Good afternoon.  I would like to welcome Admiral Thomas Collins, Commandant of the Coast Guard as he presents his fiscal year 2007 appropriations request.  

 

The past year has been a busy one for the Coast Guard, a year that demonstrated how vital the Coast Guard is to the welfare of our nation.  The Coast Guard’s rapid response and thousands of rescue operations were one of the few positives in the response to Hurricane Katrina.  Coast Guard vessels deployed overseas continue to valiantly support the Global War on Terror.  The issues surrounding the ongoing Dubai Port World acquisition has highlighted seaport security and the Coast Guard’s lead role in securing our ports.  As the Department of Homeland Security matures and starts to develop its own identity, the Coast Guard is quickly becoming the Department’s “go to” agency to solve many problems.  This Committee wants to help you succeed by providing the appropriate funding.  But I have concerns about your 2007 request, some of which are longstanding issues we have discussed repeatedly in the past.

 

The budget request is for $8.1 billion, or a 6.5 percent increase over fiscal year 2006 enacted levels.  But the truth of the matter is--if you exclude mandatory appropriations, a one-time rescission to account for changes in the Defense Authorization Act, and other changes in health care financing, and compare apples to apples--the Coast Guard only gets a marginal increase of 2.6 percent in fiscal year 2007, barely keeping up with inflation.

 

The 2007 request appears to fund acquisition and construction at the expense of operating expenses, which is reduced by $50 million from the 2006 level.  This critical appropriation funds the salaries of the men and women of the Coast Guard, daily maintenance, and fuel to keep the fleet operational.  I support the need for construction and acquisitions, but also recognize the importance of current operational capability.  Hurricane Katrina highlighted the importance of the day-to-day work of the Coast Guard - and yet they are being short changed in this budget. 

 

Another concern developed when the Secretary asked the Coast Guard to begin protecting the airspace around the National Capital Region, an activity that Customs and Border Protection currently does.  Your fiscal year 2007 budget requests $62 million to do this work.  While a plan has been drafted, it has not been shared with this Committee.  As you learned with Deepwater last year, this Committee likes plans, some may even say we are obsessed with plans, but we like to see them.  So until we see the entire plan and understand the activities that are being proposed --including protecting the airspace, follow up investigations of these violations, and continuity of government operations -- it is unclear whether or not the Coast Guard is the best agency for this job.  We will spend some time on this in our hearing today.

 

And just like last year, we will spend time talking about Deepwater.  I am pleased to note that the Coast Guard submitted a report identifying and explaining changes to the revised Deepwater Implementation Plan as required by law.  Last year, we spent months delving into the details of each procurement included in the original Deepwater plan and how they needed to be revised to reflect the current risks our nation faces.  Admiral, this was not a one-time exercise.  You can expect our Committee will be fully engaged in the Deepwater acquisition process from now until it is completed.  Changes to the revised plan; problems that occur with each acquisition; and emerging requirements will all be closely monitored.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts on these and other issues during the hearing today.