House Republicans and Democrats on two committees yesterday said they would work to reverse proposed cuts in the Obama administration’s FY ’14 budget request for the Coast Guard that limits procurement of patrol boats and maritime patrol aircraft and would cut the number of uniformed personnel by 850 men and women.
Addressing Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp, House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee Chairman John Carter (R-Texas) stated, “Admiral, to put it mildly, this is a budget that is very difficult for us to accept.” Carter said he understands the budget challenges facing the nation but that the cuts to the Coast Guard are too much.
Carter said “the Congress, and this subcommittee in particular, has never supported a plan that so bluntly guts operational capabilities…that so clearly increases our nation’s vulnerability to maritime risks, including more illegal drugs.”
The Coast Guard’s proposed acquisition budget for FY ’14 is a little more than $900 million, including the impact of funding rescinded from prior years, versus around $1.5 billion in FY ’13.
Later in the day, Republicans and Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Coast Guard Subcommittee also complained about the proposed cuts to the maritime agency and said they would work to restore adequate funding levels.
Papp said he is pleased with the budget request for the seventh of eight planned National Security Cutters. However, the budget request excludes long-lead funding for the eighth cutter, which would likely lead to higher construction costs and delays if Congress doesn’t restore the funding for advanced material buys as is it did last year for the seventh ship. Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] builds the National Security Cutter.
Papp said that his priorities include more funding for new patrol boats. The administration, as it attempted to last year, only provided funding for two Fast Response Cutters (FRC) in FY ’14, which would mean higher costs because the contract with Bollinger shipyards calls for building between four and six annually, he said. Bollinger Shipyards is the prime contractor for the FRC.
Congress last year added funding for four additional FRCs in FY ’13.
The FY ’14 budget request also would pause the Coast Guard’s purchases of HC-144A Maritime Patrol Aircraft at 18 planes, 14 of which have been delivered with the rest on order. The service’s requirement is for 36 of the aircraft.