Coast Guard Takes Step Toward Increased Budget
WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 – The United States Coast Guard was buoyed Thursday by a unanimous vote in the House of Representatives to authorize an $8.7 billion budget for 2006.
Rep. William Delahunt, who served in the Coast Guard and Coast Guard reserves from 1963 to 1971, spoke fervently about the need to revise an outdated fleet.
“What most Americans don’t know is that the U.S. Coast Guard operates the second oldest naval fleet in the world,” Delahunt said before the vote. “The indisputable fact is that the demands of the Coast Guard have vastly outpaced its resources.”
The vote, which was 415-0, is only a preliminary step in passing the budget. After authorizations are approved, Congress then must appropriate the funds. The budget figure would represent a $1.4 billion increase from this year.
In addition to upgrading aging vessels, the budget would increase the capacity of the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod. A new plane, used for long-range missions, would be placed at the station, and unmanned vehicle capabilities would be added.
The Coast Guard’s Woods Hole Group, which consists of 11 stations at places like Provincetown, the Cape Cod Canal and Chatham, has a heavy presence on Cape Cod.
In 2004 the Woods Hole Group and Air Station Cape Cod made 795 rescues and saved an estimated $3.8 million in property, according to Steven Broderick, legislative assistant for Delahunt. The air station, which is the fifth largest Coast Guard air station in the country, made 283 search and rescue missions and 53 emergency medical evacuations from the islands, Broderick said.
“These assets, these ships and planes, are being pushed to their limits,” he said.
Before the vote, Delahunt cited the 329 in-flight engine failure incidents per 100,000 flight hours the guard experienced last year, compared to the Federal Aviation Administration’s acceptable standard of one incident per 100,000 flight hours.
“Our ships and aircraft are getting old and need to be replaced,” said Jolie Shifflet, spokesperson from Coast Guard Headquarters.
The Coast Guard initially requested $8.15 billion but that was then increased by the House transportation committee.
The committee increased the budget in order to hasten the progress of the ongoing Integrated Deepwater Systems project, which seeks to replace ships and planes and create a completely integrated communications network, Delahunt’s staff said.
“They’re trying to upgrade their assets,” Broderick said. “They’ve got cutters going back to World War Two protecting the coastline.”
In recent weeks Hurricane Katrina has highlighted the vast presence of the Coast Guard, which was pre-positioned in the Gulf Coast before the storm hit land. A helicopter from Cape Cod made the first rescue, Delahunt said.
“Unlike other government agencies, they were ready,” Broderick said.
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