Introduction
Good morning, Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the Subcommittee. It is a pleasure to appear before you today to discuss the Coast Guard’s fiscal year 2004 budget request and its impact on the essential daily services we provide the American public.
The President has clearly indicated that protecting the homeland is the government’s number one priority and the Coast Guard has a critical role in that effort. The President’s National Strategy for Homeland Security (dated 16 July 2002) stated:
“The Budget for Fiscal Year 2004 will continue to support the recapitalization of the U.S. Coast Guard’s aging fleet, as well as targeted improvements in the areas of maritime domain awareness and command and control systems…”
To that end, the Coast Guard’s fiscal year 2004 budget proposes budget authority of $6.77 billion dollars and continues our effort to establish a new level of maritime safety and security operations. The Coast Guard’s goal is to create sufficient capacity and capability to implement the maritime component of the President’s National Strategy for Homeland Security while sustaining the traditional missions the American public expects.
I appreciate your support in the Fiscal Year 2003 Emergency Supplemental Funding Bill. Coast Guard forces have been fully engaged in support to the component commanders overseas in the Persian Gulf. We have deployed the largest contingent of Coast Guard forces since the Vietnam War, including 2 high endurance cutters, 8 patrol boats, 1 buoy tender, 4 port security units and 2 maintenance support units. We firmly believe that success overseas will bring greater security at home. These deployed assets constitute only three percent of our entire force so we will still be able to strike an appropriate balance between our domestic homeland security and non-homeland security missions through an effective use of risk based strategies to target resources to the greatest threats, increased op-tempo of domestic assets and the use of 11 PC-170 Navy patrol boats.
The Need to Sustain Growth in FY04 To implement the President’s strategy, the Coast Guard must maintain our high standards of operational excellence. A convergence of several significant internal and external factors has emphasized the need for a continuing increase in capacity and capability for the U.S. Coast Guard to meet America’s future maritime needs: • The move of the Coast Guard to the Department of Homeland Security • The need to increase Maritime Homeland Security capability and capacity. • The need to sustain our performance across all Coast Guard missions; and • The requirement to quickly implement the comprehensive requirements of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002.
Building Capacity and Capability Immediately after the terrorist attacks on our nation, the Coast Guard established new port security zones, placed Sea Marshals on inbound merchant ships, conducted additional patrols off the coasts, established Maritime Safety and Security Teams to protect major ports and implemented new procedures to monitor vessel and crew movements within ports and coastal approaches. These increased responsibilities stretched already thin resources nearly to the breaking point and made it extremely difficult to continue serving other missions. To fill in the gaps, we activated nearly a third of our entire Selected Reserve force, and have quickly and effectively deployed the resources requested by the Administration and provided by Congress.
The fiscal year 2004 budget provides for increased capacity that is necessary for the Coast Guard to provide the strength and security our nation requires. To fulfill its responsibility to the American public, the Coast Guard is attempting to use that increased strength to accomplish three primary objectives in fiscal year 2004:
• Recapitalize legacy assets and infrastructure. • Increase Maritime Homeland Security Capabilities; and • Sustain non-Homeland Security missions near pre-9/11/01 levels.
Re-capitalizing the Coast Guard President Bush has asserted that our aging assets and infrastructure must be re-capitalized. In addition to Rescue 21, which is on schedule for completion in Fiscal Year 2006, the Coast Guard’s Integrated Deepwater System will meet America’s future maritime needs. Based on the organization’s current capacity levels and the required capabilities immediately needed for Homeland Security and the other missions the American public expects, the continued funding of Deepwater is imperative and makes both programmatic and business sense. The Coast Guard is requesting $500 million for the Integrated Deepwater System.
Several programmatic considerations reveal why the Integrated Deepwater System is so essential for the safety and security of the American public:
• Homeland Security necessitates pushing America’s maritime borders outward, away from ports and waterways so layered, maritime security operations can be implemented. • Maritime Domain Awareness – knowledge of all activities and elements in the maritime domain – is critical to maritime security. Integrated Deepwater System will improve current Maritime Domain Awareness by providing more capable sensors to collect vital information. • A network-centric system of Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance is required for effective accomplishment of all Coast Guard missions. • Interdiction of illegal drugs and migrants and protection of living marine resources are important elements of Homeland Security and require capable Deepwater assets.
