[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



 
 ACHIEVING MISSION BALANCE: POSITIONING THE COAST GUARD FOR THE FUTURE

=======================================================================

                                (117-28)

                             REMOTE HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                            SUBCOMMITTEE ON
                COAST GUARD AND MARITIME TRANSPORTATION

                                 OF THE

                              COMMITTEE ON
                   TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                            OCTOBER 20, 2021

                               __________

                       Printed for the use of the
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
             
             
   [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]          
             


     Available online at: https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-
     transportation?path=/browsecommittee/chamber/house/committee/
                             transportation
                             
                             
                             
                          ______                       


             U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
 46-987PDF           WASHINGTON : 2022 
                           
                             
                             

             COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE

  PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon, Chair
SAM GRAVES, Missouri                 ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON,
DON YOUNG, Alaska                      District of Columbia
ERIC A. ``RICK'' CRAWFORD, Arkansas  EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
BOB GIBBS, Ohio                      RICK LARSEN, Washington
DANIEL WEBSTER, Florida              GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky              STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania            ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
RODNEY DAVIS, Illinois               JOHN GARAMENDI, California
JOHN KATKO, New York                 HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr., 
BRIAN BABIN, Texas                   Georgia
GARRET GRAVES, Louisiana             ANDRE CARSON, Indiana
DAVID ROUZER, North Carolina         DINA TITUS, Nevada
MIKE BOST, Illinois                  SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, New York
RANDY K. WEBER, Sr., Texas           JARED HUFFMAN, California
DOUG LaMALFA, California             JULIA BROWNLEY, California
BRUCE WESTERMAN, Arkansas            FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida
BRIAN J. MAST, Florida               DONALD M. PAYNE, Jr., New Jersey
MIKE GALLAGHER, Wisconsin            ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania   MARK DeSAULNIER, California
JENNIFFER GONZALEZ-COLON,            STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts
  Puerto Rico                        SALUD O. CARBAJAL, California
TROY BALDERSON, Ohio                 ANTHONY G. BROWN, Maryland
PETE STAUBER, Minnesota              TOM MALINOWSKI, New Jersey
TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee              GREG STANTON, Arizona
DUSTY JOHNSON, South Dakota          COLIN Z. ALLRED, Texas
JEFFERSON VAN DREW, New Jersey       SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas, Vice Chair
MICHAEL GUEST, Mississippi           JESUS G. ``CHUY'' GARCIA, Illinois
TROY E. NEHLS, Texas                 ANTONIO DELGADO, New York
NANCY MACE, South Carolina           CHRIS PAPPAS, New Hampshire
NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS, New York         CONOR LAMB, Pennsylvania
BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas                SETH MOULTON, Massachusetts
CARLOS A. GIMENEZ, Florida           JAKE AUCHINCLOSS, Massachusetts
MICHELLE STEEL, California           CAROLYN BOURDEAUX, Georgia
                                     KAIALI`I KAHELE, Hawaii
                                     MARILYN STRICKLAND, Washington
                                     NIKEMA WILLIAMS, Georgia
                                     MARIE NEWMAN, Illinois
                                     TROY A. CARTER, Louisiana
                                ------                                

        Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation

                  SALUD O. CARBAJAL, California, Chair
RICK LARSEN, Washington              BOB GIBBS, Ohio
JAKE AUCHINCLOSS, Massachusetts,     DON YOUNG, Alaska
  Vice Chair                         RANDY K. WEBER, Sr., Texas
SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, New York       MIKE GALLAGHER, Wisconsin
ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California        JEFFERSON VAN DREW, New Jersey
ANTHONY G. BROWN, Maryland           NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS, New York
CHRIS PAPPAS, New Hampshire          SAM GRAVES, Missouri (Ex Officio)
PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon (Ex 
    Officio)

 
                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page

Summary of Subject Matter........................................     v

                 STATEMENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE

Hon. Salud O. Carbajal, a Representative in Congress from the 
  State of California, and Chair, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and 
  Maritime Transportation, opening statement.....................     1
    Prepared statement...........................................     3
Hon. Bob Gibbs, a Representative in Congress from the State of 
  Ohio, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and 
  Maritime Transportation, opening statement.....................     4
    Prepared statement...........................................     5
Hon. Peter A. DeFazio, a Representative in Congress from the 
  State of Oregon, and Chair, Committee on Transportation and 
  Infrastructure, prepared statement.............................    29
Hon. Sam Graves, a Representative in Congress from the State of 
  Missouri, and Ranking Member, Committee on Transportation and 
  Infrastructure, prepared statement.............................    30

                               WITNESSES

Vice Admiral Scott A. Buschman, Deputy Commandant for Operations, 
  U.S. Coast Guard, oral statement...............................     6
    Prepared statement...........................................     8

                                APPENDIX

Questions to Vice Admiral Scott A. Buschman, Deputy Commandant 
  for Operations, U.S. Coast Guard, from:
    Hon. Alan S. Lowenthal.......................................    31
    Hon. Michelle Steel..........................................    31

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                            October 15, 2021

    SUMMARY OF SUBJECT MATTER

    TO:      LMembers, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime 
Transportation
    FROM:  LStaff, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime 
Transportation
    RE:      LHearing on ``Achieving Mission Balance: 
Positioning the Coast Guard for the Future''
_______________________________________________________________________


                                PURPOSE

    The Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation 
will hold a hearing on Wednesday, October 20, 2021, at 10:00 
a.m. EDT in 2167 Rayburn House Office Building and via Zoom to 
examine how the U.S. Coast Guard (Coast Guard or Service) 
allocates hours and resources among its multiple statutory 
missions, as well as how the Service measures mission 
performance. The Subcommittee will hear testimony from the U.S. 
Coast Guard.

                               BACKGROUND

COAST GUARD

    The Coast Guard was established on January 28, 1915, 
through the consolidation of the Revenue Cutter Service 
(established in 1790) and the Lifesaving Service (established 
in 1848). The Coast Guard later assumed the duties of three 
other agencies: the Lighthouse Service (established in 1789), 
the Steamboat Inspection Service (established in 1838), and the 
Bureau of Navigation (established in 1884).
    Under Section 102 of Title 14, United States Code, the 
Coast Guard has primary responsibility to enforce or assist in 
the enforcement of all applicable federal laws on, under, and 
over the high seas and waters subject to the jurisdiction of 
the United States; to ensure the safety of life and property at 
sea; to carry out domestic and international icebreaking 
activities; and, as one of the six armed forces of the United 
States, to maintain defense readiness to operate as a 
specialized service in the Navy upon the declaration of war or 
upon the president's direction.
    The Coast Guard operates a fleet of diverse assets. Vessels 
under 65 feet in length are classified as boats or small boats 
and usually operate near shore and on inland waterways. The 
Coast Guard operates roughly 1,602 boats, ranging from 12 to 64 
feet in length.\1\ A ``cutter'' is any Coast Guard vessel 65 
feet in length or greater. The Coast Guard has 259 cutters, 
including harbor tugs, icebreakers, buoy tenders, construction 
tenders, and patrol cutters.\2\ Additionally, the Coast Guard 
maintains an inventory of roughly 200 fixed and rotary wing 
aircraft.\3\ The Service includes over 40,000 active-duty 
military members, 6,200 reservists, and 8,700 civilian 
employees who support air/surface fleets and landside 
operations.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ U.S. Coast Guard. Coast Guard Operational Assets. https://
www.uscg.mil/About/Assets/ Accessed on October 8, 2021.
    \2\ Id.
    \3\ Id.
    \4\ U.S. Coast Guard. Workforce. https://www.uscg.mil/About/
Workforce/ Accessed October 13, 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Coast Guard is organized geographically into districts 
and sectors, and divided into two areas (i.e., Atlantic and 
Pacific), each of which is commanded by a vice admiral. There 
are a total of nine districts under these two areas. The Coast 
Guard has 24 air stations and 37 sectors that operate under the 
districts, each of which is typically commanded by a captain. 
Attached to sectors are small boat stations, of which the Coast 
Guard has 280.

MISSIONS

    Pursuant to section 102 of title 14, United States Code, 
the Coast Guard is responsible for carrying out seven primary 
duties, which the Service divides into 11 missions:
    1) LMarine Safety: Enforce laws that prevent death, injury, 
and property loss in the marine environment.
    2) LMarine Environmental Protection: Enforce laws which 
deter the introduction of invasive species into the maritime 
environment, stop unauthorized ocean dumping, and prevent oil 
and chemical spills.
    3) LSearch and Rescue: Search for, and provide aid to, 
individuals in distress or imminent danger. In 2020, the Coast 
Guard responded to over 16,845 search and rescue cases and 
saved over 4,286 lives.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ U.S. Coast Guard. Posture Statement 2022 Budget Overview. 
https://www.uscg.mil/Portals/0/documents/budget/2022/FY22-USCG-Posture-
Statement-and-Budget-Overview.pdf?ver=oJCAB
y5X54a2xhDoxM6UOg%3d%3d Accessed on October 8, 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    4) LAids to Navigation: Mitigate the risk to sea navigation 
by providing and maintaining more than 45,288 buoys, beacons, 
lights, and other aids to mark channels and denote hazards.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    5) LLiving Marine Resources: Enforce laws governing the 
conservation, management, and recovery of living marine 
resources, marine protected species, and national marine 
sanctuaries and monuments.
    6) LIce Operations: The Coast Guard is the only Federal 
agency directed to operate and maintain icebreaking resources 
for the United States. This includes establishing and 
maintaining tracks for critical waterways, assisting and 
escorting vessels beset or stranded in ice, and removing 
navigational hazards created by ice in navigable waterways.
    7) LPorts, Waterway, and Coastal Security (PWCS): Ensure 
the security of waters subject to the jurisdiction of the 
United States and the waterways, ports, along with intermodal 
landside connections that comprise the Marine Transportation 
System (MTS) and protect those who live or work on the water, 
or who use the maritime environment for recreation.
    8) LDrug Interdiction: Stem the flow of illegal drugs into 
the United States. In 2020, the Coast Guard interdicted over 
318,340 pounds of cocaine and 70,371 pounds of marijuana, with 
an approximate wholesale value of $5.6 billion.\7\
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    \7\ Id.
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    9) LMigrant Interdiction: Stem the flow via maritime routes 
of undocumented migration and human smuggling activities.
    10) LDefense Readiness: The Coast Guard maintains the 
training and capability necessary to immediately integrate with 
Department of Defense forces in both peacetime operations and 
during times of war.
    11) LOther Law Enforcement: Enforcement of international 
treaties, including the prevention of illegal fishing in 
international waters and the dumping of plastics and other 
marine debris.

    Section 888 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 
468) groups the Coast Guard's 11 missions into ``Non-Homeland 
Security'' and ``Homeland Security'' missions and requires the 
Service to maintain all of its authorities, functions, and 
capabilities. It also prohibits the Secretary of Homeland 
Security from reducing ``substantially or significantly . . . 
the missions of the Coast Guard or the Coast Guard's capability 
to perform these missions.''

------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Non-Homeland Security Missions         Homeland Security Missions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marine Safety                        Ports, Waterways, and Coastal
Marine Environmental Protection       Security
Search and Rescue                    Drug Interdiction
Aids-to-Navigation                   Migrant Interdiction
Living Marine Resources              Defense Readiness
Ice Operations                       Other Law Enforcement
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table 1: Non-Homeland Security Missions vs. Homeland Security Missions. 
 Taken from Section 888 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 
                                 468).

