Jennifer Kiggans Questions Witnesses On Working With Allies To Bolster Sealift Command Fleet

22 hours ago

During a House Armed Services Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. Jennifer Kiggans (R-VA) spoke about the Military Sealift Command.

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Transcript

00:00I now recognize the member from the Commonwealth of Virginia who has such great vision and

00:04brings such strategic vision to this committee, Ms. Kiggins.

00:08Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you to our panelists for being here.

00:11I have the privilege of representing Virginia's second congressional district, so Hampton

00:14Roads, home to Huntington Ingalls, just outside my district, and most importantly, so much

00:20ship repair and shipbuilding people.

00:23So listening to you all, it's a lot.

00:26I wish it was a little more positive direction, but I think there's some important lessons

00:29for Congress to learn.

00:31We can't keep doing what we're doing, I think is the bottom line, and it is encouraging

00:35to have the President of the United States stand up to the State of the Union and talk

00:39about prioritizing shipbuilding.

00:41The fact that we have now a new office of shipbuilding, these are all steps in the right

00:44direction, but I think we're going to need to see some big, overarching changes.

00:48And what does that look like?

00:49I mean, the ideas you've talked about today between the technology, we can build unmanned

00:54aircraft using robotics.

00:55Why can't we do better with especially ship components?

00:57I mean, the design aspect, I have a son who studied naval architecture at the Naval Academy.

01:02I know it was one of the few schools that they actually have that degree.

01:05So what can we do to incentivize kids just to go to the design piece?

01:10The labor challenges, it's hard for me to listen to you all talk about.

01:13I sat on the Recruitment, Retention, Quality of Life Task Force that we did from this committee

01:18last year, where we looked at all of those things for our active duty side.

01:21We improved the pay and compensation.

01:23We improved the housing.

01:24We improved child care, the health care, the spouse employment.

01:27It's the same issues that you all are talking about, and we took 29 amendments that came

01:31out of the Senate to the tune of $5 billion that we're making sure in this year's continuing

01:35resolution that we're passing, that we're going to hopefully pass today, because it's

01:38so meaningful to us, that work that we did, because we cannot keep this all-volunteer

01:43force without those quality-of-life changes for our active duty.

01:47But the same can be said, not just for shipbuilding and ship repair, but for our MSC task as well.

01:53And we know that with our Navy, we can't do the job that we need to do without our military

01:57sealift command, which is also important in my district, and we've had the opportunity

02:01to visit.

02:02But we can incorporate these changes across the board.

02:06It's interesting that the geographic issue, living along the coastline is historically

02:11expensive.

02:12I can speak to that from Hampton Roads area, but can we build components in places like

02:17the Midwest?

02:18I know we're doing it in Virginia and Danville.

02:20We've got a great center, but when we take people out of Danville, where they're from,

02:23and move them to other parts where there may be shipbuilding, it's a harder transition.

02:28So what does that modular component look like, and that build?

02:31I think there's ways that we can do things.

02:33But I want to talk specifically, and we printed this poster about the military sealift command,

02:38and there are so many ships that we can be building that are not warships.

02:42I understand building the warships domestically, and what that looks like, and our challenges

02:46that we're going to work through.

02:48But on the MSC side, for example, we used to have eight AOEs.

02:51We're down to two.

02:53We're down to two of these.

02:54If we don't have ships, and food, and supplies, we can't keep the fleet at sea.

02:58So I'm really focused, and I think we're leaving these guys out of the equation sometimes.

03:03But how can we do better on this side of the house?

03:08Is it something, I know a few of you have spoken about the South Koreans specifically,

03:12and involving some of our allied partners, but what does that look like?

03:15What is it?

03:16Is it a place we need to pursue, that we need to use, think outside the box, and be using

03:21our allied partners, especially when it comes to this MSC type fleet, or, I can't do it

03:25all domestically.

03:26So what can I do?

03:27Because I want them as soon as I can get them.

03:30But are there any of you that can speak to just, especially the use of allied partners

03:33for things like military sealift command?

03:35If it's all right, I'll take an answer to that question.

03:43Again, I'm not in the business of making recommendations, but I would sort of answer this question this

03:48way, is that if you believe you need a larger fleet, and you need to recapitalize both the

03:53warship fleets, as well as the military sealift command, then I think that, and given that

03:58the capacity of current shipbuilding yards is full, looking at the question of our allies

04:05being able to supply some of these types of ships is something that is worth considering.

04:09There's all kinds of advantages and disadvantages of bringing the allies and partners into the

04:14shipbuilding portfolio, whether domestically or overseas.

04:17But, you know, in December, President Trump, he made a suggestion along those lines in

04:21an interview with the press, and it seems like the public would benefit from that.

04:25The Japanese and the Koreans in particular are, you know, build outstanding ships that

04:30fall into the military sealift command portfolio, if you're talking about robo-ships and cargo-ships

04:34and things like that.

04:36Some of the more specialized ships under the military sealift command might still be better

04:39built than American yards, but it is at least worth having that public debate and having

04:43that conversation about whether, you know, others need to be brought into it, not only

04:48for Navy, but also Coast Guard and icebreakers.

04:50That would be another place to sort of have that conversation as well.

04:53I agree.

04:54Do any of you others have thoughts on that?

04:58Well, in my eight seconds, I'll just say committed to working with Marad and ensuring that we

05:08prioritize military sealift command and the build of those ships.

05:11I think, you know, rising tide raises all boats, and certainly the commercial sector

05:17getting stronger is going to help us, too, in what we're doing in the defense sector.

05:21So all committed.

05:23I think it warrants a further discussion, but thank you so much for your opinion.

05:27I yield back.

Jennifer Kiggans Questions Witnesses On Working With Allies To Bolster Sealift Command Fleet

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