Press Releases

Today, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA), Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, made the following remarks on the hearing titled "Public Shipyards' Role in Meeting Operational Requirements:"

"The Navy’s four public shipyards - Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine, and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington – face a number of challenges in completing ship maintenance on time and within budget.

Wartime requirements over the past decade have worsened the condition of the fleet, causing ships to require more maintenance than expected upon arrival at the shipyard. A few weeks ago we received testimony about the Navy’s Optimized Fleet Response Plan, which among other things seeks to provide a more sustainable force-generation model and more predictability for ship maintenance. Today I look forward to hearing about the shipyards’ role in meeting the Navy’s operational requirements and how they are responding to the maintenance and repair challenges that recent operations have put on the fleet."