The taxpayers deserve to know if what they are paying for is actually effective.

I am really very disappointed that you are leaving because you really are the kind of member we need.

I am so disappointed in your testimony I can't begin to tell you.

I fear the answer is a resounding no.

That is why Congress needs to find out if the most recent changes will really make the LCS better or if we are just trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

So, Mr. Stackley, why is it the Coast Guard can get it right and the Navy can't?

I think in the end, for all of us, what is most important is, one, that our seamen are safe and secure at sea and that they can survive and that the ship can survive.

It seems to me that maybe we should go back to the drawing board and build a frigate that we want.

that we are not paying for pigs in the poke. And that we are not providing sweetheart deals to the shipbuilders for not providing us ships at the outset that are capable of doing the job that we contracted for.

You would think all this uncertainty would prompt calls for a pause to get the LCS conceptual house in order before the Navy does a binge buy for more.

We are here today to examine a case study in gross mismanagement on the part of the Navy.

The Navy has wasted billions in taxpayer dollars and failed to produce a ship that meets its objectives.

Look at how much the program has changed from the Navy's early pie-in-the-sky promises.

To protect the United States interests and to do what is best for our service men and women, we need a ship that is capable of fulfilling its intended mission.

So if an LCS is hit by a torpedo, what is survivability, that the sailors can get overboard or that they can exit the area?

I think that we are talking around some realities. The reality is the Coast Guard has figured out a way to do it appropriately.

I want to know--and I would like for you to send it to the committee and also to my personal office--how much money we have spent on repairs to the LCS fleet to date.

I want all repairs, and you can give it to us by date so we can look at the date the ship was commissioned and the date of the repairs.