Mike Petters Remarks
George H.W. Bush Christening Ceremony
October 7, 2006

Good morning!

Mr. President and Mrs. Bush, President and Mrs. George H.W. Bush, Mrs. Koch, Governor Kaine, Senator Warner and Senator Allen, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Winter, General Pace, Admiral Mullen, Dr. Sugar and all our distinguished platform guests --- to the entire Bush family and many friends -- and to everyone here today -- on behalf of the 19,000 shipbuilders of Northrop Grumman Newport News, we welcome you to the birthplace of America’s nuclear-powered aircraft carriers!

This is a great day -- and a great day to be a shipbuilder -- as we christen the George H.W. Bush, the final ship of the Nimitz class of aircraft carriers.

We have so many special guests -- and you’ll hear from some of them during the ceremony. But first I want to recognize just a few people in our audience. If they could please stand as I call their names?

First, join me in welcoming Mr. Alton Glass, president, United Steelworkers Local 8888; Mr. James Allen, president, Security Police Fire Professionals of America Local 451; and Mr. William Harriday, National Representative, United Steelworkers.

I would also like to recognize two gentlemen who – as co-chairmen of the Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition -- represent the thousands of aircraft carrier suppliers throughout America. Would Rick Giannini and Jerry Nicholson please stand?

We are so excited about today’s ceremony.

The shipbuilders here at Newport News have a special bond with the Bush family.

Five years ago, President George W. Bush was here with Mrs. Nancy Reagan as she christened the ship named after her husband, the former president Ronald Reagan.

The First Lady, Laura Bush, christened the submarine USS Texas a few years ago on a very hot July day.

In 1981, Barbara Bush christened the submarine USS Houston, and in 1990, she christened the carrier USS George Washington. Then President George H.W. Bush gave the keynote address. Barbara’s Matron of Honor that day was her daughter Doro.

Today, Doro officially steps into the role that her mother so wonderfully performed here not once but twice. And of course, both the 41st and the 43rd president have ordered many of the ships built here into action.

Ask any shipbuilder and they will tell you that each ship of a class takes on a unique personality. That is certainly the case with this carrier named George H.W. Bush.

The life of this ship’s namesake has paralleled and intersected the history of naval aviation like no one else’s. It’s a life of service to country, dedication to family, and one lived with steadfast integrity. Search all you want for a better name to paint on this ship, but you will search in vain.

President Bush, let me tell you a bit about the people who are building your ship.

Collis P. Huntington, the founder of this shipyard, intended that the ships built here “be a credit to our country as well as to ourselves.”

Our workers live by that creed today as they have since 1886 … generations of them … for many of the shipbuilders with us today are the children, grand-children and great-grandchildren of shipbuilders who, for more than a hundred years in this very yard, have done the work of translating America’s best intentions into action.

They do this work day in and day out in blistering heat and freezing cold – and in the rain. It is dangerous work. It is difficult and demanding work. And it is noble work.

Would all of the shipbuilders of Northrop Grumman please stand?

For 120 years, the ships built here, like their builders, have rendered years of faithful service. Some of those ships still serve today. And some met valiant ends in distant oceans, in defense of our liberties. Wood has given way to iron, and iron to steel. We have moved from coal to oil, and from oil to atoms. But every ship built here has proven a credit to our nation and to the proud people who build them.

I know that this mighty ship, George H.W. Bush, will follow in that tradition.

Thank you.

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