Opening Statement (As Prepared)
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Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to welcome all the witnesses for being here today.
The Chairman and I have just unveiled our plans for acquisition reform. I sincerely hope that this legislation can help streamline innovation and help all the services field systems more quickly. It is aimed to allow any company whether a capital shipyard or a small technology company to be able to work with DoD with greater ease. I welcome any insights or ideas on how we can better achieve that goal.
Unfortunately, we will not be able to get too far into the specifics due to the fact that we still have not received the details of the President’s budget request. The uncertainty about the budget request coupled with the unresolved reconciliation package has left us with a significant challenge as we begin our yearly NDAA process.
As we look at the state of the Navy, we see what may be one of the most challenged areas of DoD’s procurement endeavors which is Navy shipbuilding. It is hard to point to a shipbuilding program that is performing on cost and on schedule. I would like to hear from all of the witnesses on why they believe we have found ourselves in this precarious situation. I recognize that our shipbuilding industry has been hit with a variety of challenges such as COVID and supply chain instability but we must find a way to manage through those challenges. Workforce in the shipbuilding industry remains a challenge as many of the experienced builders have retired and we are relying on green labor. We should address this by taking a hard look at what the proper wage rate is for shipbuilders so that we can not only attract the right worker but also retain them. I applaud what the Navy has done to try and get at this issue. Just a couple of weeks ago a labor contract was reached with some of our submarine workforce that will increase the wage delta between shipyard workers and the rest of industries like hospitality and retail. That deal was made possible by the increase in funding that Congress provided in the continuing resolution. But it cannot stop there. This must be a sustained effort that both the Executive Branch and Congress stay committed to.
As our Marines move back to their traditional expeditionary role, we must ensure that their new force design is being properly resourced and manned. This means that the statutory floor of 31 amphibious ships is not just a number but represents 31 ships that can go to sea fully manned and ready to deploy. I look forward to hearing from Admiral Kilby and General Smith on how they are working together to accomplish this.
I want to thank the witnesses again and I yield back.