Marine Log - September 2007 - (Page 14)

INSIDEWASHINGTON More Congressional oversight ahead? W ith Congress back in session after its summer recess, we can look forward to yet more oversight of administration activities. One agency that has at least its share of such scrutiny is the U.S. Coast Guard. Under the Chairmanship of Congressman Elijah Cummings (D.-Md), the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation has been thorough in its examination of a number of areas of Coast Guard activity. On July 31, for example, a subcommittee hearing shone a light on the workings of the Coast Guard’s administrative law system. “We heard testimony that was frankly deeply concerning” said Chairman Cum- mings. “Two former Administrative Law Judges suggested that during their tenure, they worked in an atmosphere that did not support their exercise of judicial independence in the consideration of cases.” The Chairman said that he had concluded that the administrative law system that examines allegations made against mariners should be separated from the Coast Guard as a safeguard against the appearance of unfairness. On Aug. 2, the subcommittee held a hearing on the whole issue of “Challenges Facing the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Program.” A parade of industry witnesses gave testimony much of which suggested that either some agency other than the Coast Guard should be in charge of marine safety, or that marine safety was being given insufficient attention in the post-9/11 world. DEEPWATER The Coast Guard program that has come in for the deepest investigation has, however, been its Deepwater acquisition—and in particular ship conversions and acquisition. Troubling testimony during various Deepwater hearings led for Congressional calls for cancellation of the contract with prime contractor Integrated Coast Guard Systems (a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman) and calls for refunds. Since then, the Coast Guard has made major efforts to beef up its oversight of the program. However, with Congressional watchdogs in recess, the Coast Guard on Aug. 10 announced that in “a consolidated contractual action” it had awarded Integrated Coast Guard Systems $337 million for construction of the third national security cutter, along with $255 million for continuation of construction for the first two national security cutters. It called the combined award “the result of a successful negotiation between the government and industry.” Not everyone will see things that way—particularly as the first two cutters had previously been priced at $300 million and $144 million, respectively. With the summer recess over, “this consolidated contractual action” could be the subject of Congressional criticism. 14 MARINE LOG SEPTEMBER 2007 www.marinelog.com http://www.star-center.com http://www.star-center.com http://www.marinelog.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marine Log - September 2007

Marine Log - September 2007 Contents Update Inside Washington High Speed Design Heads into New Waters The National Maritime Salvage Conference & Expo Guide China Aims for the Top Azipods: Just Add Ice Rigdon Scores Newsmakers Tech News Contracts Events Website Directory InfoDirect Ml Marketplace Last Word

Marine Log - September 2007

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