Seapower and Expeditionary Forces Subcommittee Chairman Gene Taylor Hearing re: Naval Floating Barriers

Seapower and Expeditionary Forces
Subcommittee Chairman Gene Taylor
Hearing re: Naval Floating Barriers

June 6, 2007

"The subcommittee will come to order. Today the subcommittee will receive testimony from senior officials of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, or NCIS, and the General Services Administration, GSA, on the acquisition of floating barriers which, along with other measures, help protect Navy ships and installations from the specific threat of small boat attack.

"Testifying before the subcommittee today we have:

· Mr. Thomas Betro, Director, NCIS

· Ms. Cathy Riddick-Brown, Deputy Assistant Director for Acquisition and Logistics, NCIS.

· Mr. James A. Williams, Commissioner, Federal Acquisition Service, GSA

"On behalf of the Members of the subcommittee I thank you for coming and I look forward to your testimony.

"After the tragic suicide bombing of the USS Cole in October of 2000, the Navy correctly realized that additional security measures must be taken to protect our ships pier side and at anchor. The NCIS was given the task to lead the effort in this vital force protection initiative. Unfortunately, that effort appears to have been beset with contractual irregularities which have caused significant additional cost to the taxpayer.

"Make no mistake; this subcommittee fully supports force protection measures. This subcommittee, both under the Chairmanship of Mr. Bartlett and continuing today, has led the fight to up-armor HUMVEE's, expedite improved body armor and helmets, and probably most significantly, increase the rate of production of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle, commonly referred to as the MRAP.

"I remain concerned with cost and schedule overruns in Navy and Marine Corps programs. Unfortunately, I would be hard pressed to point to a single significant acquisition program which is currently progressing on budget and on schedule. The Members of this subcommittee are determined to provide to our Navy and Marine Corps the best ships and equipment, in sufficient numbers, that this nation can provide, but we continue to be frustrated as program after program reports cost overruns and schedule delays.

"It is not the concept of installing force protection barriers which bring us together today; indeed I applaud the former CNO, ADM Vern Clark, with recognizing he had a vulnerability to his ships and moving quickly to solve it. I am sure he expected his organization would execute his orders with the proper level of professionalism and oversight.

"Today, we on this subcommittee, with the full support of the full committee and our Chairman, Ike Skelton, are attempting to fund the construction for the 313 ship Navy envisioned by our current CNO, ADM Mike Mullen. But we will not be able to accomplish that goal if the service itself can not adequately handle routine acquisition projects. Every dollar wasted is a dollar that cannot go to buy a ship or an aircraft, or right now, an MRAP.

"This issue is particularly troubling since the committee was first made aware of possible waste of the taxpayer's money by reading the front page of the Washington Post. I was not briefed, nor do I believe any other Members of this subcommittee were informed by the Navy that there had been irregularities in contracting for these barriers.

"Based on the information available to this committee it appears that this acquisition program violated a number of standard procedures; these include the improper use of a government wide GSA services contract which was designed to provide IT support to federal government agencies, the use of multiple invoices to stay below contractual price thresholds, and authorizing unnecessary contractor fees. These are serious irregularities, possibly criminal.

"What is of interest today are the questions "How did this happen?", "What was the oversight?", "Why did it take two years for the improper practices to be revealed?", and most importantly, "What have you done to fix the internal problem?"

"Finally, I would like to remind the Members of the subcommittee that an ongoing criminal investigation into these matters is in progress. It is not the intention of this hearing to jeopardize that effort. I understand that the NCIS and the GSA have been continuing efforts to resolve all issues relating to these contracts. I further understand that based on this event the NCIS and the GSA have reorganized departments and have accomplished other internal changes to prevent this type of issue from occurring again. I look forward to the witnesses' testimony concerning those changes.

"I would now like to recognize the gentleman from Maryland and the Ranking Member of this subcommittee, my good friend, the Honorable Roscoe Bartlett."

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