WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) and Congressman Neal Dunn (R-FL) raise concerns over the U.S. Navy’s shipbuilding practices and contracts during a recent House Oversight Subcommittee hearing.
Congressman Higgins voiced concerns about the Navy unilaterally moving contracts away from small shipyards to larger unproven shipbuilders. He also questioned Rear Admiral Thomas Anderson on his comments regarding China.
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Congressman Dunn voiced similar concerns about China weakening our Navy and Coast Guard from within. He questioned Rear Admiral Thomas Anderson on the recent $3 billion contract awarded to Austal despite three of its executives being indicted by the DOJ for fraud and its Australian parent company having close ties with a Chinese shipbuilder.
Click the image above or watch here.
Congressman Higgins and Congressman Dunn have been working together to address shipbuilding issues since 2022. In a letter to Secretaries Mayorkas and Del Toro, they requested an investigation into two recent shipbuilding military contracts being pulled from their respective districts and re-awarded to Austal USA of Mobile, Alabama. They voiced concerns about the major failure of the Littoral Combat Ship and how the Coast Guard and Navy failed to consider the substantial risks in Austal USA’s lack of experience in steel shipbuilding.
Read the letter here.
