Ray Mabus confirmation hearing

Ray Mabus confirmation hearing

Ray Mabus, President Barack Obama’s nominee to become Navy Secretary, on Tuesday vowed to put an “intense” focus on acquisition reform if confirmed for the job, warning that ongoing cost overruns threatened U.S. national security.

“The acquisition process has to be gotten under control or we’re going to unilaterally disarm ourselves,” Mabus, a former Mississippi governor and U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Reuters
4/28/9

Nominees for top Navy posts avoid opinions on carrier during hearings

President Obama’s nominees for the Navy’s top civilian posts appeared headed for Senate confirmation today, having steered a carefully neutral course through a Virginia-Florida battle over east coast ports for aircraft carriers.

Ray Mabus, Obama’s choice for secretary of the Navy, and Robert Work, the nominee for under secretary, told senators that a decision about moving a carrier from Norfolk to Naval Station Mayport, Fla., will be made as part of a broad study of defense programs, the Quadrennial Defense Review, later this year.

Pilot Online
4/28/9