    These missions are managed within six mission programs 
comprising the Coast Guard's strategic mission management 
construct, which is based on the prevention and response 
architecture. The six Coast Guard mission programs and their 
Homeland Security Act mission responsibilities are listed in 
the table below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                Homeland Security Act
     U.S. Coast Guard Mission Programs                Missions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maritime Prevention.......................  Ports, Waterways & Coastal
                                             Security--Prevention
                                             Activities (PWCS-P)
                                            Marine Safety (MS)
                                            Marine Environmental
                                             Protection--Prevention
                                             Activities (MEP)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marine Transportation System Management...  Aids to Navigation (ATON)
                                            Ice Operations (ICE)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maritime Security Operations..............  Ports, Waterways & Coastal
                                             Security--Response
                                             Activities (PWCS-R)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maritime Law Enforcement..................  Migrant Interdiction
                                             (MIGRANT)
                                            Drug Interdiction (DRUG)
                                            Living Marine Resources
                                             (LMR)
                                            Other Law Enforcement (OLE)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maritime Response.........................  Search and Rescue (SAR)
                                            Marine Environmental
                                             Protection--Response
                                             Activities (MER)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Defense Operations........................  Defense Readiness (DR)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Table 2: Coast Guard Mission programs. https://www.uscg.mil/Portals/0/
 documents/budget/FY_2020_USCG_APR_Final-V3-dtd-3-16-2021.pdf?ver=2021-
                        03-15-113137-970 page 1

TRACKING MISSION BALANCE AND PERFORMANCE

    To track Coast Guard mission balance and performance in 
each fiscal year (FY), three metrics are primarily used: 
funding per mission, resource hours per mission, and a set of 
performance measures developed by the Coast Guard pursuant to 
Section 1115 of the title 31, United States Code, federal 
government and agency performance plans.

FUNDING PER MISSION

    The Coast Guard reports funds spent on each of its 
statutory missions in its annual budget request to Congress. In 
FY 2021, the Service spent approximately the same percentage of 
its funding for non-homeland security missions (48.9 percent) 
as homeland security missions (51.1 percent).\8\ From 2001 to 
2011, the largest percentage of funding has been dedicated to 
the ports, waterways, and coastal security (PWCS) mission but 
in recent years, the funding for the drug interdiction mission 
has garnered more funding. In FY 2021, 19.2 percent of funds 
were spent on the drug interdiction mission.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\ Id.
    \9\ Id.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
 Figure 1: Funding Per Mission FY 2018-2021. Data from the Coast Guard 
    Posture Statement Budget Overview FY 2019, Coast Guard Posture 
Statement Budget Overview FY 2020, Coast Guard Posture Statement Budget 
Overview FY 2021, and Coast Guard Posture Statement Budget Overview FY 
                                 2022.
                  https://www.uscg.mil/Budget/Archive/

RESOURCE HOURS PER MISSION

    Resource hours are the number of flight hours (for 
aircraft) and underway hours (for boats and cutters) used to 
carry out a specific mission. These resource hours are tracked 
internally by the Coast Guard. In FY 2020, the Coast Guard 
spent 51.5 percent of resource hours on homeland security 
missions, versus 48.5 percent for non-homeland security 
missions.\10\ Since FY 2011, the largest percentage of resource 
hours has been dedicated to the drug interdiction mission.\11\ 
Numerical targets such as resource hours and funding for a 
particular mission are not adequate tools to make conclusions 
concerning mission balance given that multiple missions are 
often performed during a single operation or use of an 
asset.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\ Data provided by the U.S. Government Accountability Office 
that was obtained from the Coast Guard for use in the report ``Coast 
Guard: Information on Defense Readiness Mission Deployments, Expenses, 
and Funding''
    \11\ U.S. Government Accountability Office. Coast Guard: 
Information on Defense Readiness Mission Deployments, Expenses, and 
Funding. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-21-104741.pdf September 15, 
2021
    \12\ U.S. Government Accountability Office. Coast Guard: Actions 
Needed to Improve Strategic Allocation of Assets and Determine 
Workforce Requirements https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-16-379 May 
2016.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

Figure 2: Coast Guard Vessel and Operations Hours Expended by Statutory 
  Mission, Fiscal Years 2011 through 2020. https://www.gao.gov/assets/
                           gao-21-104741.pdf

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

    Each year, the Coast Guard undertakes a Standard 
Operational Planning Process (SOPP). As part of the SOPP, Coast 
Guard headquarters issues an annual Strategic Planning 
Direction (SPD), which is the primary mechanism for allocating 
resources and providing strategic direction to operational 
commanders at the area, district, and sector levels. To 
determine and plan for how assets are allocated, Coast Guard 
headquarters relies on mission priorities, data on historical 
and current-year mission performance, and operational and 
intelligence assessments. As part of the planning process, 
field commands are allocated resource hours by asset type to be 
used for meeting strategic commitments and executing the 11 
statutory missions.
    The SPD is annually disseminated to the two Area Commands 
that distribute their own Operational Planning Directions (OPD) 
through their command levels, with each district command 
developing its own plan to cover its area of responsibility 
(AOR). Area commanders develop a plan known as the Area 
Operational Planning Direction and district commanders develop 
a districtlevel OPD. After assets are deployed, personnel at 
the field units enter the assets' actual resource hours used by 
mission into data systems. The asset resource hour data are 
consolidated on a quarterly basis as part of Operational 
Performance Assessment Reports. The historical and current-year 
operational data from these reports, as well as Planning 
Assessments, are communicated back to Coast Guard headquarters 
as part of the information used to develop the SPD for the 
following year.
    The Coast Guard maintains the SPD, and the Performance 
Measure Summary is the best method it currently has to properly 
assign and balance resources by mission and measure mission 
performance. In a 2016 Government Accountability Office (GAO) 
report titled Coast Guard: Actions Needed to Improve Strategic 
Allocation of Assets and Determine Workforce Requirements,\13\ 
GAO found the Coast Guard SPD often allocates more mission 
hours to assets than are actually used. They also found that 
the Coast Guard does not have a systematic process for 
prioritizing the most important manpower requirements analyses, 
which results in a lack of assurances that the highest priority 
missions are fully supported with the appropriate number of 
qualified personnel. As a result, the GAO provided three 
recommendations to the Service with which DHS has agreed. As of 
October 2021, the Coast Guard has failed to act on all three 
recommendations.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \13\ Id.
    \14\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    These recommendations were:
     LTo improve transparency in allocating its limited 
resources, and to help ensure that its resource allocation 
decisions are the most effective ones for fulfilling its 
missions given existing risks, the Commandant of the Coast 
Guard should document how the risk assessments conducted were 
used to inform and support its annual asset allocation 
decisions.
     LTo ensure that high priority mission activities 
are fully supported with the appropriate number of staff 
possessing the requisite mix of skills and abilities, the 
Commandant of the Coast Guard should develop a systematic 
process that prioritizes manpower requirements analyses for 
units that are the most critical for achieving mission needs.
     LTo improve the strategic allocation of assets, 
the Commandant of the Coast Guard should incorporate field unit 
input, such as information on assets' actual performance from 
Operational Performance Assessment Reports and Planning 
Assessments, to inform more realistic asset allocation 
decisions--in addition to asset performance capacities 
currently used--in the annual Strategic Planning Directions to 
more effectively communicate strategic intent to field units.

VARIABLES IMPACTING MISSION BALANCE AND PERFORMANCE

    Beyond allocation of resources and strategic planning, many 
variables can impact Coast Guard mission balance and 
performance.

ASSET AVAILABILITY

    The age of Coast Guard vessels and aircraft coupled with an 
increased tempo of operations has led to increased rates of 
failure among the assets' parts and major systems. These 
factors, in turn, led to increased scheduled and unscheduled 
maintenance costs and reduced patrol hours which have 
negatively impacted operational readiness and mission 
performance. In 2004, the Coast Guard began its current fleet 
recapitalization.\15\ As of October 2021, the Coast Guard is 
set to deliver the 45th Fast Response Cutter; deliver the ninth 
National Security Cutter, continue construction of the first 
Offshore Patrol Cutter and the first Polar Security Cutter; and 
set up the acquisition program office for the Great Lakes 
Icebreaker.\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \15\ Congressional Research Service. Coast Guard Cutter 
Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress. https://sgp.fas.org/
crs/weapons/R42567.pdf Updated September 15, 2021.
    \16\ Department of Homeland Security. Coast Guard Fiscal Year 2022 
Congressional Justification. https://www.uscg.mil/Portals/0/documents/
budget/2022/FY2022_Congressional_
Justification.pdf?ver=YXeBcfwpAIAE7RuU94zRJg%3d%3d
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Despite this recapitalization, the Service operates a fleet 
of aging aircraft and vessels of which the oldest is the U.S. 
Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Smilax at 77 years old.\17\ The GAO 
reported that the total number of resource hours in FY 2020 
dropped to 623,557 from 771,821 hours in FY 2012, a decline of 
approximately eight percent.\18\ The Coast Guard attributes 
some of this decline to the decreased availability of cutters 
and aircraft due to increased rates of asset failures, an 
example of which being an engine fire onboard the USCGC Healy, 
the only medium icebreaker the Coast Guard operates in the 
Arctic, which took the vessel out of commission for much of 
2020.\19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \17\ Coast Guard News. Coast Guard holds commemoration ceremony for 
Queen of the Fleet. https://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-holds-
commemoration-ceremony-for-queen-of-the-fleet/2019/11/01/ November 1, 
2019.
    \18\ Data provided by GAO that was obtained from the Coast Guard 
for use in the report ``Coast Guard: Information on Defense Readiness 
Mission Deployments, Expenses, and Funding''
    \19\ U.S. Coast Guard. Heavy metal: It took a crane, a barge and a 
23-year-old motor, but Healy will return to the Arctic. https://
www.mycg.uscg.mil/News/Article/2437415/heavy-metal-it-took-a-crane-a-
barge-and-a-23-year-old-motor-but-healy-will-retu/ December 7, 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

EMERGENCIES

    The Coast Guard responds to a wide range of natural and 
man-made disasters in the United States and abroad. On several 
occasions over the last decade, the Service surged its 
personnel and assets from locations all over the United States 
to respond to national and international emergencies. From 
2007-2020, the U.S. Coast Guard conducted 23 major surge 
operations--high-intensity, short-notice emergency responses to 
catastrophic events, like hurricanes or oil spills. During 
these surges, the Coast Guard deployed varying numbers and 
types of personnel, aircraft, and vessels based on event 
severity and duration.\20\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \20\ GAO. Coast Guard: A More Systematic Process to Resolve 
Recommended Actions Could Enhance Future Surge Operations. https://
www.gao.gov/assets/gao-21-584.pdf September 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Each time the Coast Guard surges assets and personnel to 
respond to an emergency, it takes those resources away from a 
programmed mission. As a result, funding and resource hours are 
potentially reduced and performance suffers for certain 
missions. In September of 2021, the GAO completed a study on 
Coast Guard surge operation's impacts to mission 
performance.\21\ Overall the GAO was not able to determine 
impacts to mission performance as a result of surge operations 
due to multiple factors beyond surge operations, such as 
personnel transfers, that can also affect mission activities 
but recommended the Coast Guard establish a more systematic 
process for ensuring that recommended actions are tracked, 
updated, and resolved in line with Coast Guard goals to assist 
in monitoring mission performance and effects of surge 
operations.\22\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \21\ Id.
    \22\ Id.
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WORKFORCE NEEDS

    The Coast Guard relies on its service members, reservists, 
and civilian workforce to carry out each of its 11 missions. In 
April 2018, the Coast Guard reported to Congress that it was 
operating below the workforce necessary to meet its mission 
needs.\23\ In a follow up report to these findings, the GAO 
found that the Service does not have a complete picture of the 
workforce needed for meeting its mission demands and lacks 
proper analyses capabilities for most of its unit types.\24\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \23\ U.S. Coast Guard. A Coast Guard for the Twenty-First Century: 
The Past, Present, and Future of Coast Guard Modernization. September 
18, 2018.
    \24\ GAO. Coast Guard: Actions Needed to Evaluate the Effectiveness 
of Organizational Changes and Determine Workforce Needs. https://
www.gao.gov/assets/gao-20-223.pdf February 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Although the Coast Guard has informed Congress that it 
needs to increase its workforce, it has only assessed a small 
portion of its workforce needs. Its preferred tool for 
assessing workforce needs is its manpower requirements 
determination process, which includes manpower requirements 
analyses (MRA) and is completed with a manpower requirements 
determination (MRD). Coast Guard guidance states that MRAs are 
to be updated every five years, and according to its April 2018 
Manpower Requirements Plan, the Coast Guard's goal is to 
complete MRDs for all of its 58,000 personnel and 158 unit 
types. However, the Coast Guard had completed MRAs for 13 
percent of its workforce and MRDs for two percent over the past 
five calendar years.\25\
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    \25\ Id.
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    The Coast Guard is dependent upon its workforce and assets 
to complete its duties and missions. As a small service, the 
Coast Guard stretches its available resources in order to 
perform the responsibilities given to them by Congress and keep 
the waterways and nation secure. Without proper strategic 
planning and analysis, true mission balance cannot be achieved.

