PORTSMOUTH — About a dozen Portsmouth Naval Shipyard workers sporting "Carol Shea-Porter for Congress" T-shirts gathered at Prescott Park as the Congresswoman received another of what she called "important endorsements."

Paul O'Connor, president of the shipyard's Metal Trades Council, announced Monday afternoon the council's endorsement of Shea-Porter, D-N.H., in her re-election run against Republican candidate Jeb Bradley.

In October 2006, O'Connor said the Metal Trades Council endorsed Shea-Porter in the same spot as he stood Monday, with the shipyard right across the water.

He said Shea-Porter fights for the workers with "vigor and determination," and thanked her for helping to secure more than $30 million in funding for the new waterfront support facility and the new storage facility to be built at the shipyard.

"You represent New Hampshire with class, clarity of thought, and work ethic," O'Connor said to the congresswoman.

Shea-Porter brought U.S. Reps. Ike Skelton, D-Mo. and Chet Edwards, D-Texas to tour the shipyard's facilities and get a first-hand look at the need for the upgrades.

"It really did make a difference for them to see," Shea-Porter said, recalling the taped windows and the buckets on the ground for leaks.

O'Connor said the congressmen actually coming to see the "dilapidated" buildings made more of an impression than if Shea-Porter had just explained the situation to them in Washington, D.C.

"It was a critical issue not just for their work, but for national security," Shea-Porter said of the funding. "The Navy acknowledges you are the best workforce in America."

Shea-Porter said her camp has been busy running up to the Nov. 4 election.

"We have been steamrolling through the district. We are feeling very, very good," she said. Shea-Porter has received, "A lot of important endorsements (which) show the hard work I've done."

Shea-Porter said she was endorsed a few weeks back by the National Veterans of Foreign War Political Action Committee. She said the committee looks at the candidates voting record, and what they have done for national security when they make endorsements.

John Joyal of Somersworth, a training instructor at the shipyard and a Shea-Porter supporter, told her people are paying attention to the election now, and encouraged her to "ramp it up."