By: Mickey McCarter
US Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp acknowledged his agency's budget proposal for fiscal year (FY) 2013 is far from ideal, but nevertheless expressed optimism that the budget numbers would increase in future years when he appeared at a Senate homeland security appropriations subcommittee Wednesday.
Regardless, Congress appears poised to provide the Coast Guard with more money than the White House requested for next year. House Republicans unveiled a homeland security budget Tuesday evening that would provide the Coast Guard with $10 billion in discretionary funding, an increase of $211.7 million above the president's request and $63 million below last year's level. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), chairman of the Senate subcommittee, appeared poised to do the same.
The White House requested $8.4 billion in discretionary funding for the Coast Guard in FY 2013, 3.3 percent below the enacted level for FY 2012. The request would cut Coast Guard recapitalization of its aging fleet by 20 percent compared to last year. Landrieu noted that Congress routinely appropriated an average of $124 million more for the Coast Guard budget on average in each of the past six years.
Papp in particular expressed regret that his budget proposed funding for only two additional Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) - patrol boats key to drug and migrant interdiction as they would patrol US coastline. Congress funded six FRCs last year but the Coast Guard commissioned only four, seeking to reprogram two of them for FY 2013 and thus sustain a minimum production of four FRC boats annually.
"Unfortunately, in trying to fit in the topline of my acquisition funding -- acquisition funding was reduced by 20 percent -- I was forced into a position of having to maintain the minimum production lines in all of our acquisition projects just to keep the lines going so that we don't have to restart lines later on at great cost," Papp confirmed.
Papp confessed the he was reduced to playing a budgetary "shell game" to keep projects alive.
The House homeland security appropriations bill would provide the Coast Guard with funding for four FRCs in FY 2013 instead of two, enabling the Coast Guard to commission the building of six of the boats next year after carrying over two from this year.
The Coast Guard actually loses and opportunity to save $30 million by slowing production of the FRCs to the proposed level as it does not capitalize on efficiencies and allows prices of material and labor to rise while it delays acquisition, Landrieu said. Papp told Landrieu the Coast Guard would be pleased to commission six of the boats and that it and its contractor could sustain production at that pace.
Shipbuilding at that rate provides the contractor with predictability and long lead times so that they can sustain operations and keep staff employed with a steady funding stream, Papp said.
Landrieu also expressed concern that the Coast Guard would not seek to build the seventh and eight National Security Cutters (NSCs), larger boats intended for operations farther out from the US coastline. These boats offer support for law enforcement operations like drug interdiction and emergency response further from US ports.
But the admiral said he was optimistic that the seventh and eighth NSCs would indeed be built. The US Coast Guard program of record calls for eight NSCs and after discussions with the US Navy, the two services have concluded that the Coat Guard requires its own unique assets to interoperate with Navy ships instead of possibly enabling the Navy to fill in the gaps for the Coast Guard.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano ordered a review with the Navy to ensure the Coast Guard would not be duplicating existing capacity; the review concluded the Coast Guard would not be. The FY 2013 Coast Guard budget proposes funding for building a sixth NSC. The House Republican budget would also build the sixth NSC and provide money to start building the seventh.
The five-year spending plan for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) calls for the Coast Guard budget to increase. So while budget numbers have not yet reached a level endorsed by Papp at roughly $2 billion annually to put Coast Guard recapitalization at a level where it should be, future budgets may approach that number.
DHS plans project $1.5 billion dedicated to Coast Guard recapitalization in FY 2014 and $1.7 billion at the end of the current five-year outlook. The FY 2013 White House budget proposal would fund Coast Guard recapitalization with only $879.5 million.
Without more money for recapitalization, the Coast Guard fleet could deteriorate to the point where it could no longer fulfill the agency's missions. The average age of a Coast Guard cutter is about 43 years, Landrieu noted, while the average age of a Navy ship is 20 years.
In his written testimony, Papp spelled out the consequences of underfunding new boats for the Coast Guard.
"[T]he ships, boats and aircraft we are investing in today are vital to ensuring the Coast Guard remains ready to respond to maritime threats and hazards, well into the future. Indeed, these resources will not just shape, but in a large part will define the Coast Guard's next 50 years of capability. We are also exercising resource and operational stewardship while simultaneously preparing for the future," Papp said.
