A San Francisco politician calls for a review

5/22/2012

By CLINTON LANG
EagleHerald staff writer

MARINETTE - Over the last couple of years, a few minor technical issues involving the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship program have been discovered. They've since been corrected - but that fact hasn't stopped one San Francisco area politician from placing her opinions of the LCS program above those of the experts in the U.S. Navy.

Earlier this month, Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) issued a press release calling for a Government Accountability Office review of the LCS program.

Speier's press release ripped not only the LCS program, and in particular USS Freedom (LCS 1), - but by extension, attacked the engineers, designers, and shipbuilders at Marinette Marine Corp. - and everyone else involved in constructing the ship.

Neither the basis nor the tone of Speier's remarks sat well with Wisconsin Congressman Reid Ribble (R-Sherwood) who fired back at Speier in an open letter.

"She took a totally unwarranted swipe at Marinette," Ribble said in an interview with the EagleHerald on Monday. "She's quoting a POGO report that happened over a year and a half ago."

Speier's press release referred to the USS Freedom (a ship that Navy officials have repeatedly spoken very fondly of) as "a ship that fails to meet the basic requirements for a tugboat."

To Ribble, those and other statements made by Speier were unwarranted, inflammatory, and flat-out insulting to the shipbuilders in Marinette.

"I wasn't going to just sit by and let her take a poke at them," Ribble said.

"The engineers, the designers, and the shipbuilders that are making these ships are the best in the world, and if someone takes a swing at them, I'm gonna fight back.

"Those shipbuilders don't have a voice in Congress, except me, and they rely on me to stand up for them and I'm going to do it," Ribble explained.

His talk is tough, but it's backed up by the letter he sent Speier - who has yet to reply.

The following is Ribble's open letter to Speier in its entirety:

"I'm writing regarding your recent inflammatory rhetoric about the hardworking shipbuilders of Marinette, Wisconsin. As the representative of these skilled craftsmen I was both surprised and offended at your tone. To say the quality of their work was 'not fit for a tugboat' made it clear that you were seeking headlines, not solutions.  

"Given the revolutionary nature of the ship, there are bound to be tweaks that need to be made on the prototype. The 'beta' version, to put it in Silicon Valley terms, is meant to serve as the platform to test and resolve issues and finely tune the project for future development. This happens routinely in the digital industries from your part of California, so why attack the same beta-testing process when it's used by steelworkers, manufacturers, and engineers in Wisconsin?  

"The ships' operational efficiency when at sea is unprecedented, and for you to attack it in such a fashion is analogous to my calling YouTube a wannabe TV network ... insulting and off-target. If our nation's military is expected to do more with less in the future, ships like the LCS are going to be critical toward achieving that goal.
 
"Additionally, I was surprised by the issues you brought up since many of them were previously reported and addressed ... over a year ago. Where were you during those conversations and reviews? Despite being the Representative of some of the most cutting-edge communication companies in the nation, the information you used to attack the work of my constituents was incredibly outdated. Given the apparent delay in news reaching the west coast, I look forward to your soon-to-come outrage over the loss of taxpayer dollars across the Bay at Solyndra. Now there's a technological tugboat.  

"The Navy has reported in detail on the LCS issues you're now discussing and the designs in Marinette have been adjusted for future ships. To rehash these issues in a manner full of blatant inaccuracies while calling for yet another GAO study in such a prejudicial manner is unnecessary and frivolous. The Navy and the committees of jurisdiction are certainly equipped to review and address design challenges or engineering issues as they may arise. Recent news coverage has highlighted the excessive number of government studies, such as the one you have requested on the LCS. In fact, DOD studies have become so pervasive and costly that a 'study of studies' was recently requested.

"I trust the work of Chairman McKeon, the House Armed Services Committee and the members on that distinguished panel. They should be actively engaged in oversight of taxpayer dollars on all military projects, but your rhetoric regarding the LCS and the skills of Wisconsin workers is uncalled for and inflammatory.  

"I welcome the opportunity to bring you to Marinette so you can see the project firsthand and meet the hardworking tradesmen whose work you disparaged. I believe you will find, as I have, that their skill is second-to-none and that this is a strategically and structurally sound class of ship that will help the Navy operate more efficiently and effectively throughout the globe."