Admn. Allen Urges Congress to Approve Coast Guard Budget Request
COASTGUARD
Norwalk Hour
Erin Kutz
Boston University Washington News Service
March 7, 2008
WASHINGTON— Adm. Thad Allen, the Coast Guard commandant, touted his branch’s successes in the past year Thursday while urging Congress to approve the full amount sought in President Bush’s fiscal year 2009 budget request.
The Coast Guard’s $9.3 billion request is almost 7 percent higher than the amount budgeted for this year, said Stephen Caldwell, director of homeland security and justice issues for the Government Accountability Office.
In 2007, the Coast Guard saved more than 5,000 lives, seized $4.7 billion worth of cocaine from narcotics trafficking and prevented 6,000 illegal immigrants from entering the country, Allen told the Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard Subcommittee of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
“It was a banner year,” he said, noting that 2007 also marked the one-millionth life the branch saved since its inception in 1790.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the subcommittee chairwoman, added that the Coast Guard also carried out 27,000 search and rescue missions and responded to 162 oil and chemical spills. She also lauded the branch’s support in the war in Iraq.
“Few people are aware of the meaningful role the Coast Guard plays in Iraq,” Cantwell said of the more than 800 Coast Guard personnel stationed in that country in 2007. Typically they help with protecting oil bases, securing sea lanes and training Iraqi forces.
Allen also urged the senators to look at increasing the size of the branch, which has barely increased in close to half a century.
Cantwell pointed out that 49,000 Coast Guard employees are responsible for protecting 4.3 million square miles of ocean—leaving one employee for every 90 square miles.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the branch has faced increased pressure in managing its homeland security mission responsibilities—which include gathering intelligence at ports, controlling the flow of undocumented waterborne immigrants and assisting the Department of Defense.
The branch’s budget requests for all homeland security missions account for roughly 40 percent of the total, Caldwell, of the Government Accountability Office, told the subcommittee.
“The Coast Guard’s priorities and focus had to shift suddenly and dramatically toward protecting the nation’s vast and sprawling network of waterways,” he said in his testimony. “Coast Guard cutters, aircraft, boats and personnel normally used for non-homeland security missions were shifted to homeland security missions, which previously consumed only a small portion of the agency’s operating resources.
“Further complicating this balance issue is the understanding that any unexpected events—a man-made disaster (such as a terrorist attack) or a natural disaster (such as Hurricane Katrina)—could result in again shifting resources between homeland security and non-homeland security missions.”
Sen. Cantwell expressed concerns over the Coast Guard’s troubled Deepwater program and warned that the branch has been unable to respond to the environmental demands created by climate change.
“The Coast Guard needs to complete its missions safely and effectively, and taxpayers need to know what they’re getting for their dollar,” Cantwell said.
“At some point, though, there is a limit to what the Coast Guard can do with what we are giving them,” she continued. “We are starting to see the fault lines in an overextended agency that is beyond ‘do more with less.’ ”
Allen expressed hope in the budget, though.
“While much has been achieved, developing comprehensive maritime safety, security, and stewardship regimes for the nation remains a work in progress,” he said. “Our fiscal year 2009 budget request and current legislative priorities are critical steps in the right direction.”
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