“The subcommittee will come to order.  Today the subcommittee meets in open session to mark-up H.R. 2647, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010.  

“This year, due to the change-over in the administration, the Department of Defense did not include with the budget request any plans for out year procurement.  It is understandable that any new administration needs time to organize and make future policy decisions, and in fact, this administration submitted a full budget request sooner than the last time the Presidency changed.  And of course, plans and budget requests from the executive branch must always be viewed by the Congress as suggestions, not direction. 

“The Constitution of the United States gives clear authority to the Congress to ’provide and maintain a Navy.’  Regardless of a recommendation from the administration, this subcommittee, working in our traditional bipartisan fashion, details a clear vision for the structure and capability of the Navy in this recommendation.

“The Chairman’s mark would authorize a total of $44 billion dollars in procurement accounts, an increase of $57 million above the budget request.  The mark would also authorize $18.9 billion dollars in research and development accounts, an increase of $405 million dollars above the budget request.

“The key issues addressed in this mark are naval strike fighter capacity and Fleet force structure.  This mark recognizes, even if the Secretary of Defense does not, that the Navy is facing an acute shortage of strike fighters to fill the air wings of our carriers in the coming decade.  This mark would alleviate that shortage by granting multi-year procurement authority and increasing funding to contract for more F/A18E/F Superhornets and EA18G Growlers than the current program of record. 

“The F/A18 aircraft are the finest strike fighters in the world today, save for our own F-22.  Hopefully the Navy and the Air Force will not soon go to battle with each other, which means that the F/A18 is superior to any other strike fighter from a foreign nation. 

“This mark clearly indicates that the Navy should build more of these planes instead of trying to extend the life of the older and less capable F/A18A thru D Hornets.  It makes absolutely no sense to me that the Department would pay $26 million to extend the flying life of an older plane by just 1,500 hours, when for $50 million they could buy a brand new, more capable plane that is good for 8,000 hours. 

“The mark also supports the procurement of the F35B and F35C Joint Strike Fighter, which will be the aircraft that carries the naval forces deep into the middle of the century.  However, this mark, along with the recommendation from the Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, continues to insist that the Department of Defense develop an alternate engine for these aircraft.  The alternate engine program is the only way to insure quality of product at a competitive price.

“This mark funds the construction of eight new ships; a Virginia class submarine, a DDG 51 class destroyer, three Littoral Combat Ships, two T-AKE cargo ships, and one Joint High Speed Vessel.  The mark finishes the funding for the third and last DDG 1000 destroyer, and the tenth LPD 17.  Additionally, the mark provides funding for the long lead material for the construction of seven more ships.

“Because the backbone of the fleet is the capability of the destroyer force, this mark would grant the Navy multi-year procurement authority for the restart of the DDG 51 destroyers.  There is no reason to pay a premium for vessels that you know you are going to buy.  A multi-year procurement saves the taxpayers money by purchasing in quantity and also allows industry to make investment decisions for capital improvements. 

“This mark clearly sets the subcommittees vision for the future, that vision is a Fleet of at least 313 ships.  That Fleet will have a high/low mix with our aircraft carriers and nuclear cruisers at the high end, over 90 DDG 51 destroyers, at least 48 Virginia class submarines, and at least 55 Littoral Combat Ships.

“In addition, the Fleet will have the capability to conduct amphibious assault or humanitarian operations from a seabase, without the need for a foreign nation to allow for staging and basing rights.  That capability will be comprised of a force of not fewer than 33 vessels in the amphibious assault force composed of LPDs, LHAs, and LHDs. 

“The seabase will consist of Roll-on Roll-off ships, prepositioning container ships, and the Maritime Landing Platform ship, or MLP, which is the key vessel for the movement of supplies ashore.  Today’s mark contains the funding for the research and development and procurement needed for all these ships.

 “There are concerns with the shipbuilding program.  I am very concerned with the progress of the EMALS program for the Ford class aircraft carrier.  This is the most important development program the Navy is currently pursing, because if it does not work, the carrier we are currently building will be wasted.
 
“I am very concerned with the progress of cost reduction in the Littoral Combat Ship program.  I will not go into detail here and the list of mistakes made in this program because we would be here for most of the day if I did.  But this year is a ’take it or leave it ‘year for the LCS.  I asked the Assistant Secretary of the Navy if $460 million was a fair price for the vessel with the current efficiencies of the two shipyards.  He believed it was a fair price for the procurement costs of the ship, but that he had government costs for oversight and life-cycle management that would be hard to fit under the current cost cap. 

“Therefore, this mark proposes to re-structure the cost cap to allow for a total procurement cost of $460 million per vessel.  The contractor can take it or leave it.  As Chairman, I will not propose one penny more.  If the contractors take it, fine; we build ships and get the mine-hunting capability the CNO needs for the fleet. 

“If the contractors do not take it, the proposal would direct the Secretary to use the funds authorized to compile a technical data design package that could be bid to other contractors who might take it.  No more games on this program, no more promises.  Build ships for a fair price or not, that is the deal on the table.

“The mark also authorizes funding for the national defense sealift responsibilities of the Maritime Administration of the Department of Transportation.  The mark would authorize a total of $401.9 million dollars which includes $60 million dollars for the Maritime Loan Guarantee Program, also referred to as Title XI Loans.  This loan guarantees are vital to the maintenance of a domestically built U.S. Merchant Fleet and maintaining a robust domestic industrial base for shipbuilding. 

“As an aside, I spoke with the Secretary of Transportation just this morning and he assured me that the Title XI program would have his full support.  I look forward to working with him to ensure that we get this program revitalized and get our shipyards back in the business of building commercial ships.

“I thank the Members of the Subcommittee for their support in crafting this mark.  I believe this is the road map for the Navy and Marine Corps of the future and it is an honor to serve as the Chairman of this subcommittee.  I would now turn to the gentleman from Missouri, my friend and the Ranking Member of this subcommittee, the Honorable Todd Akin for any remarks he may wish to make.”