King: Outsourcing Shipbuilding to Asia “Worst Idea Since the Red Sox Traded Babe Ruth”

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) raised concerns over the possibility that the Navy is considering manufacturing ships outside of the United States. In a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing including Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, King advocated for maintaining America's domestic shipbuilding industry and resisted any efforts to build vessels outside of the country.

The hearing comes after former Secretary of the Navy John Phelan told reporters last month that the U.S. Navy may utilize foreign partners to manufacture new warships.

"There is talk around the budget about building ships and even destroyers in Japan and Korea. That is the worst idea since the Red Sox traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees. It just doesn't make sense to be handing over that level of technology even to our allies. I have two reports I want to submit for the record. Both about substantial, even higher backlogs in Japan and Korean shipyards. Mr. Chairman, I would like, with permission to put these reports in the record," asked Senator King.

"Without objection. Also, let's put the chart which you just referred to in the record also. Is there objection? Without objection, that is done," replied Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS).

"The idea of building Naval Ships in a foreign shipyard I just don't understand. Admiral, every stitch of clothing you have on, is required to be made in the USA under the Barry amendment. If we require our sailors to wear shirts made in the USA but their ships can be made abroad, that doesn't make sense to me. I hope we can revisit this terrible idea of talking about building naval vessels abroad, both for the national security point of view but also rebuilding industrial base means providing the demand signal to allow our industrial base to reconstitute itself and meet the demand we are placing on them. I appreciate your work on this. Admiral, I certainly appreciate, you saw those incredible men and women at Bath that are doing -- building the most complex product in America. We want to strengthen their ability to do that, their productivity. That is happening." Senator King asked.

Earlier in the hearing Senator King highlighted the importance of steady procurement for Bath Iron Works-built destroyers in an exchange with Acting Secretary Cao.

"What puzzles me is the budget that has been submitted only requests one. I don't really understand that. Particularly , as the chairman pointed out, [there] are going to be retirements coming in the future. If there are three retirements and we are only building one a year, we are going into the hole. Every hearing in this committee for the past six months talked about rebuilding the industrial base. The only way to rebuild the industrial base is with consistent demand signals…" Senator King opined.

Acting Secretary Cao responded, "Thank you for the question. I am with you. This is the backbone of the U.S. Fleet of the workforce. The fact is right now we have 80 ships on contract throughout the various yards. 59 in construction and Bath alone, sir, there are 11 destroyers that are on contract for Bath alone and seven under construction."

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), Senator King has championed funding for both Bath Iron Works (BIW) and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY). During his nomination hearing, Senator King and former Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, discussed the importance of utilizing lessons from the private sector to maintain best practices for ship designing, building, and maintenance. Under the prior administration, Senator King also strongly urged Mr. Frederick J. Stefany, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition to prioritize long-term investments in the defense industrial base - including Bath Iron Works-to avoid a 'trough' between contracted work, resulting in a likely loss of workers and threatening American national security.

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