I would be remiss in saying that the power of the purse lies with the Congress, not with the President.

I am very, very concerned that all of the best intentions that you may have... are going to be pushed aside by the COCOM commanders.

You think you can do it only if the ships are meeting your schedule, that is the ships are available by your schedule.

I want to pick that sustainment issue up and carry it forward.

You cannot take care of a 290 fleet, and therefore we ought to stop building new ships until you can take care of what you have.

That was excellent. That was really, really well done by both of you.

I perceive this scheduling issue to be fundamental. And it is basically a power issue.

If we don't have a clear schedule, if those ships are not coming back on schedule, then the best of intentions are just simply aren't going to work.

I have asked Ms. Luria to join us on these committee hearings as much as possible, particularly when we are dealing in an area of which she has significant history and experience.

If we were to build vessels in the United States--for example, oilers and LNG vessels--we might have more competition in our shipyards, with a reduced price to the U.S. Navy for its kinetic vessels.

There is one at hand. It would simply require that a small percentage of our exported oil and gas be on American-built ships.

The bottom line here is we sit here and we talk about these things forever--and we have for at least the last half-dozen years, if not longer.