                              WITNESS LIST

     LVice Admiral Scott A. Buschman, Deputy Commandant 
for Operations, United States Coast Guard


 ACHIEVING MISSION BALANCE: POSITIONING THE COAST GUARD FOR THE FUTURE

                              ----------                              


                      WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2021

                  House of Representatives,
                    Subcommittee on Coast Guard and
                           Maritime Transportation,
            Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:01 a.m., in 
room 2167 Rayburn House Office Building and via Zoom, Hon. 
Salud O. Carbajal (Chair of the subcommittee) presiding.
    Members present in person: Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Larsen, Mr. 
Auchincloss, and Mr. Gibbs.
    Members present remotely: Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Brown, Dr. Van 
Drew, and Mrs. Steel.
    Mr. Carbajal. The subcommittee will come to order.
    I ask unanimous consent that the chair be authorized to 
declare a recess at any time during today's hearing.
    Without objection, so ordered.
    I also ask unanimous consent that Members not on the 
subcommittee be permitted to sit with the subcommittee at 
today's hearing and ask questions.
    Without objection, so ordered.
    As a reminder, please keep your microphones muted unless 
speaking. Should I hear any inadvertent background noise, I 
will request that the Members please mute their microphones.
    And to insert a document into the record, please have your 
staff email it to [email protected].
    I will proceed with my opening statement.
    Good morning, and welcome to today's Coast Guard and 
Maritime Transportation Subcommittee hearing on ``Achieving 
Mission Balance: Positioning the Coast Guard for the Future.''
    Today, we will hear directly from the Coast Guard Deputy 
Commandant for Operations, Vice Admiral Scott Buschman, who 
will enlighten us on the Coast Guard's 11 mission sets and its 
remarkable talent for persevering under adverse conditions, 
with limited resources, to achieve mission objectives.
    As a regulatory agency, a law enforcement organization, a 
military service, a first responder, and a member of the 
intelligence community, the Coast Guard wears many hats. It 
relies on roughly 40,700 Active Duty servicemembers, 6,200 
reservists, 8,700 civilian employees, and 26,000 auxiliarists 
to perform its missions, which include ports, waterways, and 
coastal security; drug and migrant interdiction; marine 
environmental protection; marine safety; aids to navigation; 
and search and rescue, amongst others.
    The Coast Guard plays a critical role in preserving our 
national security as the sole law enforcement agency with the 
authority and capability to enforce national and international 
law in the United States Territorial waters and high seas.
    Yet, the world's best Coast Guard is chronically 
underfunded and overextended. The Coast Guard is known to 
``punch above its weight.'' Talk to any Coastie, and he or she 
will proudly boast, ``We do a lot with very little.'' It is a 
small, resourceful, and resilient service, but we can do 
better, and the Coast Guard deserves our support.
    I am keenly interested in the Coast Guard's marine safety 
program. Today, I would like to hear the Coast Guard's plan to 
fully staff its marine inspection program with experienced and 
appropriately qualified personnel. Those inspectors must be 
capable of inspecting vessels to ensure they meet Federal 
safety standards, and the Service must properly allocate the 
resources to carry out this important mission.
    Having just recognized the 2-year anniversary of the 
Conception casualty and tragedy last month, we are reminded 
that vessel safety inspections are vital to safety and cannot 
be brushed aside in favor of more, oftentimes, exciting 
missions.
    Marine environmental protection is especially important for 
today's hearing, as we monitor the ongoing cleanup efforts of 
the oil spill that occurred earlier this month in southern 
California. The Coast Guard has a leading role in the unified 
command in those cleanup efforts and will pursue an 
investigation into the cause of the spill, which is sure to be 
lengthy and will require additional resources.
    I also look forward to learning more about the resources 
the Coast Guard applies to its drug and migrant interdiction 
operations. Last year, the Coast Guard prevented 318,340 pounds 
of cocaine and 70,371 pounds of marijuana from making its way 
onto the streets of our country. Successful interdiction in 
these areas requires a multifaceted, multilayered approach. 
Capitalizing on its interagency partnerships, like those with 
JIATF South, and leveraging over 25 bilateral agreements, the 
Coast Guard is uniquely postured in its law enforcement 
authorities to conduct the counternarcotics mission and stem 
the flow of human smuggling and trafficking.
    However, in my conversations with members of the Coast 
Guard, I was disappointed to learn of the problems facing the 
men and women defending our Nation, incurring sacrifice after 
sacrifice to upset the plans of drug trafficking organizations 
and transnational criminal organizations, and rescue victims 
from capsized boats. Many Coast Guard members return home at 
the end of the workday to military housing containing asbestos 
and lead-based paint. They have to wait weeks or even months to 
receive specialty medical care; have a hard time finding 
quality, affordable childcare; or face limited job 
opportunities for their spouses.
    Today, I would be interested to learn more about the Coast 
Guard's plans to support its most valuable resource of all--its 
people--because without them, mission success is not 
achievable.
    Lastly, I would like to turn to an important issue. 
Recently, news emerged of a disturbing incident that happened 
to a U.S. Merchant Marine Academy cadet. This cadet was 
sexually assaulted onboard a vessel during her sea-year 
experience in 2019. It is my understanding that the Coast Guard 
Investigative Service is conducting an investigation. Hearing 
the cadet's story broke my heart and the hearts of many.
    As the chair of this subcommittee, member of the House 
Armed Services Committee, and appointee to the U.S. Merchant 
Marine Academy Board of Visitors, I have come to learn of the 
terrible culture within the maritime community, where women are 
not safe in learning and work environments. I am appalled that 
I was not notified of this investigation or of these 
circumstances at the Academy. In fact, despite my appointment 
in April, neither the Superintendent nor anyone at the Academy 
has engaged my office. This must change.
    I raise this issue today to highlight the Coast Guard's 
important role as law enforcement upon the high seas. I also 
expect the Coast Guard to set an example for industry, to work 
within its own ranks and within the maritime industry to ensure 
women feel safe and stop this culture.
    We have a lot to cover today, so let's get after it. I look 
forward to our witness' testimony and discovering more about 
how the Coast Guard balances so many competing priorities to 
preserve our great Nation.
    I also don't want to suggest that the Coast Guard did not 
make me aware of the incident I just mentioned. The Commandant, 
who I was with a week ago, mentioned this to me as it was 
hitting the news. So I don't want to include him in the lack of 
information that I received from the Academy.
    With that, I now call on the ranking member of the 
subcommittee, Mr. Gibbs, for an opening statement.
    [Mr. Carbajal's prepared statement follows:]

                                 
   Prepared Statement of Hon. Salud O. Carbajal, a Representative in 
Congress from the State of California, and Chair, Subcommittee on Coast 
                   Guard and Maritime Transportation
    Good morning, and welcome to today's Coast Guard and Maritime 
Transportation subcommittee hearing on ``Achieving Mission Balance: 
Positioning the Coast Guard for the Future.'' Today, we will hear 
directly from the Coast Guard Deputy Commandant for Operations, Vice 
Admiral Scott Buschman, who will enlighten us on the Coast Guard's 11 
mission sets and its remarkable talent for persevering under adverse 
conditions with limited resources to achieve mission objectives.
    As a regulatory agency, a law enforcement organization, a military 
service, a first responder, and a member of the intelligence community, 
the Coast Guard wears many hats. It relies on roughly 40,700 Active 
Duty service members, 6,200 reservists, 8,700 civilian employees, and 
26,000 Auxiliarists to perform its missions, which include Ports, 
Waterway, and Coastal Security, Drug and Migrant Interdiction, Marine 
Environmental Protection, Marine Safety, Aids to Navigation, and Search 
and Rescue, among others. The Coast Guard plays a critical role in 
preserving our national security as the sole law enforcement agency 
with the authority and capability to enforce national and international 
law in the United States territorial waters and the high seas.
    Yet, the world's best Coast Guard is chronically underfunded and 
overextended. The Coast Guard is known to ``punch above its weight,'' 
talk to any Coastie and he or she will proudly boast ``we do a lot with 
a little.'' It's a small, resourceful, and resilient service but we can 
do better, and the Coast Guard deserves our support.
    I am keenly interested in the Coast Guard's marine safety program. 
Today, I would like to hear the Coast Guard's plan to fully staff its 
marine inspection program with experienced and appropriately qualified 
personnel. Those inspectors must be capable of inspecting vessels to 
ensure they meet federal safety standards, and the service must 
properly allocate the resources to carry out this important mission. 
Having just recognized the two-year anniversary of the CONCEPTION 
casualty last month, we are reminded that vessel safety inspections are 
vital to safety and cannot be brushed aside in favor of more 
``exciting'' missions.
    Marine environmental protection is especially important for today's 
hearing as we monitor the ongoing cleanup efforts of the oil spill that 
occurred earlier this month in Southern California. The Coast Guard has 
a leading role in the unified command in those cleanup efforts and will 
pursue an investigation into the cause of the spill, which is sure to 
be lengthy and will require additional resources.
    I also look forward to learning more about the resources the Coast 
Guard applies to its Drug and Migrant Interdiction Operations. Last 
year, the Coast Guard prevented 318,340 pounds of cocaine and 70,371 
pounds of marijuana from making its way onto the streets of our 
country. Successful interdiction in these areas requires a multi-
faceted, multi-layered approach. Capitalizing on its interagency 
partnerships, like those with JIATF-South, and leveraging over 25 
bilateral agreements, the Coast Guard is uniquely postured in its law 
enforcement authorities to conduct the counter narcotics mission and 
stem the flow of human smuggling and trafficking.
    However, in my conversations with members of the Coast Guard, I was 
disappointed to learn of the problems facing the men and women 
defending our nation, incurring sacrifice after sacrifice to upset the 
plans of drug trafficking organizations and transnational criminal 
organizations, and rescue victims from capsized boats. Many Coast Guard 
members return home at the end of a workday to military housing 
containing asbestos and lead-based paint, have to wait weeks or even 
months to receive specialty medical care, have a hard time finding 
quality, affordable child care, or face limited job opportunities for 
their spouses. Today, I'd be interested to learn more about the Coast 
Guard's plans to support its most valuable resource of all, its people, 
because without them mission success is not achievable.
    Lastly, I'd like to turn to an important issue. Recently, news 
emerged of a disturbing incident that happened to a U.S. Merchant 
Marine Academy cadet. This cadet was sexually assaulted on board a 
vessel during her sea year experience in 2019. It is my understanding 
that the Coast Guard investigative service is conducting an 
investigation. Hearing of the cadet's story broke my heart. As Chair of 
this subcommittee, member of the House Armed Services Committee, and 
appointee to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Board of Visitors, I've 
come to learn the terrible culture within the maritime community where 
women are not safe in learning and work environments. I am appalled 
that I was not notified of this investigation or of these circumstances 
at the academy. In fact, despite my appointment in April, the 
Superintendent nor anyone at the Academy has engaged my office. This 
must change. I raise this issue today to highlight the Coast Guard's 
important role as law-enforcement upon the high seas. I also expect to 
Coast Guard set an example for industry, to work within its own ranks 
and within the maritime industry to ensure women feel safe and stop 
this culture.
    We have a lot to cover today so let's get after it. I look forward 
to our witness' testimony and discovering more about how the Coast 
Guard balances so many competing priorities to preserve our great 
nation.

