Senate Subcommittee News

U.S. “The Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower convenes this afternoon to examine Navy shipbuilding programs. We welcome our three distinguished witnesses: The Honorable Sean J. Stackley, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition; Vice Admiral Joseph P. Mulloy, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Integration of Capabilities and Resources; and Lieutenant General Robert S. Walsh, Deputy Commandant for Combat Development and Integration, as well as Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command.

U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Seapower, today called for increased shipbuilding and warned about readiness shortfalls  while delivering the opening statement for the subcommittee's review of Navy shipbuilding programs. "Not only is our Navy too small, it is also not as ready as it should be," said Wicker. "Sequestration in 2013 and a high operational tempo in Asia and the Middle East have led our naval fleet to endure major readiness shortfalls, including longer deployments, reduced training time, and reduced surge capability.

The U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security held a hearing on U.S. The hearing comes during a labor standoff between shipping companies and port workers that shut down 29 West Coast ports over the weekend. The ports have since resumed operations. "We need to explore the policy options to support port growth and future volumes of freight to keep goods moving," Chairman Deb Fischer (R-NE) said during the hearing.

Today, the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) applauded a “Dear Colleague” letter to the leadership of the Senate Committee on Appropriations that was signed by 22 senators, urging appropriators to meet the dredging funding commitments made in the 2014 Water Resources Reform & Development Act (WRRDA), passed in May. That letter, together with a similar one circulated through the House earlier this fall to House Appropriations Committee leadership, supports the “Hit the HMT Target!” campaign to impress upon lawmakers the need to annually fund what was authorized in WRRDA. In July, the House approved fiscal 2015 appropriations that hit the HMT target, thanks to a floor amendment put forth by Cong. Janice Hahn (D-CA) and Cong.

Following on the heels of House Committee's recommendation, U.S. Senate Subcommittee recommends record US$1-billion for FY2014 maintenance dredging. The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development completed its mark up of the fiscal 2014 appropriation bill for the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which includes a record $1 billion draw from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for maintaining America’s federal navigation channels and related infrastructure. "The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) congratulates (Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee)…

U.S. Senators Mark Begich, Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced legislation to strengthen the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Commissioned Officer Corps as a national asset and improve its ability to recruit and retain talented candidates like other uniformed services. Begich is chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard. Wicker and Schatz serve on the subcommittee as well. The NOAA Corps’ primary mission is to operate NOAA’s fleet of research ships and aircraft.

Crowley Maritime Corp. V-P, testifies on behalf of American Waterways Operators (AWO) to Senate Subcommittee. Bruce Harland, Vice President-Commercial Services of Crowley Maritime Corporation, has testified on behalf of Crowley and the American Waterways Operators (AWO) before the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee at a field hearing held in Kodiak, Alaska. The hearing, which was held at the request of Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK-R) and led by Subcommittee chairwoman Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), focused on the need for a robust U.S. Coast Guard presence in Alaska as the nation pursues expanding navigation opportunities in the Arctic region.

Norfolk, Va. - Amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) hosted a Senate subcommittee field hearing on energy March 12, the first time since 1960 that a Senate hearing was held aboard a Navy vessel. Senator  Jeanne Shaheen, chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Water and Power, was joined by Senator Mark Warner from Virginia. Among those who addressed the two Senators were Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus and Former Secretary of the Navy and retired Senator John Warner. Both testified about the Navy's current strategy to reduce energy consumption and decrease its reliance on foreign oil.

(June 11, 9:00 a.m. MODERATOR: Good morning. Welcome to today’s briefing. We’ll follow the standard format today. Admiral [Thad] Allen will give the daily update and then we’ll take 10 minutes of questions from the floor and 10 minutes from the phone. Admiral? ADMIRAL ALLEN: Thank you. Good morning. Since it’s Friday, I thought I’d review some of the basic numbers of the response and talk a little bit about some strategic issues regarding the skimmers which are becoming increasingly important in this response as it spreads out (inaudible). Be glad to answer any questions you may have for me at that point. Just to summarize where we’re at on this Friday regarding people—about 25,000 are on the ground down there. This has become the largest oil spill response in our nation’s history.

Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Chairwoman and Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, and Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, sent a letter to Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen expressing concern over the Coast Guard’s preliminary acceptance of the National Security Cutter BERTHOLF before many of the ship’s problems have been adequately fixed (text of the letter below).Last month, the U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) conducted a thorough assessment of the ship, and recommended that the Coast Guard delay acceptance until eight serious, “starred” deficiencies were addressed.

Congress has begun the FY 00 appropriations process as both House and Senate committees made their 302(b) allocations and began to consider individual appropriations bills at the subcommittee and committee level. The 302(b) allocations are the method by which the appropriations committees divide te funds approved in the budget resolution among the 13 appropriations subcommittees. These allocations become the "pot" from which each subcommittee must dispense monies to various programs within their jurisdiction. The Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, which appropriates money for USACE programs, received $21.1 billion in appropriations in FY 99. This year, the Senate subcommittee received $21.3 billion and the House, only $19.4 billion.

The Bush administration may require independent reviews of Army Corps of Engineers' plans for projects that are expensive or controversial to avoid a repeat of the Mississippi River dams study that was found rigged in favor of the project. "The administration is evaluating additional steps, including the need for independent review of Corps planning reports involving controversial or costly projects," the White House said in its fiscal 2002 budget proposal. The Corps is responsible for building dams, flood plains and other public works projects. The president's proposed budget for the federal government included $3.9 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers, a 14 percent cut from last year.

Representatives from Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS) presented testimony on the Integrated Deepwater System program before the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard. Philip Teel, president of Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, and Dr. Leo Mackay, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Coast Guard Systems, highlighted ICGS' commitment to the Coast Guard and its continued support of the service's evolving post-9/11 mission requirements. Renewal of the service contract for the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) based in Jacksonville, Fla., for a fifth year. These eight MH-68A helicopters are equipped with airborne use of force and have had a significant impact on illicit drug interdictions.

According to reports, the U.S. Coast Guard may not renew its $24 b contract with Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. to modernize the service's aging ships, the Coast Guard's top eofficial said. The service is considering a number of options as it negotiates with the two companies about renewing their contract to continue the Deepwater modernization program, Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen told reporters after a Senate subcommittee hearing. The $3bcontract extension would start in June and continue for 43 months. Senators from both parties said the Coast Guard has done a poor job of managing a program which, since its 2002 inception, has experienced delays, cost overruns and design flaws.

President Clinton's budget transmitted to Congress includes $4.06 billion for the USACE Civil Works program. In addition the program will include $322 million in non-federal contributions and trust fund receipts. Funding in this request will be used to continue the development of the nation's water resources, the efficient operations, maintenance and management of the nation's navigation, flood damage reduction, and multiple-purpose projects, the equitable regulation of wetlands, and the restoration of important environmental resources such as the South Florida Ecosystem. The budget also begins to address some of the Corps long-term water resources infrastructure main-tenance requirements.

Imagine having your picture taken as soon as you board any cruise vessel. While cruise lines have been observing this practice for many years for entertainment purposes, a new kind of photo has since come into play – the high speed interactive photo I.D. Developed by Security Identification Systems Corporation (SISCO), A-Pass (Automated Personnel Assisted Security Screening), provides a picture of each guest – even before boarding the ship – via a kiosk that stores each passengers photo upon insertion of their boarding card. Everyone who boards, even ships’ officers are required to observe this practice, which was presented before a Senate Subcommittee on Capitol Hill on January 9.