Press Releases

Today, Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Chairwoman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, made the following remarks, as prepared for delivery, on the hearing titled “Oversight Review of the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program.” For hearing testimony and to watch the hearing live click here.

"Good afternoon. I’d like to extend a warm thank-you to our witnesses testifying before us today and welcome them to what is our subcommittee’s last hearing event for the one-hundred and fourteenth Congress.

I thank the subcommittee’s members for your contributions and dedication during this Congress. I also express my best wishes to those members leaving Congress.

Today we take testimony on the Littoral Combat Ship program. We seek to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges that this program has presented us in the past, and the opportunities that exist as the program moves forward.

We need to grow the size of this nation’s surface fleet. The LCS could have an important role in increasing our capabilities and flexibility. I know that there is a critical need to replace our less capable and decommissioned mine-countermeasures ships, patrol craft, and Oliver Hazard Perry-class Frigates. I believe that the Littoral Combat Ship, and the eventual upgrade to the Frigate design, has great potential to fulfill the roles for the platforms it replaces. This is why the LCS enjoys bipartisan support in the Seapower subcommittee.

The concept of LCS and the decision to begin the program came at a time in the department of defense's acquisition history in which senior leaders of the department thought it was necessary (and possible) to disregard the natural evolution of technology by skipping a generation of development. It was good theory, but proved costly and cumbersome to implement. We have learned many lessons from this period. For example, introducing immature technologies into acquisition programs will lead to cost and schedule growth. Awarding contracts without a stable design and directing prescriptive government specifications also increases costs and schedule.

It is only with unleashing the power of best buying practices that we can realize acquisition efficiencies. These lessons have been hard learned in a multitude of acquisition contracts. For example, stable government funding is essential to providing material ordering and labor efficiencies. Additionally, innovative multi-year procurements or block buys save money because long term agreements with subcontractors and vendors provides contracting stability. Dangerous reductions below minimum order quantities only serve to exacerbate our industrial base and increase the cost to the taxpayer. That is why the House has advocated adding a third LCS in FY 2017 and has expressed reservations about the Navy's acquisition strategy which involves procuring one LCS frigate every year during fiscal years 2018, 2019 and 2020.

I also want to discuss the Navy's force structure requirement of 52 small surface combatants. The Navy's force structure is based on their ability meet combatant commander requirements, both in peace and in war. That is why I am perplexed with Secretary Carter's determination that we only need
40 LCS frigates.

I believe the secretary's decision lacks analytical rigor. I am hoping that the next administration will review this issue. We must absolutely integrate the program’s acquisition lessons learned as we evaluate with prudent scrutiny the opportunity to invest an additional $14 billion dollars to complete the purchase of LCS and transition its hull-form into a frigate design. We must also ensure that the 'mission modules' which are integral to the first LCS designs are successfully completed, tested, and fielded at the lowest possible price.

I look forward to discussing this program with our distinguished panel of witnesses we have before us today.

I am pleased to recognize our witnesses today and I want to thank them for taking the time to be with us. We have:

The Honorable Sean Stackley, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition;

Dr. J. Michael Gilmore, Director of Operational Test and Evaluation for the
Department of Defense;

Vice Admiral Thomas Rowden (“RO-DIN”), Commander of Naval Surface Forces for the United States Navy;

Ms. Michele Mackin, Director of Acquisition and Sourcing Management for the
Government Accountability Office; and,

Mr. Ron O’Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs at the Congressional Research Service.

Thank you all again for being here today."