Mitch Landrieu: “I have been impressed by recent efforts undertaken by the Navy to create an Internet capable database that would…”

“I have been impressed by recent efforts undertaken by the Navy to create an Internet capable database that would catalogue and inventory all spare parts necessary for repairs to Navy aircraft. It is a fact of life that the high stresses Navy pilots place on their aircrafts will cause significant wear and tear and require repairs. The Navy, at times, has been plagued by difficulties in locating the whereabouts of necessary parts. To remedy this problem, the Navy began to work on the Configuration Management Information System, or CMIS, to catalogue and inventory Navy aircraft parts and their whereabouts. With CMIS, Navy mechanics around the world, will be able to search through an Internet database to ascertain if the needed parts can be found on site. If not, they will be able to quickly learn where the nearest replacement part is located. With this knowledge, mechanics know where to turn for parts rather than conducting scatter-shot searches throughout the Navy to look for the part. The CMIS program was funded last year in the Senate Defense Appropriations bill at a level of $4,000,000. This year, the Senate authorized $13,500,000 for CMIS, and the House appropriated $4,000,000 for CMIS. I would hope, Senator Inouye, that you would agree on the need to create a centralized database to quickly identify the location of necessary parts to make repairs to Navy aircraft, and I would hope that you would agree that this program should be supported in Conference.”