offense did not include any budget request plans without your so understandable that any new administration needs to have to organize and make future policy decisions in fact this administration submitted a full budget request sooner than the last  present to change the course plans and budget requests from the executive branch but also be viewed by the congress as suggestions that direction constitution of the united states gives clear authority to the congress to provide and maintain a navy regardless of a recommendation of the administration this subcommittee working in a traditional bipartisan fashion details a clear vision for the structure and capability of the nation of the navy of our nation committees mark will authorize a total of forty four billion dollars in procurement accounts an increase of fifty seven million above the president's budget request more would also authorize eighteen point nine billion dollars in research and development an increase of four hundred five million dollars above the budget request key issues addressed in this market naval strike fighter capacity in the fleet force structure this mark recognizes even if the secretary of defense does not hopefully our navy in air force one i would soon go to battle with each other which means that the f a eighteen is superior to any other strike fighter in the world the more clearly indicates that the navy should build more of these planes instead of trying to extend the life of older and less capable f a eighteen a through d s it makes absolutely no sense to any of us that we should pay twenty six million dollars to extend the flying life of an older plane just to get fifteen hundred hours went for five hundred i'm sorry for fifty million they can buy a brand new more capable plane that will be good for a thousand hours the more it also supports the procurement of the f thirty five b the f thirty five  joint strike fighter which would be be the aircraft that carries the naval forces deep into the middle of this century however this mark along with the recommendation of their land forces subcommittee continues to insist that the department of  develop an alternative engine for these aircraft the alternative engine program is the only way to ensure quality of product at a competitive price the mark funds the construction of eight new ships a virginia class summary a d d t seventy additionally the more provides funding for long lead material for the construction of seven additional vessels because the backbone of the united states fleet has the capability to destroy the force this mark will grant the navy purchasing in quantity allows industry to make investment for capital improvements and also tells our navy training base where to train soldiers sailors for the future the more clearly said the subcommittee's vision for the future and our vision is a fleet of at least three hundred thirteen ships the fleet will have a high low mix with with our aircraft carriers and nuclear clues on the high end and over nine hundred fifty one destroy at least forty eight virginia class submarines and at least fifty five little combat ships in addition to flee where the capabilities can ducked and various operations old and humanitarian operations from the sea base without l for the movement of supplies ashore today's more contains the funding for the research and development procurement of all the ships there are concerns in the ship building program and i've got to express my concerns with the mall program are casting a seven billion dollars bet on that assessment if this fails to be delivered on time i make it have the unintended consequence of having a nation go down to nine or fewer carriers it could also take what should be  billion dollar craft area in turn it into a seven billion dollar helicopter care if we can allow that to happen because of the gravity of this because we've had problems with the l c s program because we've had problems and the coast guard the one tense last one twenty three because of the problems with the d g one thousand i think a big part of the problem is that the officers in charge have been passing the baton on an annual basis and that no one in effect is held accountable for  bad decisions that are made for things that are delivered on time and proper matter because of that we are going to direct the secretary to appoint one officer to take this program from now testing this could take about three years in another officer to take that program from testing through the delivery of of the vessel and we want to make it perfectly clear that officers career is based on being delivered on time and on budget i'm sure that the navy is full of capable officers who would welcome the chance to make to be the seven billion dollar man united states navy make sure that the fourth class carriers delivered on time and on budget most are concerned about the progress of those top combat you should be no secret to anyone in this town that we are disappointed former chairman bartlett or not on a regular basis we're told for years at the program was on time on budget all it to be told in november of zero six that we have a terrible problem  reduction gear was cut backwards they've literally got to go back in the ship and do a number of things to start putting it back together no one should be happy that one version is three hundred billion over budget i'm sorry three hundred million over budget second version is closer to four hundred million over budget in both or at least eighteen months late on delivery but the navy want to ship the name he is counting on fifty five of the ships to be a part of a three hundred thirteen ship fleet and because  it we are going to try to work with them to see that it's delivered but out of concern for the fleet and for the taxpayers who pay for that fleet we're going to make some changes we in this year's bill are going to authorize four hundred sixty million dollars for the construction of each of those vessels we're going to include in that take it or leave it language to the contractors that you accept this contract for four hundred sixty million firm fixed price if you choose not to accept that then the secretary is authorized to take eighty million of the funds that were not appropriated for the ship would not spend on the ship do a detailed set of drawings that could be put out for bid for someone who will take because i think that is a more than fair price for that ship in that given the fact that we're going to be building a lot of it and given the fact that the whole batch and the private sector maritime is way down i've got to believe there are a lot of people who would jump at the chance to build that ship the present vendors do not  to we will have to take it in believe that language in here the mark author us authorizes funding for the national defense eleven responsibilities of maritime administration of the department of transportation the market authorize a total of four hundred  one million dollars which includes sixteen million dollars for the maritime loan guarantee program often referred to as the title eleven program this loan guarantees are vital to the maintenance of a domestically built u s fleet and maintaining a robust domestic industrial base for ship building just this morning i spoke to the secretary of transportation ray la hood be assured me that he is very much behind the data levon program that has his full support and i'm looking forward to working with him and all of you to see to it this program successful physicists i cannot think of a luckier group of people who have on a subcommittee you all have brought a great deal to this committee i welcome your input and i now turn to the ranking member my friend from missouri for his  remarks or for a second lieutenant i feel kind of put down here a little bit but thank you mr chairman good morning first i'd like to thank