Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Issues

COAST GUARD AND MARITIME TRANSPORTATION ISSUES

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Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss some important issues that confront the 110th Congress regarding the structure and missions of the United States Coast Guard and the broader field of maritime transportation.

I am deeply honored to have been selected by Chairman JAMES OBERSTAR and by my colleagues on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to chair the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee and to move on an ambitious agenda that will address these critical issues.

I look forward to implementing the three policy objectives that Chairman Oberstar has laid out for the Transportation Committee, which include ensuring the safety and security of our transportation infrastructure; supporting expanded investment in transportation infrastructure to relieve congestion and enhance mobility; and ensuring environmental stewardship, including combating global warming.

In the area of safety and security, the subcommittee will diligently oversee the implementation of the Coast Guard's $8.3 billion fiscal year 2007 budget, including the more than $1.1 billion appropriated to fund the rehabilitation and modernization of the Coast Guard's fleet through the Deepwater procurement program.

The United States Coast Guard is a critical part of our homeland security system, and is the lead agency responsible for ensuring the security of all ports in our Nation, including the more than 150 ports that handle the bulk of our Nation's foreign and commercial commerce.

The Coast Guard is also a vital part of our emergency response system, as demonstrated when it was the only Federal agency that could come to the rescue of thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims left stranded in the Gulf.

Our subcommittee will closely examine whether the Coast Guard has adequate resources to enable it to implement its significant new Homeland Security responsibilities while also fulfilling its other critical missions, including drug interdiction, search and rescue, and maritime safety oversight.

We began that effort just yesterday with an oversight hearing on the Coast Guard's $24 billion, 25-year Deepwater procurement, through which the Coast Guard is acquiring the ships, planes and helicopters that the service will utilize for decades to come to ensure the safety and security of the American people, United States ports, and our maritime industry.

Importantly, our subcommittee will also balance oversight of the Coast Guard with our responsibility to strengthen maritime transportation.

The United States Maritime Administration estimates that the total volume of trade handled by U.S. ports will double in the next 15 years, Mr. Speaker. To prepare our Nation to handle such cargo growth, we will examine how U.S. ports can more fully be integrated into a multi-modal transportation network.

We will also work to foster a pragmatic dialogue between the members of the commercial maritime community and the United States Coast Guard to ensure that each group understands what the other needs to succeed in what should be their complementary pursuits.

Security of the United States ports and cargo transported through them will be a major priority of the subcommittee. The House of Representatives has already passed H.R. 1, which not only implemented the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission but exceeded these recommendations by phasing in requirements that will lead to the scanning of all cargo bound for United States ports.

The Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation will work closely with the Committee on Homeland Security, led ably by Chairman Bennie Thompson, to examine the gaps that remain in port security and to fill these gaps in ways that protect our Nation from emerging threats while not unduly slowing commerce to our ports.

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