Congressman defends controversial ship program for both workforce and defense aims

Efforts to increase the United States naval fleet to 355 ships have received bipartisan support, but there is some disagreement about how to reach that number, as well as about the quality of some of the ships that would get us there.

The controversial Littoral Combat Ship, which is the Navy’s newest class of warship, has been one source of such disagreement. Both Democrats and Republicans have criticized the ships as unreliable and cost ineffective, citing incidents of engine failure or non-combat related structural damage, and have called for either an end to or reduction of the program.