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Lawmaker warns proposed cuts to Coast Guard shoreside funding would undercut recapitalization
Summary
At a House committee hearing, a senior member urged support for a Senate-passed bipartisan funding bill and warned that a 15% cut to shoreside infrastructure (PC&I) in the administration's budget would jeopardize the Coast Guard's recapitalization and readiness; Admiral Lund delivered opening testimony and entered written testimony into the record.
Mr. Carbajal, the panel's ranking member, opened the hearing by urging support for a bipartisan funding bill the Senate passed unanimously and by warning that proposed cuts to shoreside infrastructure will undermine the Coast Guard's recapitalization.
"I urge my colleagues to support the bipartisan funding bill passed unanimously by the Senate that would provide financial certainty to the Coast Guard service members," Mr. Carbajal said, adding that while the overall budget request rises by about 15 percent, the administration's proposal reduces Program, Construction & Improvements (PC&I) funding by 15 percent.
That trade-off, Carbajal said, risks leaving new ships and growing personnel without the shoreside facilities and maintenance they need. "Reconciliation funding becomes meaningless if it is not met with strong regular appropriations," he said, calling infrastructure a "people issue" and urging consistent funding and improved contracting and program management as the service plans to grow by 15,000 members.
Carbajal also cited a Government Accountability Office report he said found the Coast Guard's "$7" estimate for the shoreside infrastructure backlog is "actually much higher" because more than 200 projects lack cost estimates. The transcript records the dollar figure as "$7" without further specification; the full dollar amount was not specified in the record provided.
Admiral Lund, testifying for the Coast Guard, asked that his written testimony be entered into the hearing record and described the service as a "vital instrument of national power" that provides "unprecedented value." The chair entered Lund's written testimony without objection.
The hearing marked an early exchange on budget priorities between lawmakers and the Coast Guard's senior leadership. No motions or votes were recorded in the portion of the transcript provided. The committee's questioning and the witnesses' full testimony (including the written submissions) will provide additional detail on cost estimates, PC&I priorities and how the service proposes to synchronize procurement, facility recapitalization and personnel growth.
