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Transcript of House Hearing on Deepwater (Pdf File)

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Transcript of House Hearing on Deepwater (Pdf File) 1 HOUSE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDS A 2 HEARING ON THE COAST GUARD DEEPWATER PROGRAM 3 4 APRIL 18, 2007 5 6 SPEAKERS: 7 REP. JAMES L. OBERSTAR, D-MINN. CHAIRMAN 8 REP. NICK J. RAHALL II, D-W.VA. 9 REP. PETER A. DEFAZIO, D-ORE. 10 REP. JERRY F. COSTELLO, D-ILL. 11 DEL. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, D-D.C. 12 REP. JERROLD NADLER, D-N.Y. 13 REP. CORRINE BROWN, D-FLA. 14 REP. BOB FILNER, D-CALIF. 15 REP. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, D-TEXAS 16 REP. GENE TAYLOR, D-MISS. 17 REP. JUANITA MILLENDER-MCDONALD, D-CALIF. 18 REP. ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, D-MD. 19 REP. ELLEN O. TAUSCHER, D-CALIF. 20 REP. LEONARD L. BOSWELL, D-IOWA 21 REP. TIM HOLDEN, D-PA. 22 REP. BRIAN BAIRD, D-WASH. 23 REP. RICK LARSEN, D-WASH. 24 REP. MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, D-MASS. 25 REP. JULIA CARSON, D-IND. 26 REP. TIMOTHY H. BISHOP, D-N.Y. 27 REP. MICHAEL H. MICHAUD, D-MAINE 28 REP. BRIAN HIGGINS, D-N.Y. 29 REP. RUSS CARNAHAN, D-MO. 30 REP. JOHN SALAZAR, D-COLO. 31 REP. GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, D-CALIF. 32 REP. DANIEL LIPINSKI, D-ILL. 33 REP. DORIS MATSUI, D-CALIF. 34 REP. NICK LAMPSON, D-TEXAS 35 REP. ZACK SPACE, D-OHIO 36 REP. MAZIE K. HIRONO, D-HAWAII 37 REP. BRUCE BRALEY, D-IOWA 38 REP. JASON ALTMIRE, D-PA. 39 REP. TIM WALZ, D-MINN. 40 REP. HEATH SHULER, D-N.C. 41 REP. MICHAEL ARCURI, D-N.Y. 42 REP. HARRY E. MITCHELL, D-ARIZ. 43 REP. CHRIS CARNEY, D-PA. 44 REP. JOHN HALL, D-N.Y. 45 REP. STEVEN L. KAGEN, D-WIS. 46 REP. STEVEN I. COHEN, D-TENN. 47 REP. JERRY MCNERNEY, D-CALIF. 48 49 REP. JOHN L. MICA, R-FLA. RANKING MEMBER 50 REP. DON YOUNG, R-ALASKA 51 REP. TOM PETRI, R-WIS. 52 REP. HOWARD COBLE, R-N.C. 53 REP. JOHN J. "JIMMY" DUNCAN JR., R-TENN. 54 REP. WAYNE T. GILCHREST, R-MD. 55 REP. VERNON J. EHLERS, R-MICH. 56 REP. STEVEN C. LATOURETTE, R-OHIO 57 REP. RICHARD H. BAKER, R-LA. 58 REP. FRANK A. LOBIONDO, R-N.J. 59 REP. JERRY MORAN, R-KAN. 60 REP. GARY G. MILLER, R-CALIF. 61 REP. ROBIN HAYES, R-N.C. 62 REP. HENRY E. BROWN JR., R-S.C. 63 REP. TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON, R-ILL. 64 REP. TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, R-PA. 65 REP. SAM GRAVES, R-MO. 66 REP. BILL SHUSTER, R-PA. 67 REP. JOHN BOOZMAN, R-ARK. 68 REP. JIM GERLACH, R-PA. 69 REP. MARIO DIAZ-BALART, R-FLA. 70 REP. KENNY MARCHANT, R-TEXAS 71 REP. CHARLIE DENT, R-PA. 72 REP. TED POE, R-TEXAS 73 REP. DAVE REICHERT, R-WASH. 74 REP. CONNIE MACK, R-FLA. 75 REP. JOHN R. "RANDY" KUHL JR., R-N.Y. 76 REP. LYNN WESTMORELAND, R-GA. 77 REP. CHARLES BOUSTANY JR., R-LA. 78 REP. JEAN SCHMIDT, R-OHIO 79 REP. CANDICE S. MILLER, R-MICH. 80 REP. THELMA DRAKE, R-VA. 81 REP. MARY FALLIN, R-OKLA. 82 REP. VERN BUCHANAN, R-FLA. 83 84 WITNESSES: 85 MICHAEL DE KORT, 86 FORMER PROJECT MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST FOR 123 SYSTEMS, 87 LOCKHEED MARTIN 88 89 ROBERT BRADEN, 90 SENIOR TECHNICAL STAFF, 91 PROCESSOR AND SYSTEMS DESIGN, 92 LOCKHEED MARTIN 93 94 SCOTT SAMPSON, 95 SECTION CHIEF, 96 DEVELOPMENT SECTION OF THE U.S. COAST GUARD MAINTENANCE AND 97 LOGISTICS COMMAND ATLANTIC VESSEL SPECIFICATIONS BRANCH 98 99 JAMES ATKINSON, 100 PRESIDENT AND SENIOR ENGINEER, 101 GRANITE ISLAND GROUP 102 103 THOMAS RODGERS, 104 VICE PRESIDENT, 105 TECHNICAL OPERATIONS, 106 LOCKHEED MARTIN MARITIME SYSTEMS & SENSORS 107 108 BRUCE WINTERSTINE, 109 PRINCIPAL PROJECT ANALYST, 110 LOCKHEED MARTIN MARITIME SYSTEMS & SENSORS 111 112 MARYANNE LAVAN, 113 VICE PRESIDENT, 114 ETHICS AND BUSINESS CONDUCT, 115 LOCKHEED MARTIN 116 117 LEO MACKAY, 118 VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER, 119 COAST GUARD SYSTEMS; 120 121 JAMES ANTON, 122 EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF ICGS 123 124 T.R. HAMBLIN, 125 VICE PRESIDENT, 126 GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, 127 BOLLINGER SHIPYARDS 128 129 MARC STANLEY, 130 EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, 131 GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, 132 BOLLINGER SHIPYARDS 133 134 DEBU GHOSH, 135 NAVAL ARCHITECT AND BRANCH CHIEF, 136 COAST GUARD BOAT ENGINEERING BRANCH 137 138 JOE MICHEL, 139 ASSISTANT DEPUTY, 140 SYSTEMS IMPLEMENTATION, 141 COAST GUARD NATIONWIDE AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM 142 PROJECT 143 144 LIEUTENANT COMMANDER CHAD JACOBY, 145 PROGRAM MANAGER, 146 SCALEABLE COMPOSITE VESSEL PROTOTYPE PROGRAM IN THE SCIENCE 147 & TECHNOLOGY DIRECTORATE, 148 DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 149 150 CATHY MARTINDALE, 151 CONTRACTING OFFICE CHIEF, 152 COAST GUARD ENGINEERING AND LOGISTICS CENTER 153 154 REAR ADMIRAL GARY BLORE, 155 PROGRAM EXECUTIVE OFFICER, 156 COAST GUARD INTEGRATED DEEPWATER SYSTEM 157 158 VICE ADMIRAL PAUL SULLIVAN, 159 COMMANDER, 160 U.S. NAVAL SEA SYSTEMS COMMAND 161 162 [*] 163 OBERSTAR: We meet today in full committee to inquire into compliance of 164 the Coast Guard with the requirements of the Deepwater contract. 