The Deepwater Program will ensure the Coast Guard can continue to fulfill its mission of safeguarding the sovereignty, security, and safety of our homeland waters. New assets include five 110’ patrol boats converted to more capable 123’ patrol craft, seven Short Range Prosecutor small boats, the first National Security Cutter (to be delivered in FY 2006), the an increased organization-wide Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance network including a Common Operating Picture, Command and Control System at four shore-based command centers and the establishment of an integrated logistics system.
From a business perspective, the flexible Integrated Deepwater System framework was designed to adapt to changing conditions. The Integrated Deepwater System acquisition will replace or modernize obsolete and maintenance intensive assets that are not capable of meeting the current mission demand. The Integrated Deepwater System will provide the required capabilities the Coast Guard needs to perform an enhanced level of maritime security operations, sustain growing traditional missions and respond to any future crises, man-made or otherwise, that threaten America.
The Rescue 21 project will dramatically improve the Coast Guard’s command and control communications network in the inland and coastal zone areas for SAR and all other Coast Guard missions. The improved Rescue 21 system will meet safety requirements for growing maritime traffic, as well as International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea treaty requirements. It will be also be a critical component of our homeland security operations as it facilitates more effective monitoring and control of coastal assets.
The Challenge of Homeland Security The Coast Guard is the lead federal agency for Maritime Homeland Security. As such, the Coast Guard’s mission, in conjunction with joint and interagency forces, is to protect the U.S. Maritime Domain and the U.S. Marine Transportation System and deny their use and exploitation by terrorists as a means for attacks on U.S. territory, population and critical infrastructure. The Coast Guard will prepare for, and in the event of an attack, conduct emergency response operations. When directed, the Coast Guard, as the supported or supporting commander, will conduct military homeland defense operations in our traditional role as one of the five Armed Services.
This budget submission is aligned with the Strategic Goals and Critical Mission Areas in the President’s National Strategy for Homeland Security. The Coast Guard has developed a Maritime Homeland Security Strategy that implements the maritime component of the President’s plan and the FY 2004 budget continues to support those goals. It addresses both event-driven and prevention-based operations through the following Strategic Objectives: • Prevent terrorist attacks within and terrorist exploitation of the U.S. Maritime Domain. • Reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism within the U.S. Maritime Domain. • Protect U.S. population centers, critical infrastructure, maritime borders, ports, coastal approaches and boundaries and “seams” among them. • Protect the U.S. Marine Transportation System while preserving the freedom of maritime domain for legitimate pursuits. • Minimize the damage and recover from attacks that may occur within the U.S. Maritime Domain as either the Lead Federal Agency or a supporting agency.
The threats to the security of the United States extend beyond overt terrorism. Countering illegal drug and contraband smuggling, preventing illegal immigration via maritime routes, preserving living marine resources from foreign encroachment, preventing environmental damage and responding to spills of oil and hazardous substances are all critical elements of national and economic security. Every dollar directed to the Coast Guard will contribute to a careful balance between our safety and security missions, both of which must be properly resourced for effective mission accomplishment.
Maritime Domain Awareness is the catalyst for effective Maritime Homeland Security and the fiscal year 2004 budget provides the resources to enhance the Coast Guard’s ability to receive, fuse, disseminate and transmit intelligence data and leverage our recent inclusion in the National Intelligence Community. It includes new personnel, hardware and software to support the underlying information architecture for Maritime Domain Awareness, funds leased satellite channels and other connectivity solutions for our entire cutter fleet and establishes a prototype Joint Harbor Operations Center (JHOC) in Hampton Roads, VA, to provide surveillance as well as command and control capability for the critical infrastructure in this area.
