Richard Aschieris said.
Tickets would cost about $12.
Aschieris cautioned that approval of the bill is not final but said Feinstein's announcement Thursday is pivotal.
"That's really what I need," Pombo said, "if she's OK with it."
One woman with whom the decision was not OK is Merylin Wong of Historic Ships Memorial at Pacific Square, which aims to draw the battleship to San Francisco. Wong said she would travel to Washington, D.C., to rally against the measure, which she said is "highly irregular."
She, like Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego, believes the measure circumvented standard procedures in which the secretary of the Navy is given flexibility to determine where decommissioned ships go.
Wong said San Francisco is more accessible to the masses of tourists and military buffs who would visit the ship. The Port of Stockton is a poor choice, she said, "unless you're pretty sure that Stockton is a place where people would come."
Lewis and Aschieris said people would.
"I think there's a lesson or two that we could teach San Francisco," Lewis said.
A Navy spokesman could not be reached Thursday for comment. Pombo said he talked recently with the secretary of the Navy and believed the Navy would not object to Stockton.
Aschieris said he expects the ship to attract more than 125,000 visitors a year.
The port already is considering tours for youths who would stay overnight and eat breakfast on the dreadnought at dawn.
Contact reporter David Siders at (209) 943-8580 or [email protected]
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Stockton on radar to get ship
House OKs Iowa's docking at port; bill goes to Senate
By David Siders
Record Staff Writer
Published Friday, May 27, 2005
STOCKTON -- A defense spending bill approved late Wednesday by the House of Representatives would dock the historic USS Iowa at the Port of Stockton.
The measure, plugged into the $491 billion budget just days before it passed, was a victory for the city and a blow to San Francisco. A nonprofit group there has lobbied since 1996 to draw the Navy battleship to the Bay.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who had said she would support a bid by San Francisco, will not oppose the battleship's move to Stockton when the Senate considers the bill, a spokesman said Thursday.
The Senate is likely to consider the bill in June. Absent opposition from Feinstein, the USS Iowa's move is likely to pass without a fight, said Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, the lawmaker behind the move.
"We got the Iowa!" Stockton City Manager Mark Lewis said.
"The Big Stick" carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Casablanca conference in 1943 and sailed in both World War II and the Korean War. It was muscular and swift -- almost three football fields long and armed with nine 16-inch guns -- but now rests mothballed in Suisun Bay near Benicia.
The approved measure -- at the bottom of Page 362 of the National Defense Authorization Act -- would direct the Navy to release the 887-foot ship to Stockton provided the port submits a "donation application for that vessel that is satisfactory."
The port has been assembling that application since 2001. It would build roads and a bridge to create sufficient access to the ship, which would sit at the east edge of Rough and Ready Island. The port would donate a dock, 15 acres for parking and a 90,000-square-foot building for exhibits, port Director Richard Aschieris said.
Tickets would cost about $12.
Aschieris cautioned that approval of the bill is not final but said Feinstein's announcement Thursday is pivotal.
"That's really what I need," Pombo said, "if she's OK with it."
One woman with whom the decision was not OK is Merylin Wong of Historic Ships Memorial at Pacific Square, which aims to draw the battleship to San Francisco. Wong said she would travel to Washington, D.C., to rally against the measure, which she said is "highly irregular."
She, like Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego, believes the measure circumvented standard procedures in which the secretary of the Navy is given flexibility to determine where decommissioned ships go.
Wong said San Francisco is more accessible to the masses of tourists and military buffs who would visit the ship. The Port of Stockton is a poor choice, she said, "unless you're pretty sure that Stockton is a place where people would come."
Lewis and Aschieris said people would.
"I think there's a lesson or two that we could teach San Francisco," Lewis said.
A Navy spokesman could not be reached Thursday for comment. Pombo said he talked recently with the secretary of the Navy and believed the Navy would not object to Stockton.
Aschieris said he expects the ship to attract more than 125,000 visitors a year.
The port already is considering tours for youths who would stay overnight and eat breakfast on the dreadnought at dawn.
Contact reporter David Siders at (209) 943-8580 or [email protected]
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