165 166 When I was elected to the chairmanship of the committee, I said at the 167 very outset that we would have a strong emphasis on oversight and 168 investigations into the programs within the jurisdiction of our 169 committee. 170 171 It has long been a role of this committee, going back to 1959, when the 172 special investigating committee in the Federal-Aid Highway Program was 173 established by then Speaker Rayburn, and my predecessor, John Blotnik, 174 whose portrait is over there in the corner, was designated chair of that 175 committee. 176 177 It was the very first deep investigative work of the House in the 178 post-World War II era that resulted in conversion of all state federal 179 highway programs from no internal audit and review procedures to every 180 state having internal audit, review and accountability for their federal 181 highway funds. 182 183 It also resulted in 36 people going to federal and state prison for 184 their illegal activities in misuse and abuse of public funds in the 185 Federal-Aid Highway Program. 186 187 The committee continued its work into other areas of jurisdiction of the 188 full committee doing enormous good service to the public. We continue 189 that work in the spirit of inquiring into the wise, best and most 190 effective use of public funds and ensuring that there is not a failure 191 on the part of federal agencies in carrying out their public trust. 192 193 Of all the issues that have come before our committee -- we've had a lot 194 since the beginning of this session of Congress -- the failures of the 195 Coast Guard Deepwater acquisition program are the most disturbing. 196 197 The Investigations and Oversight bipartisan staff has been conducting 198 in-depth investigations over the last three months on the conversion of 199 110-foot patrol boats to 123-foot boats, which is a 12 percent 200 extension, and to modernize their electronics in the new era of 201 security, and the new or the additional mission of the Coast Guard in 202 homeland security. 203 204 OBERSTAR: The investigation uncovered factors far more disturbing than 205 we anticipated at the outset or than other committees that have looked 206 into this have uncovered. Major problems in the program -- some of the 207 major problems -- have already been disclosed in hearings of other 208 committees and by news reports. 209 210 But four years after the Coast Guard began the Deepwater program to 211 replace or upgrade all of its ships, fixed-wing aircraft and 212 helicopters, we know that eight of the 110-foot patrol boats have been 213 found unseaworthy and rendered essentially useless by poorly designed 214 hull extension. 215 216 It's already on public record that plans to produce a new class of 217 140-foot ships have been shelved after a new hull design was found to be 218 flawed. It's already been published that serious questions have been 219 raised about the structural integrity of the new National Security 220 Cutter, and whether it can be expected to meet its projected lifetime in 221 service. 222 223 There are problems that have increased the cost of the fleet renewal 224 program from $17 billion to more than $24 billion. We know that the 225 Coast Guard's ability to fulfill its mission has been compromised, that 226 critically needed assets are not going to be available, or certainly not 227 available in the timeframe within which the Coast Guard needs them. 228 229 The Coast Guard constantly has been forced to cut back on patrols. At 230 times, it's had to ignore tips from other federal agencies about drug 231 smugglers. We are concerned these difficulties will only grow and become 232 more acute in the years ahead as older vessels fail and replacements are 233 not available. 234 235 What we have learned in our investigation, though, is even more 236 disturbing: serious management failings, which are serious, internal to 237 the Coast Guard. 238 239 OBERSTAR: We're not going to pass final judgment on those charges or 240 allegations until we have had the response to the Coast Guard and its 241 contractors. 242 243 I should point out that the testimony we will hear today raises serious 244 problems that were known early in the program by the Coast Guard, and 245 that warnings delivered by very courageous persons involved in the 246 program in the earliest days were delivered, and many of the warnings 247 consciously rejected by various levels of Coast Guard management.
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