[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 62 (Wednesday, May 18, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 18, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     SERVICE LIFE EXTENSION PROGRAM

 Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, the Navy has been quietly 
circulating a point paper on the proposed Service Life Extension 
Program [SLEP] Availability for the U.S.S. America (CV-66). It makes 
for grim reading. The America ``is at her naval architecture limits for 
displacement for hull strength and torpedo side protection.'' Her 
``hull plating thickness is thinner and stringer sizes are smaller than 
previous and later constructed CVs,'' and the hull itself is 
nonsymmetrical. This is outrageous. That we are putting our sailors at 
risk by keeping this ship at sea is wrong. Knowing the deficiencies of 
the America, the ship should be retired immediately.
  Here's the weird part, though. The America is the last ship of her 
class, and the other two ships of her class, the Kitty Hawk and the 
Constellation, went through SLEP's that the Navy hailed as triumphs of 
costeffectiveness. Now, the last time I checked, sister ships were 
essentially similar ships built from the same general plans. That being 
so, you'd think that what was good for the goose would be good for the 
gander. But not according to the Navy.
  Something just doesn't click. Prior to SLEP, were the Kitty Hawk and 
the Constellation at the limits for hull strength and torpedo side 
protection? If not, why the difference from the America? If so, how did 
each ship avoid the hull blister, hull strapping, and plate replacement 
required by the America? Why were the hull plating thickness and 
stringer sizes of the Kitty Hawk and the Constellation different from 
the America? Was the hull of the Kitty Hawk and the Constellation 
symmetrical? If not, how were complications avoided?
  You can't have it both ways. Either the America is a heap that should 
be stricken from the rolls, or her SLEP would be no more costly or 
difficult that that of her sisters. If the America is a wreck, we 
should be investigating how she got that way. If the America is no 
worse than the Kitty Hawk of the Constellation, we should be 
investigating how the Navy came to the conclusions it did in its point 
paper.

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