Rep. John P. Murtha Holds a Hearing On Air Force Posture
Political Transcript Wire › March 15, 2010
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Rep. John P. Murtha Holds a Hearing On Air Force Posture
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEFENSE HOLDS A HEARING ON AIR FORCE POSTURE
MARCH 10, 2010SPEAKERS:CHAIRMAN REP. NORM DICKS, D-WASH. REP. PETER J. VISCLOSKY, D-IND. REP. JAMES P. MORAN, D-VA. REP. MARCY KAPTUR, D-OHIO REP. ALLEN BOYD, D-FLA. REP. STEVEN R. ROTHMAN, D-N.J. REP. SANFORD D. BISHOP JR., D-GA. REP. MAURICE D. HINCHEY, D-N.Y. REP. CAROLYN CHEEKS KILPATRICK, D-MICH. REP. DAVID R. OBEY, D-WIS. EX OFFICIOREP. C.W. BILL YOUNG, R-FLA. RANKING MEMBER REP. RODNEY FRELINGHUYSEN, R-N.J. REP. TODD TIAHRT, R-KAN. REP. JACK KINGSTON, R-GA. REP. KAY GRANGER, R-TEXAS REP. HAROLD ROGERS, R-KY. REP. JERRY LEWIS, R-CALIF. EX OFFICIOWITNESSES: MICHAEL DONLEY, SECRETARY, AIR FORCEGENERAL NORTON A. SCHWARTZ, CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE AIR FORCE[*] DICKS: The committee will come to order. This afternoon, the committee will hold an open hearing concerning the current posture of the Air Force as well as the fiscal year 2011 budget request. We are pleased to welcome two distinguished witnesses, the Honorable Michael B. Donley, secretary of the Air Force, and General Norton A. Schwartz, chief of staff of the Air Force. These gentlemen are very well qualified to discuss all aspects of the fiscal year 2011 budget request and answer questions the committee has regarding the Air Force. Secretary Donley, General Schwartz, thank you for being here this afternoon. The committee is very interested in hearing what you have to say about the Air Force's fiscal year 2011 budget, specifically, as you are well aware, some of us on the committee are anxious to hear about the status of the KCX program with the announcement on Monday that one of the companies will not bid on the program. The department has planned on a summer award, so we are interested to hear how this decision will affect a contract award and how such an award will be negotiated with the remaining company. Additionally, the committee is looking forward to a discussion on the status of the joint strike fighter. The review conducted by the revised joint estimating team this fall predicted at least a 13-month schedule slip and the need for additional funding. To address these concerns, the Department of Defense has significant the decreased the number of aircraft it had planned to procure over the next five years and added funding to the development program. Only time will tell if the added time and funds will fully address the problems with this vital program or if the taxpayer will, once again, be forced to add additional resources. Another topic of concern is the continued delay in the development of our next long-range strike platform. The Quadrennial Defense Review directed further study of long-range strike capabilities. The Department of Defense initiated a next-generation bomber program several years ago, however, Secretary Gates terminated the effort last year. With the time required to fully develop a penetrating bomber to be in excess of a decade, if we were lucky, it is concerning that the department continues to delay the needed investment in recapitalizing our current float of bomber aircraft. Our current bomber fleet consists of 163 aircraft ranging in age from 50 years for the B-52 to 13 years for the B-2. While we applaud the plan to provide $199 million for the bomber-related industrial base, we are truly concerned that it is not enough. A continuing area of concern is the overuse of undefinitized contract actions by the Air Force. While these types of contracts are useful to satisfy critical time-sensitive and urgent war fighter requirements in a timely matter, they should not be used for routine acquisition or as a result of poor planning. Further, the inability of the Air Force and industry to definitize the contracts in a timely manner hinders cost control efforts which, ultimately, leads to increasing costs for multi-billion dollar acquisition programs. We applaud the efforts you have made over the last six months, but the committee will continue to provide stringent oversight to ensure the Air Force continues to reform its contracting procedures. In addition to these areas, the committee remains concerned with the Air Force's insourcing plan. The Air Force budget request includes a $1.6 billion increase for civilian compensation to support an additional 26,000 federal civilians and $1 billion less for contracted services. But it is unclear to the committee what informs the hiring plan since the Air Force does not have an adequate inventory of contracted services. In other words, we don't know who all your cont...See the full content of this document
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