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Washington, D.C. – Ahead of a classified oversight briefing with Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro, Defense Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert (R-CA) released the following prepared remarks, calling attention to the Navy's persistent delays and cost overruns in the Service's shipbuilding program.
Below are excerpts from Subcommittee Chairman Calvert's prepared remarks:
Secretary Del Toro, I asked you to appear before this subcommittee to have a candid conversation about the failure of the Navy’s shipbuilding programs.
This subcommittee is a strong supporter of the Navy, in particular our submarine programs. The Columbia-class submarines will host 70% of our nation’s nuclear deterrent. The Virginia-class submarines are the lynchpin of our strategy to outmatch China.
However, submarines and ships only contribute to the fight if they actually exist — not just on paper.
In a word, these programs are in crisis. Without exception, they are falling behind. Increasingly, they are over budget. Absent today’s intervention, I have zero confidence that Navy shipbuilding will get back on track.
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Secretary Del Toro, your 45-day shipbuilding review found a litany of problems related to design maturity, first-of-class transitions, production, design workforce, acquisition and contract strategy, supply chain, skilled workforce, and government workforce. Frankly, the only reason we’re not discussing Nunn-McCurdy breaches is that the Navy’s system of keeping metrics and reporting facts is murky and flawed at best—misleading at worst.
It’s not clear to me that anyone has accurate information about the trajectory of any shipbuilding program other than the Program Executive Officers — and since they switch out every two years, the options for long-term accountability are limited.
This subcommittee expects honesty and transparency from the Navy. Not only has the Navy withheld information on costs and delays, but the Navy’s plans to address this crisis are primarily aspirational. We need plans with metrics to see whether you are actually fixing problems, or just putting Band-Aids on the issues.
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We have since learned from the Department’s anomaly request that this funding was still somehow at least $1.95 billion short. We have also learned that there is a projected $17 billion shortfall in the Virginia-class program alone over the next six years.
It’s clear that the Navy and shipbuilders have known about this shortfall for at least 18 months, when discussions on the Shipbuilding Accountability and Workforce Support, or SAWS, proposal began. Assurances of how long these discussions have been going on do not reassure me, when Congress was notified just two weeks ago.
Absent this CR, I don’t know when Congress would have been made aware of this massive shortfall.
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Tomorrow this committee will hear from the shipbuilders.
Today, we will have a frank conversation about the Navy’s program management failures, flawed use of metrics, and lack of transparency. For too long, this committee has been put in a position of asking what the Navy is hiding behind the curtain — it’s time to pull down the curtain altogether.
I am fully committed to increasing the size of the Navy and improving shipbuilding, as reflected in the defense appropriations bills that have been put forward by this committee during my chairmanship. My support for Navy shipbuilding is unwavering, but I no longer trust that this committee is being given sufficient information required for meaningful oversight.
I hold both the Navy and the shipbuilders responsible. However, the Navy is the customer and the program manager. It is your responsibility to conduct oversight and to come up with innovative solutions to get these programs back on track and stop the outrageous cost increases. It is also your responsibility to communicate with Congress.
The lack of transparency from the Navy, the failure of shipbuilders to urgently resolve issues, and the resulting inability of Congress to conduct informed analysis is a toxic cycle that we must break.
I am accountable to the taxpayers, and Mr. Secretary, you are accountable to me.
Full remarks, as prepared for delivery, are available here.
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