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05/10/2012 ( 3:30am)
US Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp acknowledged his agency's budget proposal for fiscal year (FY) 2013 is far from ideal, but nevertheless expressed optimism that the budget numbers would increase in future years when he appeared at a Senate homeland security appropriations subcommittee Wednesday.
Regardless, Congress appears poised to provide the Coast Guard with more money than the White House requested for next year. House Republicans unveiled a homeland security budget Tuesday evening that would provide the Coast Guard with $10 billion in discretionary funding, an increase of $211.7 million above the president's request and $63 million below last year's level. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), chairman of the Senate subcommittee, appeared poised to do the same.
The White House requested $8.4 billion in discretionary funding for the Coast Guard in FY 2013, 3.3 percent below the enacted level for FY 2012. The request would cut Coast Guard recapitalization of its aging fleet by 20 percent compared to last year. Landrieu noted that Congress routinely appropriated an average of $124 million more for the Coast Guard budget on average in each of the past six years.
Papp in particular expressed regret that his budget proposed funding for only two additional Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) - patrol boats key to drug and migrant interdiction as they would patrol US coastline. Congress funded six FRCs last year but the Coast Guard commissioned only four, seeking to reprogram two of them for FY 2013 and thus sustain a minimum production of four FRC boats annually.
"Unfortunately, in trying to fit in the topline of my acquisition funding -- acquisition funding was reduced by 20 percent -- I was forced into a position of having to maintain the minimum production lines in all of our acquisition projects just to keep the lines going so that we don't have to restart lines later on at great cost," Papp confirmed.
Papp confessed the he was reduced to playing a budgetary "shell game" to keep projects alive.
The House homeland security appropriations bill would provide the Coast Guard with funding for four FRCs in FY 2013 instead of two, enabling the Coast Guard to commission the building of six of the boats next year after carrying over two from this year.
The Coast Guard actually loses and opportunity to save $30 million by slowing production of the FRCs to the proposed level as it does not capitalize on efficiencies and allows prices of material and labor to rise while it delays acquisition, Landrieu said. Papp told Landrieu the Coast Guard would be pleased to commission six of the boats and that it and its contractor could sustain production at that pace.
Shipbuilding at that rate provides the contractor with predictability and long lead times so that they can sustain operations and keep staff employed with a steady funding stream, Papp said.
Landrieu also expressed concern that the Coast Guard would not seek to build the seventh and eight National Security Cutters (NSCs), larger boats intended for operations farther out from the US coastline. These boats offer support for law enforcement operations like drug interdiction and emergency response further from US ports.
But the admiral said he was optimistic that the seventh and eighth NSCs would indeed be built. The US Coast Guard program of record calls for eight NSCs and after discussions with the US Navy, the two services have concluded that the Coat Guard requires its own unique assets to interoperate with Navy ships instead of possibly enabling the Navy to fill in the gaps for the Coast Guard.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano ordered a review with the Navy to ensure the Coast Guard would not be duplicating existing capacity; the review concluded the Coast Guard would not be. The FY 2013 Coast Guard budget proposes funding for building a sixth NSC. The House Republican budget would also build the sixth NSC and provide money to start building the seventh.
The five-year spending plan for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) calls for the Coast Guard budget to increase. So while budget numbers have not yet reached a level endorsed by Papp at roughly $2 billion annually to put Coast Guard recapitalization at a level where it should be, future budgets may approach that number.
DHS plans project $1.5 billion dedicated to Coast Guard recapitalization in FY 2014 and $1.7 billion at the end of the current five-year outlook. The FY 2013 White House budget proposal would fund Coast Guard recapitalization with only $879.5 million.
Without more money for recapitalization, the Coast Guard fleet could deteriorate to the point where it could no longer fulfill the agency's missions. The average age of a Coast Guard cutter is about 43 years, Landrieu noted, while the average age of a Navy ship is 20 years.
In his written testimony, Papp spelled out the consequences of underfunding new boats for the Coast Guard.
"[T]he ships, boats and aircraft we are investing in today are vital to ensuring the Coast Guard remains ready to respond to maritime threats and hazards, well into the future. Indeed, these resources will not just shape, but in a large part will define the Coast Guard's next 50 years of capability. We are also exercising resource and operational stewardship while simultaneously preparing for the future," Papp said.
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