Carrier overhauls in Newport News would be secured by House panel proposal

Last year, the Hampton Roads economy experienced a giant hiccup when the Navy considered retiring the aircraft carrier USS George Washington instead of performing a mid-life overhaul.

A mid-life carrier overhaul is big business for Virginia's largest industrial employer, Newport News Shipbuilding. The job costs in excess of $4 billion and takes more than three years, bringing thousands of sailors into the downtown shipyard.

As work on the 2016 defense budget ramps up, one proposal seeks to avoid a repeat of that scenario.

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