    Mr. Gibbs. Thank you, Chair Carbajal.
    And thank you to our witness for being here today.
    The Coast Guard has three strategic priorities: maritime 
safety, security, and stewardship. It also has duties and 
missions laid out in at least two sections of law and 
performance goals under a separate statute. I look forward to 
hearing from Vice Admiral Buschman how all these missions and 
duties are balanced against one another when making decisions 
about allocating time and resources.
    The committee has long been concerned that the functions 
related to the maritime transportation system carried out by 
the Coast Guard should not be starved to feed the Service's 
maritime security functions. The Service has recently increased 
national defense activities. This heightens those concerns, 
especially at a time when current port congestion and supply-
chain disruptions show how important the Coast Guard's maritime 
transportation system role is in the U.S. economy.
    An example of the Coast Guard's important maritime 
transportation work is the credentialing of mariners. 
Subcommittee members have recently been contacted by U.S. 
maritime unions concerned about credentialing delays. I expect 
the vice admiral will have answers about those delays and let 
us know what is needed to get the program back on track.
    I also look forward to hearing how the Coast Guard intends 
to complete its very long delayed manpower planning analyses 
and subsequent manpower requirements. The structural portions 
of the Coast Guard's modernization have been in place since 
2010, more than a decade, but only 13 percent of the manpower 
planning analyses that were to build out the modernization 
workforce have been completed. Only 2 percent of the manpower 
requirements that derive from those analyses have been 
implemented. How much longer before the Coast Guard's workforce 
catches up with its structure?
    Finally, in 2016, GAO made three recommendations on 
tracking mission performance, which the Department of Homeland 
Security concurred with. To date, none have been implemented. 
According to the GAO, the Coast Guard needs to, one, better 
document risk assessments that support its annual assessment 
allocation decisions; two, develop a process to prioritize 
manpower requirements analyses to units that are most critical 
for achieving mission needs; and three, better incorporate 
field unit input. I would like to know when these 
recommendations will be implemented.
    I thank you, Chairman Carbajal, for holding this hearing, 
and I yield back.
    [Mr. Gibbs' prepared statement follows:]

                                 
Prepared Statement of Hon. Bob Gibbs, a Representative in Congress from 
the State of Ohio, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and 
                        Maritime Transportation
    Thank you, Chair Carbajal, and thank you to our witness for being 
here today.
    The Coast Guard has three strategic priorities--maritime safety, 
security, and stewardship. It also has duties and missions laid out in 
at least two sections of law and performance goals under a separate 
statute. I look forward to hearing from Vice Admiral Buschman how all 
these missions and duties are balanced against one another when making 
decisions about allocating time and resources.
    The Committee has long been concerned that the functions related to 
the maritime transportation system carried out by the Coast Guard 
should not be starved to feed the Service's maritime security 
functions. The Service has recently increased national defense 
activities.
    This heightens those concerns, especially at a time when current 
port congestion and supply chain disruptions show how important the 
Coast Guard's maritime transportation system role is to the U.S. 
economy.
    An example of the Coast Guard's important maritime transportation 
work is the credentialing of mariners. Subcommittee Members have 
recently been contacted by U.S. maritime unions concerned about 
credentialing delays. I expect the Vice Admiral will have answers about 
those delays, and let us know what is needed to get that program back 
on track.
    I also look forward to hearing how the Coast Guard intends to 
complete its very long delayed manpower planning analyses and 
subsequent manpower requirements. The structural portions of the Coast 
Guard's modernization have been in place since 2010, more than a 
decade, but only 13 percent of the manpower planning analyses that were 
to build out the modernization workforce have been completed. Only 2 
percent of the manpower requirements that derive from those analyses 
have been implemented. How much longer before the Coast Guard's 
workforce catches up with its structure?
    Finally, in 2016, GAO made three recommendations on tracking 
mission performance, which the Department of Homeland Security 
concurred with. To date, none have been implemented.
    According to GAO, the Coast Guard needs to better document risk 
assessments that support its annual asset allocation decisions; develop 
a process to prioritize manpower requirements analyses to units that 
are most critical for achieving mission needs; and better incorporate 
field unit input.
    I'd like to know when these recommendations will be implemented.
    Thank you, Chair Carbajal for holding this hearing today. I yield 
back.

    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Mr. Gibbs.
    I would now like to welcome the witness. We have Vice 
Admiral Scott Buschman, Deputy Commandant for Operations of the 
United States Coast Guard.
    Thank you for being here today, and I look forward to your 
testimony.
    Without objection, our witness' full statement will be 
included in the record.
    Since your written testimony has been made a part of the 
record, the subcommittee requests that you limit your oral 
testimony to 5 minutes.
    Admiral Buschman, you may proceed.

TESTIMONY OF VICE ADMIRAL SCOTT A. BUSCHMAN, DEPUTY COMMANDANT 
                FOR OPERATIONS, U.S. COAST GUARD

    Admiral Buschman. Good morning, Chairman Carbajal, Ranking 
Member Gibbs, distinguished members of the subcommittee. It is 
my honor to be here today to represent the Coast Guard on this 
important topic and the various subjects you just raised.
    I want to thank you for the outstanding support and trust 
Congress and this subcommittee has provided and continues to 
provide to our Coast Guard. Together with your support and the 
Coast Guard's dedicated servicemembers--the Service's position 
as a trusted maritime Armed Force, law enforcement agency, 
regulator, humanitarian service, and first responder.
    From internal waters to the edges of our 200-mile exclusive 
economic zone and beyond, the Coast Guard has provided security 
and safety on our Nation's waters for a combination of 
prevention and response operations for over 230 years. Our 
unique authorities and the exceptional skill with which Coast 
Guard women and men carry out their missions provide the 
foundation for not only carrying out our 11 statutory missions 
but to be globally impactful and relevant. As a result, the 
demand for our Coast Guard, both at home and abroad, has never 
been higher.
    The Coast Guard impacts the lives of nearly every American 
by ensuring the continued safety, security, stewardship, and 
prosperity of the Nation's borders. And despite the impacts of 
COVID-19, 2021 has been no exception.
    We protect and support the Marine Transportation System to 
ensure $5.4 trillion in U.S. commerce and safeguard our 
maritime borders from terrorist threats, illegal drugs, and 
other contraband; irregular migration; and illegal, 
unregulated, and unreported fishing.
    We also continue to be the world's premier life-saving and 
maritime crisis response organization, tested repeatedly by yet 
another active hurricane season, with 20 named storms to date, 
as well other natural and human-caused disasters.
    Today's Coast Guard operates in an increasingly complex and 
interdependent world. Our deliberate planning and force 
allocation process continues to evaluate the threats and 
opportunities to U.S. maritime interests and develop plans to 
achieve mission success in this dynamic environment.
    National, departmental, and service strategies focus our 
efforts and guide us in weighing operational risks and 
competing demands for resources and to allocate assets 
optimally across our missions. We then delegate the tactical 
control of assets to operational commanders, who leverage the 
intelligence community and our other partners to address 
maritime threats and safeguard our national strategic, 
environmental, and economic interests. The entire process 
allows risk-informed decisions that direct limited resources 
where they are most needed.
    To help guide our operational planning process, we conduct 
annual strategic reviews to identify operational gaps, assess 
performance, and outline initiatives needed to improve mission 
execution across our 11 statutory missions.
    Surge operations during national regional emergencies, 
including the ongoing pandemic, hurricane response, and the 
recent oil spill in southern California, all demonstrate the 
value of this nimble planning process.
    Though our planning system is responsive, transparent, and 
repeatable, additional and more capable resources are required 
to meet increasing demand across the Service's broad mission 
spectrum. Our legacy fleet of cutters and aircraft have served 
admirably for decades but are becoming far more difficult and 
expensive to maintain, and we continue to see degradation in 
their operational capability.
    We greatly appreciate the administration's and Congress' 
support of our recapitalization efforts. Funding provided in 
fiscal year 2021 allowed us to sustain momentum on our most 
critical acquisition priorities, including the Offshore Patrol 
Cutter, the Polar Security Cutter, and the Waterways Commerce 
Cutter.
    However, these cutting-edge assets, designed to bring the 
best our Nation has to bear on today's maritime challenges, 
cannot be supported on budgets that were developed for assets 
built in the 1960s and 1970s. We appreciate the congressional 
support that has enabled us to continue modernizing our fleet 
while we position the Coast Guard for the future.
    In closing, history has proven that a responsive, capable, 
and agile Coast Guard, using a deliberative planning process, 
is indispensable to the American people. We also seek to invest 
in improving capabilities and recruiting, developing, and 
retaining an exceptional workforce reflective of the Nation we 
serve to succeed in an increasingly complex and dynamic 
environment.
    As our Commandant has stated, predictable budget growth of 
3 to 5 percent in operational funding, in conjunction with 
these strategic investments, is needed to fully meet the 
growing demand for your 21st-century Coast Guard.
    The true value of the Coast Guard to the Nation is not its 
ability to perform any single mission but in its versatile, 
highly adaptive, multimission character. The interrelated 
nature of the Coast Guard's missions and our culture of 
ingenuity provides the Service with the ability to rapidly 
shift from one mission to another as national priorities 
demand.
    On behalf of the women and men of the Coast Guard, thank 
you again for your support and the opportunity to testify 
before you today. I look forward to your questions.
    [Admiral Buschman's prepared statement follows:]

