The American Shipbuilding Association this week protested legislation proposed by a top Pentagon office that would allow the defense secretary to waive U.S. laws requiring that certain Navy ships be built in the United States. In a Sept. 20 letter to Defense Secretary William Cohen, the group says the ramifications of the proposed measure would include increased costs for other naval ships, a weakened shipbuilding industrial base and a "severely" jeopardized design and production capability for "the ships necessary to...
