The FY 2014 request for the entire Department is difficult, but the shortfall proposed for the Coast Guard is particularly glaring.
Admiral Papp, we are glad to have you before the subcommittee today to discuss the Coast Guard's budget request for fiscal year 2014.
Yesterday's events in Boston are on our minds and in our hearts this morning. They serve as a stark reminder of the threats we face as a nation. The first responders of Boston, as well as the men and women of DHS responded quickly and heroically. These events also highlight the vital work of DHS, and add even more import to the bipartisan work of this Subcommittee.
As for the Coast Guard budget itself, the request is for $9.8 billion, a cut of $762 million, or 7.2 percent, from the current year appropriation. And that is before sequestration.
The FY 2014 request for the entire Department is difficult, but the shortfall proposed for the Coast Guard is particularly glaring, and I suspect you see it the same way. Combined with a few other significant shortfalls in other areas of the Department, I fear this subcommittee will be hard pressed to find a responsible way to patch all of the holes that need to be filled.
Our ability to properly assess the request is made all the more difficult because we have not yet received a five-year Capital Investment Plan. And given the proposed 41 percent cut to the FY 2013 enacted level for Acquisition, Construction and Improvements, the prospects for capital investment in the out-years indeed appear bleak. You have said before, that in order to properly recapitalize the Coast Guard fleet you would require at least $1.5 billion a year. Yet here we are with a budget request nearly $600 million below that stated need.
Of particular note is the request to procure only two Fast Response Cutters in FY 2014, which would not only increase the per-unit cost of these vessels but slow the overall pace of FRC procurement to an unacceptable level. The request also leaves out funding for long lead time material for the next National Security Cutter, which would drive up the costs of NSC construction dramatically. It seems to me that the budget request for new assets, particularly if it is a precursor to similarly low requests in the out-years, raises fundamental questions about the Coast Guard's future capacity as older assets are decommissioned.
I would also note the continued reduction in the Coast Guard workforce. Under the FY 2014 budget request, you would be down to 49,349 positions by the end of the fiscal year, a reduction of more than 1,600 positions since the end of FY 2012, and almost all of losses are to military positions. These reductions are proposed at the same time the Coast Guard continues to be heavily relied upon by its DoD partners. How many of these reductions will come from achievable efficiencies and right-sizing, and how much is the result of budget pressures that will reduce operational capabilities?
Admiral Papp, we know the Coast Guard is committed to doing its part to find savings in these lean budget times, and we also know that you are committed to ensuring that the Coast Guard is able to do more with less. But there is a point beyond which we should not ask you to try to go in this regard, and we rely to a great extent on your judgment in determining where that point lies.
Admiral Papp, no one is more passionate about the Coast Guard than you, and you have always been honest with this Subcommittee about the positive and negative aspects of previous budgets. As you can see, we have a number of topics that need to be explored in depth this morning and I look forward to your testimony and insight as always.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
