Oversight Hearing - State of the Civil Works Program
House Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies
2025-02-25
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Source: Congress.gov
Summary
This hearing examines the challenges facing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works program, including significant project delays, cost overruns, and struggles with engineering design and environmental compliance. Witnesses, including Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Butch Graham and division commanders, highlight systemic issues such as inadequate engineering, labor shortages, inflation, and bureaucratic bottlenecks that have plagued projects from the Chickamauga Lock to the Port Everglades deepening and widening initiative. The hearing addresses policy recommendations for improving contracting processes, reducing project timelines, and enhancing environmental permitting efficiency. Key concerns include the rising costs of infrastructure projects, the impact of supply chain and workforce shortages, and the need for better coordination between federal agencies and local stakeholders. The committee calls for stronger oversight, more transparent project management, and faster execution of water infrastructure to protect economic and environmental stability across America.
Participants
Transcript
Good morning. The hearing will come to order. It's my pleasure today to welcome Lieutenant General Butch Graham, the Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the United States Army Corps of Engineers to discuss the state of the Civil Works program. Joining General Graham are Major General Mark C. Quander, Commanding General of the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, Brigadier General Daniel Hibner, Commanding General of the South Atlantic Division, Colonel James J. Handura, Commander of the South Pacific Division, and Colonel George H. Walter, commander of the Southwestern Division. These division commanders have made themselves available to address project execution from a local and regional perspective. Before I talk about my formal remarks, gentlemen, I want to thank each and every one of you all for what you do for our country, not only for the Army Corps of Engineers, our great United States Army and service to our great nation. It's with profound thanks that we do this hearing today. And as chairman, this subcommittee, and I would say our full committee, my dear friend Marcy Kappner from Ohio would probably agree with me. We are civil, we are cordial. When there are differences, we understand that. But it's with the utmost respect that we have you before us here today. And I say that as chairman of this full subcommittee. Gentlemen, few federal programs have such a direct and immediate impact on the American people's daily lives as the Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works program.
The mission underpins America's economic competitiveness, promotes public safety, and protects trillions of dollars in private investment and economic activity. Congress expects the Corps to address some of the nation's most complex and high-profile challenges, and the Corps does tremendous work to deliver on this critical mission. The Corps also faces many challenges inherent to government contracting. We would all prefer to see federal construction projects delivered at the cost and speed of the private sector. However, patterns have emerged in recent years that go beyond the regular course of business. I continue to hear from my colleagues and stakeholders about projects of all sizes in different parts of the country and with little else in common, all facing similar issues and fact patterns. The Chickamauga Lock in my district, the great third district of Tennessee, has experienced many of these same challenges, which we will have time to discuss later in the hearing. Congress has provided record funding for the Corps in annual energy and water appropriation acts and tens of billions more in supplemental appropriations over much of the last decade. We have funded several major construction projects to completion, some multiple times, only for the Corps to tell us they need more. Projects are derailed due to inadequate engineering, requiring the Corps to go back to the drawing board in the middle of construction. The Corps has all but abandoned design and engineering when studying projects to recommend for construction, leading chiefs of engineers to certify cost estimates and project plans based on concepts, not designs.
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Unknown (SPEAKER_05)
We are building the plane while we are flying it. Meanwhile, we've heard from many core stakeholders about the need to modernize the core's contracting process. Private industry would never procure complex infrastructure projects in the same way. Contracting improvements alone can reduce uncertainty, improve affordability, and enhance engineering quality earlier in the life of a project. Many project sponsors feel they have no choice but to plead with our friends on the authorizing committees for the federal government to put larger shares of these much larger bills. I don't blame anyone who comes to that conclusion, but every time that cycle repeats, the choices facing subcommittee become more difficult, worsening the outlook for every project in America. The Corps executes a no-fail mission, and there is always more to be done. We need to finish what we start so that we can deliver for our constituents, and achieving those goals requires the Corps to define success and measure progress. General Graham, sir, you are new in this role, and you certainly have your work cut out for you. I greatly appreciate the attention that you've already given to these issues and the vision you laid out in your written testimony. I look forward to today's discussion and working with you, sir, to promote a healthy and sustainable civil works program for the American people. I will now turn to my friend and ranking member, Ms. Kaptur, for her opening statement. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is such a great turnout this morning on both sides of the aisle here.
This is a wonderful committee, and I'm just thankful everyone is here, including our honored guests, the Corps of Engineers Civil Program, Civil Works Program. And I want to thank you and all of those who work under your command for your dedication to the civil works of our country going back to close to our founding. There aren't too many organizations that can say that. And the American people thank you for your service, not just here in our country, but many times called upon around the world, as was my uncle, who served in the Engineers Corps during World War II at the Battle of the Bulge. I want to thank my friend and colleague, Chair Fleischman, for holding this hearing. While Congress is about a half a year late already and has still not finished our jobs for the fiscal year of 2025, It should have been done October, November, December, January, February, moving into March, half a year late. Not our fault.
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