                                 
Prepared Statement of Vice Admiral Scott A. Buschman, Deputy Commandant 
                    for Operations, U.S. Coast Guard
    Good morning, Chairman Carbajal, Ranking Member Gibbs, and 
distinguished members of the subcommittee. I appreciate the opportunity 
to testify today. On behalf of the men and women of the United States 
Coast Guard, I thank you for your oversight, support, and advocacy. It 
is my pleasure to appear before you today to discuss the Service's 
continuing efforts to provide the Nation with adaptive, responsive, and 
balanced mission performance across its eleven legislatively mandated 
mission programs.
    Since 1790, the Coast Guard has been responsible for safeguarding 
the American people and promoting national interests in a complex and 
evolving maritime environment. As the only Armed Force \1\ within the 
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a Federal law enforcement 
agency, a humanitarian organization, a member of the Intelligence 
Community, and a Federal regulator, the Coast Guard simultaneously 
defends America's sovereign interests, enforces U.S. law, promotes 
respect for international law, acts as a first responder for natural 
and man-made disasters, and facilitates the safe flow of legitimate 
maritime commerce.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ 14 U.S.C. Sec.  101; 10 U.S.C. Sec.  101
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In the execution of its duties within DHS, the Coast Guard serves 
on the front lines for a nation whose economic prosperity and national 
security are inextricably linked to its maritime interests. In this 
capacity, the Coast Guard protects and defends more than 95,000 miles 
of U.S. coastline and inland waterways, saves thousands of lives per 
year, and safeguards America's sovereign rights and jurisdiction in its 
3.4 million square nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)--the 
world's largest.
    The Coast Guard supports national priorities and every mission area 
within DHS including: responding to disasters and significant weather 
events; facilitating the flow of maritime commerce; protecting U.S. 
national and environmental interests in the Polar Regions; stopping the 
devastating impact of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) 
fishing; countering Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs); 
safeguarding the Marine Transportation System (MTS) against all 
threats, including those emerging in the cyber domain; and securing our 
Nation's maritime borders.
    Every day, for more than 230 years, the U.S. Coast Guard has 
performed complex, life-saving missions in the most challenging 
environments. In Fiscal Year 2021 alone, the Coast Guard saved 4,724 
lives, serving as the lead federal agency responsible for maritime 
search and rescue coordination. The Coast Guard's multi-mission 
capabilities, broad authorities, organizational flexibility, and 
incident response expertise uniquely position it to lead in many types 
of crisis. To do this, the Coast Guard applies military, regulatory, 
incident management, and law enforcement expertise to ensure safety, 
security, stewardship, and resiliency across the Nation. The Service 
stands ready to respond to natural and man-made disasters and can surge 
personnel and assets at a moment's notice to respond to fires, floods, 
hurricanes, earthquakes, oil spills, and other catastrophic events.
    On top of day-to-day operations across its mission portfolio, the 
Coast Guard is increasingly called upon to respond to significant 
incidents, accidents, contingency events, and new mission demands 
created by climate change that have a major impact on the Nation. 
Environmental and geopolitical changes have increased the frequency and 
magnitude of contingency operations. Between 2015 and 2020, the Coast 
Guard surged personnel and assets to 12 major hurricanes and numerous 
other tropical cyclones, assisted with wildfires in Oregon and 
California, deployed personnel in response to record flooding in the 
heartland, and provided medical and logistical support to the Southwest 
Border.
    Furthermore, as one of the six members of the Armed Forces, the 
Coast Guard serves as a force multiplier for the Department of Defense 
(DoD), supporting Combatant Commanders in meeting the objectives of the 
National Defense and National Security Strategies. This support 
includes conducting a varied set of defense readiness missions such as 
counterterrorism operations, air defense, maritime threat response, and 
theater security cooperation. Due to a unique blend of capabilities and 
authorities, the Coast Guard serves an increasingly important role in 
the Nation's defense, specifically in the critical space between peace 
and armed conflict.
    Additionally, the Service leverages over 60 multilateral and 
bilateral agreements and works with a host of U.S. and foreign 
government organizations to battle the destructive impacts of TCOs. Our 
long-term counter-TCO efforts promote stability and strengthen the rule 
of law throughout the Western Hemisphere, improve governance and 
regional stability, decrease TCO-driven violent crime, and increase 
economic opportunities--factors that influence irregular maritime 
migration and the flow of illegal narcotics into our nation.
    As globalization continues to drive increased interdependence 
between nations, regional instability can cause major impacts on a 
world-wide scale. The Coast Guard protects the U.S. maritime border 
domain and U.S. commerce--not just by operating in U.S. territorial 
waters, but by conducting operations on the high seas. Employing a 
layered interdiction package consisting of air and surface assets, 
specialized personnel, and broad authorities, the Coast Guard is 
positioned to disrupt illicit drug smuggling and human trafficking 
ventures and threats to our Nation far from our shores, and where they 
are most vulnerable--at sea.
    Last year, working with interagency and international partners, the 
Coast Guard seized over 165 metric tons of cocaine and detained and 
transferred 619 drug smugglers for criminal prosecution. Beyond the 
important task of disrupting the illicit trafficking system that 
delivers drugs to U.S. communities, prosecuting drug smugglers and 
human traffickers facilitates a better understanding of TCOs and 
bolsters a unified, whole-of-government approach to dismantle these 
networks. Despite the past year's challenges related to COVID-19, the 
Coast Guard sustained a formidable operational persistence in the 
transit zone.
    This required Coast Guard crews to be mission focused, while 
confronting individual difficulties with being deployed, away from 
their families and loved ones, during the pandemic.
    Illicit drug and human trafficking are not the only threats to 
regional security and stability. IUU fishing undermines the 
international rules-based order, through practices that include the 
systematic use of illegal fishing gear, the unreported transshipment of 
illegal catch, and the deployment of unregulated distant water fishing 
fleets which can destabilize the economies of smaller coastal states by 
conducting industrial-scale IUU fishing activities that erode vital 
food supply chains without regard to states' sovereign rights. IUU 
fishing occurs around the globe. The Coast Guard partners with allies 
to combat IUU fishing in the Gulf of Guinea off of western Africa, in 
South America, and in the South Pacific and Southeast Asia, areas 
identified as priority regions by the Interagency Working Group on IUU 
Fishing, established under the Maritime Security and Fisheries 
Enforcement (SAFE) Act.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Fisheries 
Directorate. Priority Regions At Risk of IUU Fishing Activities. U.S. 
Interagency Working Group on IUU Fishing. Retrieved October 15, 2021, 
from https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/us-interagency-working-
group-iuu-fishing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Illegal fishing practices, especially when coordinated by malign 
state actors, can destabilize legitimate governments and destroy the 
economic viability of coastal nations. IUU fishing is estimated to 
result in tens of billions of dollars of lost revenue for legal 
operators every year, significantly disadvantaging the U.S. fishing 
fleet.\3\ Additionally, those engaged in IUU fishing practices are 
prone to other nefarious activities, including drug smuggling, forced 
labor, and human trafficking.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ The Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, 
IUU Fishing Index, January 2019.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Combatting the IUU fishing threat requires a whole-of-government 
effort to improve data and intelligence sharing; enhance coordination 
within regional partners; increase the traceability of seafood across 
the global seafood supply chain; improve global enforcement operations 
and related IUU fishing investigations; and prevent TCOs from 
benefiting from IUU fishing. To achieve these goals, the Coast Guard is 
actively collaborating with interagency partners through venues such as 
the Interagency Working Group on IUU Fishing, established under the 
Maritime SAFE Act, comprised of 21 federal agencies, which the Service 
co-chairs with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and 
Department of State.
    The Coast Guard's unique blend of authorities and capabilities also 
make it an ideal instrument to address the Nation's needs in the modern 
era of rapid Arctic change. Further, the Service's continued 
international engagement and cooperation is critical to American 
strategic success and leadership in the Polar Regions. For more than 
150 years, the Coast Guard has upheld sovereign rights, advanced 
national security interests, promoted environmental stewardship, and 
supported economic prosperity in the Arctic. As an Arctic Nation, the 
Coast Guard must adapt its missions, including search and rescue, 
vessel safety, fisheries enforcement, and pollution response, to meet 
the challenges presented in this dynamic environment.
    The Service remains committed to providing year-round surface 
coverage in the Bering Sea, upholding U.S. sovereign rights and 
protecting natural resources as part of Operation BERING SHIELD and 
Operation BERING SAFEGUARD. Surges of surface, air, and shore activity 
into the Alaskan Arctic during Operation ARCTIC SHIELD are just one way 
the Coast Guard looks to address increased human activity in the 
region. The Coast Guard also has an enduring commitment to Operation 
DEEP FREEZE, which advances U.S. interests in Antarctica.
    The Service accomplishes all of this work in close cooperation with 
federal, state, local, tribal, academic, and industry partners.
    In collaboration with DHS, the Service is also proactive in 
building and expanding strategic opportunities through leadership in 
international fora such as the Arctic Council and the International 
Maritime Organization; negotiating, drafting, and updating bi-lateral 
and multi-lateral agreements; exercising those agreements and 
furthering relationships through the Arctic Coast Guard Forum; and 
participating other multi-lateral international exercises throughout 
the Arctic. The Service's strategic value to the Nation is in our 
ability to set the model of behavior for governance and to maintain the 
Arctic as a safe, cooperative, and prosperous domain. As the region 
continues to open and more actors look to the Arctic for economic and 
geopolitical advantages, the demand for DHS and Coast Guard resources 
will continue to grow.
    The Arctic is just one part of an MTS that has undergone major 
changes while seeing significantly increased demand due to shifts in 
economic activity and increased trade. In total, the Nation's MTS 
sustains over 30.8 million jobs, enables $5.4 trillion in economic 
activity, and is vital to the health of the U.S. economy. The Coast 
Guard's authorities hold the Service responsible for the safety and 
security of the MTS' multi-modal transportation hubs, as well as 
developing, maintaining, establishing, and operating maritime aids to 
navigation to promote safety, prevent disasters and collisions, and 
serve the needs of the Armed Forces and U.S. commerce.
    Currently, about 99% of international trade enters or leaves the 
U.S. by ship,\4\ and the International Trade Commission predicts that 
global freight demand will triple by 2050.\5\ Similarly, growth in the 
domestic energy market, including petroleum, liquefied natural gas, and 
other petro-chemicals has dramatically increased overall U.S. energy 
exports. This growth is juxtaposed against aging infrastructure, 
including bridges, locks, dams, and other port systems, which are 
struggling to meet increasing demand.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration 
Division Improving the U.S. Marine Transportation System, retrieved 
October 6, 2021 from https://www.maritime.dot.gov/outreach/maritime-
transportation-system-mts/maritime-transportation-system-mts
    \5\ U.S. International Trade Commission (2019) Recent Trends in 
U.S. Services Trade: 2019 Annual Report, https://www.usitc.gov/
publications/332/pub4975.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    With a significant portion of the country's gross domestic product 
coming through our ports, our MTS is already very busy. In order to 
meet the demand of the additional users such as commercial space 
operators and offshore development like renewable energy, fossil fuels, 
and aquaculture, while still providing for traditional waterway users, 
the Coast Guard is codifying historical shipping routes into shipping 
safety fairways. This ensures safe navigation corridors are available 
to the mariner while providing locations outside the fairway system for 
development. As the lead federal agency for waterway management, the 
Coast Guard must balance the potential impacts of innovation and 
development with the safety of navigation and our ability to conduct 
required missions.
    Further complicating the MTS are changes in the shipping industry 
itself, which has seen dramatic growth in cargo vessel size, draft, and 
tonnage. Larger vessels and increased demands on the MTS have escalated 
the risk of collisions, allisions, groundings, security threats, and 
environmental damage. These risks pose the threat of exacerbating port 
congestion, delays, and supply chain uncertainties witnessed during the 
COVID-19 pandemic and the obstruction of the Suez Canal by the M/V EVER 
GIVEN.
    As vessels and ports increasingly rely on new technologies to 
improve their effectiveness, they also introduce vulnerability to 
cyber-attacks on critical MTS infrastructure. Automated navigation 
systems, vessel sequencing, and inland cargo transportation are all 
targets for malicious actors who seek to infiltrate networked systems. 
This includes profit-driven criminal activity, such as ransomware, as 
well as threats from state-sponsored and nation-state actors.
    As both a military service and a regulator of the maritime sector, 
the Coast Guard must continue to adapt to an increasingly digital 
world. To that end, the Service must simultaneously defend and operate 
the enterprise mission platform to thwart adversary interference and 
posture our forces to achieve mission success, protect the MTS, and 
operate in and through cyberspace.\6\
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    \6\ U.S. Coast Guard, Cyber Strategic Outlook, 2021, https://
www.uscg.mil/Portals/0/Images/cyber/2021-Cyber-Strategic-Outlook.pdf
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    Cybersecurity is linked with all aspects of Coast Guard mission 
performance. Increasing digitalization simultaneously presents 
opportunities for greater efficiency and effectiveness while fueling 
new threats and challenges. To protect the Nation's most vital and 
enduring interests in the maritime environment, the Coast Guard must be 
able to operate in the cyber domain, and will continue to adapt to the 
challenges and opportunities that accompany technological advancement 
while protecting vulnerable systems from cyber threats.
    Coast Guard mission readiness relies on the ability to 
simultaneously execute our full suite of missions, while also being 
ready to respond to contingencies. The Coast Guard prides itself on 
being Semper Paratus--Always Ready--and predictable and sufficient 
resources are necessary to maintain Service readiness in the future. We 
must continue to invest in a modernized Coast Guard and current 
recapitalization remains a top priority. Today's efforts will shape the 
Coast Guard and impact national safety and security for decades. Your 
support has helped us make tremendous progress, but it is critical we 
build upon our successes.
    Strategic allocation of resources, including specific asset 
capabilities and capacities, is central to the Coast Guard's ability to 
operate in dynamic, vast, and diverse areas of responsibility. Through 
the support of the Administration and Congress, the Coast Guard is 
making important strides toward recapitalizing integrated, multifaceted 
air and surface capability and capacity essential to safeguarding U.S. 
security and prosperity. New assets, including Polar Security Cutters, 
Offshore Patrol Cutters, Waterways Commerce Cutters, HC-130J maritime 
patrol aircraft, MH-60T medium range recovery aircraft, and Cyber 
Mission Teams, are replacing legacy assets and enhancing the Coast 
Guard's ability to operate in the offshore, coastal, inland, and cyber 
domains with improved speed, coverage, reliability, and safety.
    While readiness and modernization investments improve current 
mission performance, our Service's greatest strength is undoubtedly our 
people. We are incredibly proud of our 54,000 Active Duty, Reserve, and 
civilian members, and over 22,000 volunteer members of the Coast Guard 
Auxiliary. Coast Guard operations require a resilient, capable 
workforce that draws upon the broad range of skills, talents, and 
experiences found in the American population. Together with modern 
platforms, our proficient, diverse, and adaptable workforce maximizes 
the Coast Guard's capacity to respond effectively to an increasingly 
complex operating environment.
    Mission balance is not an end state in and of itself. It emerges 
from a strategy that leverages Coast Guard authorities, capabilities, 
and competencies to safeguard national security, economic growth, and 
the environment.
    Internally, the Coast Guard weighs competing demands through an 
iterative operational planning process, which provides enterprise 
guidance on priorities and resource distribution based on national 
strategic imperatives, while preserving the autonomy of units to 
conduct operations, as events require. The Coast Guard's longstanding 
multi-mission approach delivers the most responsive, cost-effective 
services to the American public.
    History has proven that a ready, relevant, and responsive Coast 
Guard is an indispensable instrument of national safety and security. 
With the continued support of the Administration and Congress, we will 
continue to employ risk-based decisions to balance readiness, 
modernization, and force structure with the evolving demands of the 
21st century. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today 
and for all that you do for the men and women of the Coast Guard. I 
look forward to your questions.