german taylor for extending a welcoming hand to me in his efforts to work closely with the marc genes cooperation  especially rewarding since this is my first markup as ranking member of the subcommittee overall this is an excellent market largely reflects a president's budget request for ship building while addressing some industrial base concerns by providing additional advance procurement funding for two platforms the l p t twenty seven the mobile landing platform m l p i agree with the direction the chairman this provided on the electromagnetic launch system which is critical to the on time delivery of gerald and seventy aircraft carrier the chairman's mark will ensure the navy keeps one person in charge of that system and till it gets delivered to the carrier that certainly is learning from past experiences i appreciate that consistency of leadership with respect to aviation the more generally preserves the joint strike fighter program but mitigates problem or program risk by funding the f one thirty six competitive engine program but also nation posed by a significant gap and maybe strike fighters by authorizing another multi year period for the only hot production line we have for these aircraft and providing sufficient long lead funding to enable the navy execute such a contract i believe this is a critically important step especially as a he continues to find more areas of concern in the legacy fleet that may make it challenging to extend the service life of these aircraft i also believe this committee should continue to take a look at the health of the military aviation industrial base with respect to the marine corps the market takes a balanced approach with regard to the expeditionary fighting vehicle program we allow the marines to proceed with the program of record fully funded the marine corps really does need this platform in order to provide a higher performing safer replacement to the decades old at the same time we insist the brains look at engineering and force protection changes they could make to future spirals to keep pace with the threats we know that are out there i continue to have some concerns about the l c s program and the changes being made to the cost cap of this mark the program has made great strides and i believe that eventually can be highly successful i don't know if we're there yet a lot of support the program will making sure we're not sending a signal that we're easing up the pressure on industry and the navy to control costs besides in response to a question from senator levin about whether there is a realistic prospect the navy is going to be able to meet the goal of the cost cap secretary maybe told the senate armed services committee last week there was a realistic process prospect that we could drive toward that goal he went on to say that he would let congress know later this year whether he could keep within the cap my instinct would be to allow the navy to do further operational assessments on the first two before building more if they are going to cost the taxpayer any more than four hundred  sixty million after all as one senior navy official told me this week with respect to the l c s program we need to get through the next year or two we might be in a very different position than we are right now despite these concerns i absolutely agree with the direction chairman taylor has taken to allow the navy to develop a technical data package to compete the ships should they be unable to award them in the f y ten due to the cost cap i know many members have been uneasy about the potential waiver to allow the navy to retire the aircraft carrier enterprise all of this issue will be handled in the full committee mark i think it's safe to say that we sent a strong message to the department that we want the risk associated with this plan reassessed and thirteen to make sure we are harming our national security my last comment is a big picture concern we should be building more ships and we should be investing more in the future of our navy and marine corps but the top line provided by the administration and frankly by the congress is too low while we are shoveling money out the door in the so called stimulus and all manner of bailouts we are tightening our belts on defense this makes no sense from either a job creation or a national security perspective the chairman has done his best the best he could within the fiscal constraints that we have thank you to all of our members whose contributions helped to make this a strong product that is urge my colleagues to is there any discussion or question of the chairman's mark without objection the mark is open to amendment at any point change but simply that the u s is now in a position unable dominance no question that changing it will reduce the annual cost each year but we haven't had an analysis to show what the overall cost might be basically w amendment offered by mr cordone of connecticut sons of congress concerning the disposition of an r one your now recognizes gentleman from virginia mr enough for five minutes i think mr forbes laid out the issue very very concisely just want to add a couple of words of support to this amendment essentially i think we all understand very well the importance of the carrier to our to our naval fleet we're asking that the decision the potential decision about change in the number of car training any potential loss of expertise in pushing back that building schedule and other technical support issues that might come up so essentially we're just asking to take a careful look at this decision before we before we move to to determine the outcome on it so i support the  we're asking the navy to deal with this is to make sure that we continue to evaluate the strategic needs of this nation as we look at our carrier strength in the construction schedules there that is critical especially in today's dynamic environment especially in challenges that we this quick statement mr chairman i still think there's some question about the study that came over here two years ago on nucular power for surface combattants amphibious forces particularly in the costing that was done for the cost of are already established logistical fuel bases out around and although i've asked the navy three times for an answer to some questions here and haven't gotten it i think if we do then proceed out in the future into uranium based we might at least want to take a look at four am based for one particular reason it appears as though and this is why i think it needs to be assessed that it may have as little as one one thousandth of the wast e that as compared to uranium plant and particularly the closure of yucca mountain that has been talked about here by this administration that if we do proceed down this path it might just be worth one look at this as a similar so if we do go nuclear reactors at least we have a look at that thank you mr chairman thanks gentleman questions on the adoption of the on block amendments those in favor s great job of making the most of the resources that were made available to us i do believe that we're taking steps to get back to a three hundred thirteen ship navy blue we're taking steps to address the idea shortfall taking steps with the nuclear cruiser to work towards our ener nation's energy independence a lot of good things in this bill and i appreciate the input of every one of you and we look forward to having it part of the full committee mark next week thank you very much for being present in the quorum being present the as have it in the mark is adopted without objection a motion to reconsider is laid upon the table without objection members will have five legislative days with him to submit written statements on the records or authorized to make the necessary conforming technical clerical changes without objection there being no further legislative business before the subcommittee