I would say that China's not alone. There are several nations around the world that are expanding their amphibious warfare capabilities.

The first decision that came out of that was we have to do a scrub of the fleet mix of vehicles.

The reason I fully support this decision is because if you want to maintain the largest, most sustainable, and most capable fleet you can have, you need to do all of the maintenance and modernization.

So it's a work in progress?

Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary, for an excellent statement.

I think it reflects the interest that China has in overseas areas in which they're very interested in looking for natural resources and things like that, and they begin to have the capability to project power.

Just for the record, the 313-ship target total, is that still under the Secretary's guidance, is that still the requirement for the Navy?

One of the things that complicates that is sometimes the Navy changes the plan midway through.

Sequestration is not a hypothetical. It is the law of the land.

I think, has huge implications is the F-35B, with the sheer size of the procurement dollars required for that activity.

are cracks in nearly identical locations on opposite sides of the ship, as apparently were identified in the LCS-1, indicative of a systematic flaw in the design of the LCS-1, and if so, how will the Navy address this issue?

Obviously, as always, please commend those that you lead for their extraordinary efforts.

You might be able to help us help you get there through appropriate legislative language. Is that feasible?

Where are you getting the money?

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Very important and timely questions. In fact, let me just follow up.

Along with Senator Feinstein, I'm interested in your aircraft modernization program.

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