    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Admiral Buschman.
    We will now move on to Member questions. Each Member will 
be recognized for 5 minutes. And I will start by recognizing 
myself.
    Vice Admiral Buschman, this past week, I got a chance to 
visit some Coast Guard sectors and see the Service's most 
important resource, its people. The men and women who serve in 
the Coast Guard are remarkable and make do with so little. I 
had a chance to meet and chat with many of them. As chairman, I 
want them to know I am their biggest advocate.
    What resources does the Coast Guard need to help their 
servicemembers outside the mission, such as healthcare, 
childcare, and housing?
    [Pause.]
    Mr. Carbajal. Admiral?
    Admiral Buschman. Chairman Carbajal, thank you very much 
for the question. And thank you for highlighting our 
extraordinary women and men of the Coast Guard, who give so 
much to our great Service and to our Nation.
    Sir, I will tell you that our Commandant talks about his 
priorities being readiness, and that really impacts our people. 
It really gets at the heart of our people. While we are focused 
on recapitalization, I can tell you that the Coast Guard 
leadership team, certainly our Commandant, is focused on the 
support to our people.
    There are a number of things in our budget request that 
directly relate to support to our people, some of which you 
highlighted in your opening statement, getting after things 
like childcare, medical care, housing. And there are a number 
of things in our budget, as well as our unfunded priorities 
list.
    And I will also tell you, sir, that our Commandant talks 
about the need for 3- to 5-percent operations budget growth. We 
address some of these issues that I just mentioned, certainly 
our large shore facilities backlog, a backlog on our IT 
infrastructure to give folks the tools they need to do their 
jobs.
    And those are the kind of things that are highlighted in 
our budget, as well as our unfunded priorities list request. 
And really getting after them and then that kind of sustained 
3- to 5-percent budget growth is really what would support this 
great Armed Force of the U.S. Coast Guard.
    But thank you for your support, and all the members of the 
committee, for really being laser-focused on our workforce.
    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you.
    As the Coast Guard is bringing new cutters online, it is 
importance that an updated fleet mix analysis be completed to 
ensure proper staffing and investments be done to outfit and 
maintain these assets. The last fleet mix analysis was 
conducted in 2011. Let me say that again just in case we missed 
it: 2011.
    When can we expect an update? And how can the Coast Guard 
effectively procure and allocate assets without having done an 
analysis?
    Admiral Buschman. Yes, Mr. Chairman. We know there is a 
congressional report required. We had 90 days to do a report. 
We are late on that report. We strive to be on time with our 
reports. I can tell you, that report is drafted. It is in the 
final clearance here within the Coast Guard. I expect it to be 
within the administration in the very near future and us to be 
able to deliver that report by the end of the fall here.
    And I will tell you that we are trying to be as responsive 
as possible. We did get an additional request from the 
committee for some amplifying information to be included in the 
report. So, we took a little bit longer than expected in order 
to be as responsive as possible, but expect that to be up there 
by the end of the fall.
    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you.
    Moving on, as you may know, marine safety is a big concern 
of mine. From fiscal year 2013 to fiscal year 2019, the Coast 
Guard requested zero additional billets for inspectors in the 
marine safety program. This is despite internal Coast Guard 
reports stating that approximately 400 additional billets are 
needed.
    Why has the Coast Guard not requested any additional 
billets? And, currently, the marine safety program uses 1.5 
percent of all Coast Guard personnel billets. How can the Coast 
Guard claim it is fulfilling its marine safety mission when it 
is so severely understaffed?
    Admiral Buschman. Yes, sir. Again, thank you for the 
question. I will tell you, sir, we are focused in on this, and 
I think this is part of our readiness challenges that we are 
really trying to get after.
    And maybe to explain to you our commitment to this mission, 
in 2018, our Commandant, shortly after he became the 
Commandant, published a Maritime Commerce Strategic Outlook, 
kind of a 10-year outlook, recognizing the critical importance 
of our Marine Transportation System to our Nation, to our 
economy. Certainly, $5 trillion-plus is tied to our economy.
    This strategy kind of gets at looking at facilitating 
lawful trade and commerce. It looks at modernizing our aids to 
navigation and marine information. It looks at transforming our 
capacity and partnerships.
    And within the past year, as part of implementing that 
strategy, I, along with my mission support counterpart, 
published a prevention readiness initiative that really gets 
after the workforce that you talked about and talks about 
building the capacity of our workforce, risk management, and 
talks about knowledge of management and partnerships. We are 
really trying to get after that.
    The 2021 and 2022 budget requests do have some additional 
marine inspectors and other parts of our prevention workforce, 
including cyber, this very, very critical part of our 
workforce. I think, unfortunately, sequestration put us in a 
little bit of arrears there. We are trying to play catchup. We 
are trying to get after this. And I think, when our Commandant 
talks about his laser-focus on addressing Coast Guard readiness 
needs, this falls right within that. This is the readiness of 
our, as you pointed out, Mr. Chairman, this absolutely critical 
part of our workforce that does such important work.
    And then a few other things are looked at. We are not just 
looking at the numbers of people; we are looking at the tools 
in their hand. We have revamped our training process through a 
rigorous, multiyear analysis to really get after lifelong 
learning for them, as technology and the industry is changing 
so quickly. And also gets after putting tools in their hands, 
mobile applications while they are out in the field to do the 
job and make them more efficient.
    So, a lot of different pieces to it. But I will tell you, 
thank you so much for your support and your interest in this 
very, very important part of our workforce.
    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you.
    We will now move on to Ranking Member Representative Gibbs.
    Mr. Gibbs. Thank you, Chairman.
    Thank you, Vice Admiral, for your testimony.
    Also, I wanted to concur that--my appreciation for all the 
great work the Coast Guard does, and their servicemembers. And 
they have many missions, and some come in the national 
spotlight here and there, in drug interdiction, hurricane 
relief support, rescue, and all that.
    And, especially after 9/11, a great deal of attention was 
paid to our maritime security and there was significant growth 
in the Coast Guard's ports, waterways, and coastal security 
program. And this committee has tracked that and attempted to 
ensure that increased maritime security didn't mean decreased 
maritime safety.
    And now that it appears the United States is taking a more 
active role in the Pacific, specifically the Coast Guard, due 
to concerns about China in international relations, there could 
be more pressure on the Coast Guard and more resources.
    Admiral, is the Coast Guard continuing to ensure that 
sufficient resources are being made available for maritime 
safety programs? And, also, as the Coast Guard expands its 
operations in the Pacific in conjunction with the Department of 
Defense, is the Service working to ensure the Department of 
Defense helps offset the additional costs of the Service's 
support of Department of Defense operations?
    Admiral Buschman. Ranking Member Gibbs, thank you for the 
question.
    As it relates to the marine safety workforce, we are 
absolutely focused on our marine safety workforce and getting 
the resources, not just resources in terms of number of people 
but the tools they need to do their job as a very, very 
important part of our workforce. There are funds provided in 
the 2021 budget and also in our 2022 budget to further enhance 
that.
    Your second question on DoD funding, I will tell you that 
there are a couple different aspects to this. One aspect is 
that defense readiness is a Coast Guard mission, 1 of our 11 
statutory missions. So, it is appropriate that a portion of 
this is funded within our Coast Guard and DHS top line.
    There are other parts of our budget that are kind of scored 
against Function 050, the defense funding. There are some that 
have historically been funded and have not been updated in a 
few years. And then also, last year, the overseas contingency 
operations funding was also brought into our base budget. So, 
if you add those two up, it is a little more than $500 million 
that is scored against Function 050.
    And then there are some other specific things that the 
Coast Guard does. For example, we have two Maritime Force 
Protection Units that [inaudible] the coast to protect Navy's 
ballistic missile submarines. And that is a direct 
reimbursement from DoD to the Coast Guard.
    Mr. Gibbs. Thank you.
    In 2016, the Government Accountability Office made three 
recommendations to improve the allocation of assets and 
determine workforce requirements: Document how risk assessments 
are used to inform annual asset allocations; develop a 
systematic process that prioritizes manpower requirements 
analyses; and better incorporate field unit input in asset 
allocation decisions. The Department of Homeland Security has 
agreed with these recommendations, but they have not yet been 
implemented.
    Does the Coast Guard intend for the GAO's 2016 
recommendations to improve allocation of the assets and better 
determine the workforce requirements? And if so, when do you 
think that will happen?
    Admiral Buschman. Again, thanks for the question there, 
Ranking Member Gibbs.
    I will tell you, I think we are actually--we are proud of 
our force allocation process, but we are always looking for 
ways to do better. So, when the GAO, an external voice, comes 
in and takes a look at it and gives us some constructive 
feedback, we welcome that feedback.
    A number of those recommendations have already been 
incorporated, have already been implemented. And one of the 
audits, it talked about allocating resources. The GAO came back 
to us and didn't 100 percent agree with how we implemented 
this, so we are going back and taking a look at it.
    I think you also asked about the workforce assessments. We 
have a couple things at work to address those. One of them is a 
manual that is drafted and in clearance and hopefully will be 
done in the near future, and a few more that are in progress 
and I think will be completed in fiscal year 2022, sir.
    Mr. Gibbs. All right. Thank you.
    I also understand there have been issues in the inland 
waterway cutters in recent weeks. The industry has informed us 
that, of the five cutters the Coast Guard has, only one is 
operational on the lower Mississippi. What is the Coast Guard 
doing to address that issue?
    Admiral Buschman. Yes, sir. In my opening comments, I 
talked about our recapitalization efforts, our priorities being 
the Offshore Patrol Cutter, the Polar Security Cutter, and the 
Waterways Commerce Cutter.
    And this is really, really an important issue, that we have 
35 Waterways Commerce Cutters, our old ``inland river fleet'' 
we call them. They are somewhere between 50 and 70 years old. 
But I am very pleased to report that we have a recapitalization 
in progress. We are very excited about this project to 
recapitalize this part of our fleet, like I said, that is very, 
very old.
    We are going to have 30 of these Waterways Commerce Cutters 
replace 35 of the older cutters. And they are not only going to 
provide us more capability but things like berthing and allow 
us to put mixed-gender crews on.
    So, we are very excited about this. And the funds that we 
have requested in the fiscal year 2022 budget are going to 
allow us to complete the detail design and award a contract for 
that new Waterways Commerce Cutter. We are greatly looking 
forward to that. There is going to be a small-business set-
aside. Expected to be awarded in the spring of 2022 and the 
first cutter to be delivered in 2024.
    Mr. Gibbs. Thank you.
    I yield back my time, Chairman.
    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Ranking Member Gibbs.
    Next, we will move on to Representative Larsen.
    Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Thank you, Admiral, for testifying.
    Can you speak to how the Polar Security Cutter program and 
Polar Security Cutters themselves will be incorporated into 
operations? Do you guys have a concept of operations yet?
    Admiral Buschman. Sir, again, we are very excited about our 
Polar Security Cutter project acquisition. It is going to 
replace--you know, the Nation has two icebreakers----
    Mr. Larsen. Yes, I know that. Can you jump to my question, 
please?
    Admiral Buschman. Yes. So, the concept of operations, the 
Polar Security Cutter, they are going to both deploy to the 
Antarctic to support Operation Deep Freeze as well as treaty 
verifications, and then they will also be able to deploy to the 
Arctic to protect U.S. sovereignty, to work with our allies and 