The fiscal year 2004 request also provides the capability and capacity to conduct layered maritime security operations. Six new, deployable Maritime Safety and Security Teams, for a total of 12 teams, and over 50 Sea Marshals will be added throughout the country to protect our most critical ports. To increase our organic presence in our ports and waterways, we are requesting 43 fully crewed and outfitted Port Security Response Boats, nine 87-foot Coastal Patrol Boats, and the commencement of the Response Boat Medium acquisition, which will replace our aging fleet of 41-foot utility boats. We are standing up Stations Boston and Washington D.C. to increase security and safety in these critical ports where more resources were needed. We will also establish two new Port Security Units, for a total of eight teams, used to support domestic and overseas operations.
Balancing Our Missions The fiscal year 2004 budget restores the Coast Guard’s multi-mission focus to near pre-September 11, 2001 levels. We will utilize performance and risk-based analysis to strike a careful balance between our safety and security. This delicate balance is critical to protecting America’s economic and national security by preventing illegal activity on our maritime borders. It will also enable the Coast Guard to maintain its surge capability, which was evident before and after September 11, 2001. One of the Coast Guard’s greatest attributes is the innate flexibility to immediately shift mission focus to meet America’s greatest threat while maintaining other missions for the American public.
While its primary focus is Search and Rescue, the Rescue 21 project will transform the Coast Guard’s command and control capabilities for all mission areas. Coupling this major acquisition with a staffing increase of nearly 400 new personnel at our multi-mission, small boat stations and Command Centers will ensure Coast Guard shore-side command and control networks and response units are properly equipped and staffed for multi-mission effectiveness. We are also requesting funds for the Great Lakes Icebreaker to ensure delivery in fiscal year 2006. The Great Lakes Icebreaker will perform aids to navigation functions as well as break ice to keep this critical commerce route open year-round.
This budget also requests funding to fully train, support, and sustain the Coast Guard’s Selected Reserve Force. The Coast Guard increased the number of reservists from 8,000 to 9,000 in fiscal year 2003 and now to 10,000 in fiscal year 2004. The Reserve is significantly more than an augmentation force. It is an integral part of Team Coast Guard and provides daily support of all Coast Guard missions. Today’s Coast Guard depends on Reserve personnel for day-to-day activities in addition to a qualified military surge capacity. The Coast Guard Reserve fills critical national security and national defense roles in both Homeland Security and direct support of Department of Defense Combatant Commanders. The Coast Guard Reserve provides the nation’s only deployable port security capability and a cost-effective surge capacity for Coast Guard operations, including quick response to natural or man-made disasters, such as floods, hurricane relief, major pollution cleanup efforts, and rapid response to major catastrophes. The Reserve is critical to the Coast Guards efforts to rebalance our mission execution.
The Goal of Operational Excellence We are facing many challenges in the coming years, not the least of which are the obsolescence of our aging asset fleet; the complexity of recruiting, retaining, and training the talented workforce necessary to execute our missions; and integrating fully into the new Department of Homeland Security.
The President’s fiscal year 2004 budget provides immediate capability for our Homeland Security responsibilities and continues to build upon past efforts to restore service readiness and shape the Coast Guard’s future. It also demonstrates strong support for both the Deepwater project and Rescue 21. This budget will enable the Coast Guard to maintain operational excellence across all mission areas to meet the America’s future maritime safety and security needs.
I close with a quote from the National Strategy for Homeland Security which crystallizes the need for a transformed, multi-mission capable Coast Guard: “The United States asks much of its U.S. Coast Guard and we will ensure the service has the resources needed to accomplish its multiple missions.”
The demands continue to grow for the missions that the Coast Guard performs every day. As we strive to meet them, what will continue to remain foremost in my mind as Commandant—even as I sit here before this subcommittee—is the operational excellence of our service to America. That is our ultimate goal.
Operational excellence depends not only on careful partnership and teamwork within the Department of Homeland Security, but it depends also on having the right capacity and the right capability for the missions at hand.
I look forward to working with you to that end.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
