I appreciate that, and I look forward to working with you and your team to help the recreational anglers be able to enjoy what pretty much, you know, is their heritage and what they enjoy to do.

This subcommittee will reconvene on Wednesday, June 7, 2017 at 10:30 a.m.

If they do not put a firm analytical foundation under this effort, there will be a risk of this effort also experiencing difficulties in execution in the years ahead.

I believe that the ship should provide self-air defense, but we, as has already been testified to, have been buying excess capacity of air defense in the Burke-class for a number of years.

If we sent out the clear signal this year and next year that we are going to do this and that we are going to put the money where it is needed and we are serious about it in the long run, what actions do you think the Chinese Army/Navy…

I think would be very regrettable.

This is going to be our third attempt in the last 15 years to try and get right the issue of smalls surface combatant procurement.

Well, thank you for four excellent examples of testimony. Mr. Clark, you say we first need to get started with the first year. I could not agree more.

Anytime that you cause a ship or require a ship to be good at all things, you are going to drive up the cost factor on this.

I think I heard you say that getting to the 355 ships solves not only a modernization problem, but it solves a readiness problem.

Well, we just do not have the bipartisan votes.

I am concerned about that valley because, as we go through it, it not only puts a greater operational strain on our attack submarine force to do all those missions with fewer boats, it can also, in the eyes of competitor countries, be…

Are you heartened that he says we can do it 18 years?

I just think we ought to be looking at all alternatives and thinking outside the box.

I think the Navy needs to, instead of opening a wide aperture and seeing what comes in, make some choices about what they need this ship to do.

Thank you very, very much. I think this has been most helpful, and we had great participation from some seven members of the subcommittee.

In fact, this committee put a business case analysis requirement in the fiscal year 2018 NDAA to look at reactivation options.

Deploying such a system was a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission and has been mandated repeatedly on a bi-partisan basis by Congress.