Members of congressional delegations from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts have joined forces again on a letter urging the Pentagon to keep Portsmouth Naval Shipyard open during the next round of base closings. Lawmakers sent the memo Oct. 8 to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and publicized it after a weekend story by The Associated Press that suggested the shipyard is a likely target for closure in 2005. The group has sent eight similar letters during the last year.

"Kittery-Portsmouth Naval Shipyard absolutely should not be at risk based on their performance because it is the most efficient, most productive and most innovative shipyard as acknowledged by the Navy itself," said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine.

It's unclear what effect such letters might have. Rumsfeld plans to close up to 25 percent of the 435 bases nationwide to save money and consolidate equipment. Lawmakers and community advocates will assail him from all sides to keep local jobs and defense spending.

Rumsfeld, who could not be reached for this story, told a Pentagon town hall meeting earlier this year that "there are going to be people who try to stop it. But it's important that we get it. It's geared up and ready to go."

Critics of the latest base-closing round, which Congress approved in 2001, failed to derail it in the latest defense policy bill that Congress approved last week. The defeat followed a narrow Senate loss in June on a proposal to delay base closings for two years.

"This is clearly a wrong-headed approach," Snowe said.

Portsmouth is important to the state because it employs 4,600 people, at least a third of whom live in Maine, according to the Seacoast Shipyard Association, which is lobbying to keep the base open.

But defense analysts quoted in news reports suggested Portsmouth is poorly positioned to survive another round of closings..

Congress set up the closure process so that lawmakers can only reject the entire list, not protect a single base. That all-or-none vote will come after the president nominates a base-closing commission in March and the commission produces a list in September.

Analysts have begun sizing up the potential winners and losers. Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute, a Washington think tank, suggested that West Coast shipyards have an advantage because of threats in the Pacific and Indian oceans.

While Portsmouth focuses on submarine maintenance, the fleet has shrunk substantially in recent decades. Los Angeles class submarines are being phased out in 2008.

But as Portsmouth was flagged in previous rounds of base closures, decision-makers repeatedly kept it off the list because of its value as a deepwater port with highly trained workers.

In their memo to officials, including Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, New England lawmakers listed more than 10 pages of reasons to keep Portsmouth open. They cited the fact that the yard finished work ahead of schedule and for $27 million less than expected during the last three years; its ability to work with Navy submarines and Coast Guard ships; and its secure location as the country's most eastern and northern shipyard.

"These points are outlined clearly in our memo to Secretary Rumsfeld and are designed to make the case - once again - that Portsmouth plays a critical role in our national defense infrastructure now, and must be allowed to do so in the future," the lawmakers wrote.

The letter was signed by Snowe, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine and a member of the Armed Services Committee; Reps. Tom Allen and Mike Michaud, both D-Maine; Sens. Judd Gregg and John Sununu, both R-N.H.; Reps. Jeb Bradley and Charles Bass, both R-N.H.; Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. and a member of the Armed Services Committee; and Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass.

Staff Writer Bart Jansen can be

contacted at 202-488-1119 or at:

bjansen@pressherald.com