partners. And so both Arctic--and the ability to operate it in 
the Antarctic and the Arctic.
    Mr. Larsen. Will any one cutter be able to operate 
independently, or will they need any support ships to go with 
them?
    Admiral Buschman. So, our existing Polar Star, which is 
well over 40 years old, operates independently. This is going 
to--our Polar Security Cutters, again, it is going to be an 
extraordinary new capability for us with a lot more capability 
than it is replacing. And they absolutely will be able to 
operate independently.
    Mr. Larsen. Thanks.
    So, I have a question, really, that is kind of focused on 
the Pacific Northwest, as you might imagine. But we have been 
working with the Coast Guard and the Navy to improve 
coordination between the branches when it comes to legally 
protected marine mammal species, like the Southern Resident 
killer whale.
    To date, what actions has the Coast Guard taken in terms of 
coordination with the Navy in the Puget Sound and Salish Sea to 
protect marine mammals?
    Admiral Buschman. Well, I mean, there are a couple things 
we are doing, not just with the Navy.
    We have a vessel traffic system, as you know, sir, up there 
in Puget Sound that receives whale sightings and disseminates 
them out to the public. We are an active participant in 
Operation Be Whale Wise, which is a multiagency effort to 
really get the word out to educate folks, whether it is on the 
water or on shore, about restricted zones and the buffer zones. 
And then we also go out and actively enforce the buffer 
enforcement zones. And any findings we report to NOAA and the 
State of Washington.
    As far as the Navy is concerned, we are working with the 
Navy to establish a workgroup to really figure out how we can 
collectively develop strategies to reduce the impacts to this 
vulnerable species, sir.
    Mr. Larsen. And what coordination are you doing with the 
Canadians?
    Admiral Buschman. We actively coordinate with our Canadian 
partners through our sector and through our VTS, the past 
sightings we have, as well as receive sightings they have, 
Congressman Larsen.
    Mr. Larsen. Are any of these operations being curtailed or 
otherwise limited by resources? The theme of this hearing is 
about balancing your missions. So, is anything being curtailed 
or limited?
    Admiral Buschman. Not that I am aware of, sir. I will check 
and verify that and certainly get back to you as quickly as 
possible.
    Mr. Larsen. Yes. Thanks.
    So, the Coast Guard's recent plans include an expansion of 
the USCG Base Seattle. Can you help us understand how those 
expansion plans will fit into enhancing operations in the 
region?
    Admiral Buschman. We are very excited about our plans for 
Seattle. We have our Polar Star and Healy home-ported out of 
there. Our first three Polar Security Cutters will be in 
Seattle.
    So, we are very much focused on getting the right, I would 
say, footprint for folks in Seattle, in terms of--it is an area 
where our folks like to be. It is a hub for the Coast Guard, 
will continue to be a hub for the Coast Guard. And then making 
sure we have the right support for our folks there, in terms of 
facilities, whether they are medical facilities, whether they 
are childcare facilities, whether the right peers for the 
assets we are going to put there. Because it is a very 
important hub for the Coast Guard and will continue to be a 
very important hub for the Coast Guard moving forward.
    Mr. Larsen. That is great. Thank you. And I am out of time, 
but I will follow up with you on Offshore Patrol Cutters, as 
well, in the future.
    Thank you. I yield back.
    Admiral Buschman. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Mr. Larsen.
    Next, we will go to Representative Van Drew.
    [Pause.]
    Mr. Carbajal. Not hearing from Mr. Van Drew, we will go to 
Representative Steel.
    Mrs. Steel. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    And thank you, Vice Admiral Buschman, for coming out today.
    As you know, on Saturday, October 2, there was a reported 
oil spill approximately 10 miles southwest of Newport Beach, 
California--that is in my district--from a pipeline which 
transports oil onshore from four offshore platforms in Federal 
waters.
    The cause has not yet been identified, although the 
administration stated in a briefing on October 8, 2021, that 
there is a high likelihood that the spill was caused by an 
anchor striking and dragging the pipeline. The United States 
Coast Guard is leading the investigation into the cause of the 
incident, and I really appreciate that.
    Cargo ships off the coast of my congressional district drop 
massive anchors near undersea oil lines, shorelines, and cable 
lines. There is a map. So, I called for a full Federal 
investigation into the cause of the spill and demanded the 
Coast Guard and NOAA immediately survey the nautical chart of 
the coast of Orange County so they can ensure the exact 
pipeline's placement.
    As more facts emerge, ships' anchors, not the integrity of 
the pipeline, appear to be the cause of the spill. The USCG has 
stated the spill most likely happened due to multiple anchor 
drags in a marked nonanchorage area, because we have over 100 
right now, and tomorrow another 45 ships are coming in.
    So, Vice Admiral Buschman, according to Lieutenant Kneen, 
during a heavy storm in January, an anchor dragged for an 
unknown distance before striking the 16-inch steel pipe. Impact 
would have knocked an inch-thick concrete casing of the pipe 
and pulled it more than 100 feet, bending but not breaking the 
line. It has not been confirmed if the impact caused the 
October leak or if the line was hit by something else at the 
later date or failed due to a preexisting problem.
    Any moment wasted is a moment too long if the existing 
pipelines are mapped improperly or moved. NOAA might map this 
out, but you use this information to approve ships that drop 
anchors. How do we make sure this never happens again?
    Admiral Buschman. Ma'am, thank you very much for the 
question. You know, certainly an important issue here.
    We do have an ongoing investigation of this very important 
matter to your district and the State of California. We have 
some of our most experienced folks conducting that marine 
casualty investigation.
    As you noted, they did go back through what we call AIS 
tracks and look at the anchorages and determined there was a 
storm that came through last January and a couple of ships 
moved off of the anchor--they moved some distance. So, we are 
taking a look at those.
    I want to be a little bit careful of, if they move the 
anchor off station, still don't know exactly why that happened 
in January and in October why the oil spill happened. So, I 
want to be careful we don't get ahead of the investigation. I 
think we really need to get the facts there, get the 
investigation.
    We have looked at the charts here to make sure that the 
pipeline there was on the charts. It is on the chart. But I 
think there are a lot of different aspects to this. We are 
looking at not only that area, we also are looking at 
nationwide. We are looking at the port congestion, I think you 
mentioned, and the various aspects of port congestion, so we 
make sure we really understand what is happening with port 
congestion offshore and have a complete picture of that and 
understand the risks of that, and then take appropriate steps 
going forward, ma'am.
    Mrs. Steel. Just a second question, the followup question 
is: We have about 60 locations they can put their anchor in the 
water. Is the Coast Guard overwhelmed and not able to safely 
monitor where these anchors are dropping? Since then, we have 
actually doubled those ships that are waiting--cargo ships are 
waiting out there.
    So how do you manage that? And how are you going to tell 
them where to drop their anchors? Because there are so many 
cables and oil pipelines and shore pipelines. How are we going 
to avoid these things, or are they going to happen again?
    Admiral Buschman. Yes, ma'am. So, what we have is, when it 
comes to approved anchorages, we have district commanders. In 
this case, out in California, it is in Alameda, California, our 
11th District. The district commander has regulatory authority 
and ability to approve rules for approved anchorages.
    And then the sector commander, in this case in L.A.-Long 
Beach, as they start determining where they are going to put 
anchorage sites, they will work with the local harbor safety 
committee, they will work with all the many different 
stakeholders--the industry, the State and locals, the various 
users of the waterway, the commercial users, the recreational 
users, fishing vessels, and other stakeholders--to determine 
where those appropriate anchorage sites are. And that is how we 
go about doing that.
    I will tell you, I was asked earlier about our marine 
safety workforce. We are also focused in on some of our 
readiness challenges as our workforce that works in waterways 
management, and making sure we have the appropriate number of 
folks that are working in our waterways management, that they 
have the right tools and the right training and the tools to do 
their job. Because, as you pointed out, these are very, very 
important issues here, and we are focused on getting them 
right.
    Mrs. Steel. Thank you very much.
    My time is up. I have more questions, so I am going to ask 
them in writing to the vice admiral.
    And thank you very much for your answers.
    Mr. Carbajal. Representative Steel, we are going to have a 
second round in a while, so you can ask further questions then.
    Mrs. Steel. Thank you.
    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you.
    Next, we will move on to Representative Auchincloss.
    Mr. Auchincloss. Thank you, Chair, and Vice Admiral for 
appearing before the subcommittee today.
    I have been working closely with the Port of New Bedford to 
help the south coast region of Massachusetts become a hub of 
the new economy and the leader in commercial fishing, maritime 
research, cargo port commerce, and offshore wind production.
    For example, Vineyard Wind is constructing the Nation's 
first industrial-scale offshore wind project at the New Bedford 
Marine Commerce Terminal. This project will create at least 500 
union jobs and enough green energy to power more than 400,000 
Massachusetts homes and businesses, all while amplifying the 
critical role of the Port of New Bedford.
    My first question to you, Vice Admiral, has to do with the 
Port of New Bedford. As the highest grossing commercial fishing 
port in the United States and an economic value totaled at 
almost $10 billion, the port supports more than $230 million in 
shipping diverse bulk commodities and breakbulk cargo.
    The Coast Guard is charged with securing these waters in 
all U.S. ports that comprise the MTS. And New Bedford has 
expressed their need for a vessel management system that will 
address the increasingly complex navigation plans with more 
offshore wind vessels. Do your manpower requirements analyses 
account for the workforce needed to develop those plans?
    Admiral Buschman. So, this is a vessel management system, 
sir?
    Mr. Auchincloss. Yes. And it is to help the Port of New 
Bedford address navigation plans as offshore wind is 
incorporated off their coast.
    Admiral Buschman. Well, let me talk a little bit about our 
role in offshore energy.
    So, the Coast Guard, we are responsible for ensuring the 
safety of navigation on all waterways. So, therefore, as it 
comes to offshore energy, we are the lead agency for--as these 
wind farms get put out there, how we balance competing 
interests in order to maintain safe navigation, maintain 
efficient navigation.
    And there are a number of different things we are doing. It 
also doesn't just impact safe navigation; it impacts our 
operations. We need the ability to, if we have wind farms out 
there, we need to be able to operate, our helicopters be able 
to conduct search and rescue, our boats be able to get in and 
out of these wind farms.
    So, there are a number of different things we are doing. We 
issued marine planning guidance to our Coast Guard forces that 
are evaluating these offshore projects. We are currently 
reviewing nine different construction plans.
    And then we are working with BOEM, the Bureau of Ocean 
Energy Management, and looking at where you have offshore wind 
farms, where you have the [inaudible] we are looking at 
historical sailing routes and codifying them through a 
rulemaking process.
    So, those are some of the things we are doing to look at 
the offshore energy piece, sir.
    Mr. Auchincloss. As you are doing the requirements 
analyses, which I know are a major vein of effort for you right 
now, are you looking at what kind of manpower requirements you 
have for a workforce necessary for offshore wind and navigation 
plans, regarding offshore wind in particular?
    Admiral Buschman. As we work through our requirements, we 
absolutely are looking at, you know, what are the increasing 
demands on what we call our waterways management workforce--a 
very critical part of our workforce, not only in the numbers of 
people we need, sir, but I would also say the skills they need, 
the training they need.
    And some of what they are working with is not just offshore 
energy. We are seeing commercial space in parts of the country 
that has impacts in the maritime environment. And we are 
looking at the numbers of people we need, and we are looking at 
the skills they need and the training they need and the tools 
they need to do the work we expect them to do.
    And what you describe is really an already complex maritime 
