Wittman Statement at Joint Hearing on Posture and Readiness of Mobility Enterprise
Washington, DC,
May 18, 2021
Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, delivered the following opening statement at a Subcommittees on Readiness and Seapower and Projection Forces Joint Hearing on the Posture and Readiness of the Mobility Enterprise. Rep. Wittman's remarks as prepared for delivery: I want to thank Chairman Garamendi for yielding and especially thank Chairman Courtney and Ranking Member Lamborn for participating in this detailed review of our nation's mobility posture. I also want to thank our two witnesses for participating in this hearing today and most importantly, thank General Lyon for his years of service in the military. I would note that this will likely be his last hearing before our committee. General Lyon, you have worn the Transportation Command mantle well, always forthright and honest with our committee and an outspoken mobility advocate who is willing to call out the improvements, and deficiencies, of the military services. This committee, and our nation, is better because of your service… we will sorely miss you. As I was preparing for this hearing, I am reminded of the grim statistics of our surge sealift forces—I'm sure this comes as no surprise to any of you. However, here we are… once again, no recapitalization in fiscal year 2020. The average age of our surge sealift has increased by another year to almost 46 years old. The plight of our forces is so bad that after having the US Coast Guard pulling the certificate of inspection of a number of ready reserve force vessels, MARAD made a decision to reduce 10 percent of the fleet, from 46 to 41 vessels. This reduction further limits our ability to project forces in times of conflict. In my estimation, this is quite simply a dereliction of duty and the definition of a classic seam issue with DoD. We must do better… As to the tankers, the KC-46A continues to lag in providing relevant capability to General Lyons. General Van Ovost, the next TRANSCOM commander has called the KC-46A aircraft a "lemon". I understand that the earliest fix of this aircraft will be September 2023. This contract and Boeing losing over $5 billion to date on this contract is embarrassing. In my estimation, the overall procurement of this commercial aircraft and the penalty built into the contact requiring minimum orders of deficient airplanes is at best "procurement malpractice" or at worst an illegal binding of congress requiring annual procurements without a specific multiyear procurement authorization. On top of this, we are forced to hear semi-triumphant Air Force messaging that these aircraft fixes are on "Boeings dime" and not the Pentagon. However, this doesn't account for the whole story, because it is not Boeing who is paying to keep these older planes flying longer—that cost is on the shoulders of the taxpayer. I look forward to better addressing this issue in the FY22 NDAA. Additionally, Chairman Smith has discussed his concern about a concept called "vendor lock" which allows contractors to recoup procurement losses in sustainment because of sole source sustainment contracts. I am afraid we are already starting down this line with the KC-46A tanker sustainment effort, to the detriment of our nation's taxpayers. Finally, we debated the overall tanker force structure last year and supported General Lyon's minimum tanker fleet. I am pleased to note in General Lyon's testimony that he supports the United States Air Force tanker retirement schedule and I look forward to amending the FY21 NDAA to more efficiently manage our legacy tanker force structure. As we consider how to best address our mobility woes in the FY22 budget request, I am reminded of the words that have been attributed to Winston Churchill "Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning." It is time that we stop talking the talk and start walking the walk. We need to take a serious look at these rather simple issues and turn our worrying into advance thinking and an actual plan. Again, I appreciate the Chairman Courtney and Garamendi's support for having this important hearing and I yield back the balance of my time. ###
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