Content area
Full Text
U.S. House of Representatives Documents
Mr. Chairman, thank you for scheduling today's hearing on the Coast Guard, Maritime Administration and Federal Maritime Commission's budget and authorization for fiscal year 2011.
I would like to commend the men and women of the Coast Guard for the phenomenal and timely response to the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that ravaged Port-au-Prince, Haiti on January 12th of this year. The morning after the earthquake, the Coast Guard had C-130 aircraft on-scene evacuating American citizens and conducting aerial damage assessments. Within 48 hours, three Coast Guard cutters were on-scene, delivering aid and supplies and rendering first aid to hundreds of injured Haitians. Within 13 days, the Coast Guard had 900 personnel and five cutters within the Port-Au-Prince area providing a variety of services from first-aid to vessel traffic management and within a month, the Coast Guard has delivered over 700 responders to assist with the relief efforts, evacuated almost 1,200 American citizens and conducted 250 medical evacuations of injured people.
The members of the Coast Guard are resilient and I commend them for being "Semper Paratus" or 'Always Ready" in the time of national and international crisis.
That being said, I am deeply concerned and troubled by the fiscal year 2011 President's budget request for the Coast Guard. The President's budget, requests $9.6 billion for the Coast Guard which is approximately $35 million less than then amount appropriated for the Coast Guard for fiscal year 2010. The budget proposes to reduce the size of the Coast Guard's workforce by 773 personnel and decommission five cutters, four Falcon jets, five Maritime Safety and Security Teams and the National Strike Force Coordination Center, and remove five HH-65 helicopters from service.
Decreased funding for the Coast Guard means there will be fewer assets conducting drug patrols, ice operations and detection of illegal fishing in the U.S. economic exclusive zone. Decreased funding also affects the Coast Guard's readiness, which is of great concern since 10 of the 12 major cutters assigned to the Haiti relief effort suffered mechanical failures, where two had to return to port for emergency repairs and one had to go to emergency dry dock.
I have repeatedly stated that we have added 27 new missions to the Coast Guard since...