environment that is becoming increasingly more complex.
    Mr. Auchincloss. And, Vice Admiral, do you consult with the 
cities themselves that are the hosts to these ports?
    I mean, for example, New Bedford has a vocational-technical 
high school maritime technology certificate program. There is 
the National Offshore Wind Institute, which will be partly 
centered in New Bedford. These are programs that are creating a 
new generation of young people with the technical skills to 
work safely in the offshore wind environment and in the 
maritime environment more broadly.
    Admiral Buschman. Yes, sir. We consult with a whole bunch 
of people. I am not familiar with those specific organizations, 
but I will tell you, I will take that question back and get 
back to you for the record on that specific organization. But 
we certainly consult with many different people in the offshore 
energy business.
    Mr. Auchincloss. Vice Admiral, no need to respond 
specifically to those two organizations. I would appreciate if 
our office could work with you, if necessary, though, on vessel 
management as offshore wind takes off.
    Admiral Buschman. Sir.
    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Representative Auchincloss.
    Vice Admiral, go ahead and answer that real quick.
    Mr. Auchincloss. Oh, sorry, Chairman. No need for him to 
answer. I will yield my time.
    Mr. Carbajal. OK. Thank you.
    We will now move on to Representative Van Drew.
    Dr. Van Drew. Thank you.
    Good morning, Vice Admiral Buschman, and thank you for 
appearing before the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and 
Maritime Transportation to discuss the United States needs to 
ensure that our Coast Guard is prepared for the challenges of 
the 21st century.
    The U.S. Coast Guard is expanding operations across the 
country and across the world. Whether executing freedom-of-
navigation operations in the South China Sea or conducting 
search-and-rescue operations off the coast, the Coast Guard has 
a lot to do and plans on doing even more, as you well know, in 
the coming decades.
    We can build all the cutters in the world, but we need 
personnel to operate these vessels. Most of the personnel come 
through the Training Center Cape May, located in my district. 
Eighty percent--eighty percent--of the Coast Guard's total 
workforce is absorbed through the Training Center Cape May.
    The facility's existing barracks were constructed in the 
1960s and, as you know, are in serious need of modernization 
for multiple reasons. I was pleased to work with Admiral 
Schultz to get phase 1 of the Training Center Cape May 
recapitalization project listed as the Coast Guard's number-one 
shore infrastructure budget priority for this year. Congress 
will be appropriating $65 million to enable phase 1 of this 
four-phase project.
    The barracks recapitalization will increase the training 
center's capacity by 1,000 additional servicemembers a year. 
This investment ensures that the Coast Guard will have the 
workforce it needs to accomplish its mission at home and, 
Admiral, also abroad.
    The project will modernize classrooms with digital 
infrastructure and create far greater opportunities for women 
in the Coast Guard, which is one of our missions.
    When the training center was last upgraded, the 
appropriations cycle lapsed, and now the facility is short of 
entire barracks. We cannot--we cannot--allow this to happen 
again. It is imperative that the current project not fall 
short.
    The Congress is funding phase 1 in fiscal year 2022, and I 
believe that we should move to fund phase 2, 3, and 4 over the 
next 3 fiscal years so the entire project cycle is provided for 
when phase 1 is initiated in 2024. This project is too 
important for us to take half-measures.
    So, I have two questions, and I would ask you to speak on 
both. How will the Coast Guard's personnel needs evolve, how 
will they change, over the next 50 years? And what role will 
the recapitalization of the Training Center Cape May play in 
meeting these needs?
    Thank you very much, Admiral.
    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you very much, Representative Van Drew. 
Were you looking for an answer from the admiral?
    Dr. Van Drew. Yes, I was. Should I repeat those questions?
    Mr. Carbajal. Vice Admiral, did--yeah, I think he is 
frozen. The vice admiral is frozen.
    We are going to take a 5-minute recess, and we will come 
back. We will find out what has happened with the communication 
with the vice admiral. It looks like he is frozen.
    Mr. Brown. Send out the icebreakers, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Carbajal. We are going to take a 5-minute recess.
    [Recess.]
    Mr. Carbajal. We will reconvene.
    Vice Admiral, did you get those questions, or did you 
freeze out before you could understand the questions being 
asked?
    Are you there?
    Admiral Buschman. Can you hear me, Mr. Chairman?
    Mr. Carbajal. Yes. Were you able to get Mr. Van Drew's 
questions?
    Admiral Buschman. I did hear the questions. I started to 
answer them, so let me start all over.
    And I certainly agree with everything you said, 
Congressman, about the importance of Cape May. You mentioned 80 
percent of our Coast Guard folks wearing the uniform go through 
Cape May. It is absolutely our enlisted center of excellence. 
It is absolutely critical to our Coast Guard operation, our 
Coast Guard success.
    We are excited about this first phase, the $65 million for 
the first phase of the barracks. I think there is another $10 
million on the unfunded priorities list for future planning for 
future phases. Couldn't be more excited about it. Absolutely 
critical to our success and operations.
    I think you also asked about people and looking forward, 
kind of people needs. And, as I mentioned earlier, our 
Commandant and our Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast 
Guard, they are laser-focused on supporting our workforce--our 
most important resource.
    And as you look at needs going forward there, you start 
thinking about what the needs are of the workforce, the things 
that come to mind are childcare, medical support, particularly 
for an organization like the Coast Guard that has a lot of 
small units dispersed.
    Certainly, we have a large shore facilities backlog, and we 
hear that from our folks about the status of their shore 
facilities. And we are starting to get at that shore facilities 
backlog, continue to make progress on that.
    And I would also say IT. You are giving the tools to be 
able to do their job, from an IT perspective, but also, it is 
much broader than that. There are mobile tools, so they are out 
doing inspection reporting and they have tools that they can 
actually do the work in a mobile app like you should have in 
the 21st century.
    And those are the types of things, I think, supporting this 
great workforce of ours going forward, that come to mind.
    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you very much, Admiral.
    Next, we will go to the distinguished Representative from 
Maryland, Mr. Anthony Brown.
    Mr. Brown. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    And I want to thank the admiral for you and your 
leadership, your service to our country.
    I can't tell you how much of an honor it is for me to be 
able to serve both on this Subcommittee on Coast Guard and 
Maritime Transportation as well as on the House Armed Services 
Committee. It gives me an opportunity to work with my 
colleagues in Congress to make sure that all of our services 
have the resources they need so that our servicemembers can do 
their job, do it well, do it successfully, and return home 
safely to their families.
    So, I want to thank the chairman for holding this hearing.
    And sort of following up a little bit on one of the 
questions asked by the ranking member, last year I did secure 
in the NDAA the requirement that the GAO study and report on 
the Coast Guard defense readiness resource allocation, and the 
GAO released the report last month. The report addressed, among 
other things, the DoD's reimbursement to the Coast Guard for 
specific activities related to the defense readiness mission.
    While I support the Coast Guard's defense readiness 
mission, I do have concerns that the Coast Guard is being asked 
to support the DoD in ways that are outside of the scope and/or 
that are just simply stretching the already thin resources 
available to the Coast Guard.
    Admiral, the GAO found that, between fiscal years 2011 and 
2020, the DoD reimbursed the Coast Guard a little under $850 
million. The report also showed that, during that same period, 
the Coast Guard appropriations for defense-related activities 
declined by 9 percent.
    The report also indicated that the Coast Guard's position 
on the reimbursement policy is that it is not intended to 
replace or cover the cost of the Coast Guard's commitments to 
DoD.
    So, in your view, how does the reimbursement policy enable 
the Coast Guard to carry out its defense-related--or, I should 
say, defense readiness mission? And can you explain where the 
line is drawn between what is considered a reimbursable action 
and what is the Coast Guard fulfilling its statutory defense 
readiness mission?
    Admiral Buschman. Sir, so, as I mentioned earlier, defense 
readiness is 1 of our 11 missions, so there is an appropriate 
level of defense that should get funded within our Coast Guard, 
within our DHS budget.
    There are a number of different things where we do get 
money either from DoD or scored against DoD or scored against 
Function 050 money--that is both the Function 050 money that is 
in there as the overseas contingency operations that fund a 
whole bunch of things, including, like, we deploy a port 
security unit to support foreign defense----
    Mr. Brown. Admiral, if you could just--I mean, where do you 
draw--what is the difference between a reimbursable action and 
the Coast Guard fulfilling its statutory defense readiness 
mission? Just, if you can give me an example or two.
    Admiral Buschman. Yes, I will give you an example of a 
direct or a reimbursement, I would say, payment from Department 
of Defense.
    We have two Maritime Force Protection Units--one in Bangor, 
Washington, one in Kings Bay, Georgia. Their sole mission is to 
protect Navy's nuclear submarines when they transit in and out. 
That is what they are there for. Because of our authorities, 
DoD asks us to be there. And that is an example of where that 
mission is 100 percent funded by DoD, so we pay zero. They pay 
for the cost of the ships----
    Mr. Brown. That is a good example. Yes. And I appreciate 
that.
    Let me ask you this. The Coast Guard commitment to DoD's 
Indo-Pacific Command increased in fiscal year 2019 and 2020. 
And I am going to assume that it will continue on the rise, as 
we focus more on the Indo-Pacific.
    With a declining defense readiness appropriation and 
increasing activities in INDOPACOM--which I recognize isn't 
even the largest dedication of Coast Guard resources. I think 
more of it goes to SOUTHCOM. But are you concerned that your 
defense readiness budget is not going to keep pace with the 
increasing demand by the DoD on the Coast Guard, particularly 
in the Indo-Pacific?
    Admiral Buschman. Congressman, I think what our Commandant 
talks about is having a ready Coast Guard to do what the Nation 
needs it to do. And that includes restoring our readiness and 
then having the 3- to 5-percent annual budget growth in our 
operations budget.
    The budget that is currently before Congress is the first 
time we have seen some operations budget growth. That is about 
6 percent. That is the type of activity that gets you a ready 
Coast Guard to really do what the Nation needs it to do. And 
that is what I really think we are focused in on, is restoring 
our readiness and having a sustained path of the correct budget 
growth.
    As it relates to INDOPACOM, I talked about the demand for 
Coast Guard services has never been greater, and certainly 
INDOPACOM is an example of that. That is an example of an area 
where we are seeing an increasing demand signal for Coast Guard 
services.
    We have recently invested over there. We put three of our 
new Fast Response Cutters over in Guam. We are already doing 
extraordinary work in the Pacific there. There are our major 
cutters that we have deployed. Most recently, one of our 
National Security Cutters deployed and worked with the 
Indonesian Maritime Security Agency, worked with Japan, Taiwan, 
and Indonesia, and also in support of the combatant commander, 
and, also, some our training teams to help build capacity.
    And there are really a number reasons for this, and it has 
do with the Coast Guard's role. And our Commandant signed out 
last year, along with the Chief of Naval Operations and the 
Commandant of the Marine Corps, a tri-service maritime strategy 
to talk about how these three services work together and the 
value they provide the Nation. And that strategy talks about 
the Coast Guard's mission profile and how that makes us really 
a preferred partner of choice for so many different nations 
subject to coercion, some type of coercion here.
    So, I think there is certainly an increasing demand signal 
in the INDOPACOM and other places, and we are really focused on 
restoring readiness and maintaining that readiness so that the 
Coast Guard is able to do what the Nation asks it to do.
    Mr. Brown. Thank you, Admiral.
    And, Mr. Chairman, in yielding back, I will just say that 
while we are looking at a fairly substantial increase in DoD 
spending for components other than the Coast Guard, I would 
hope that we can find ways to boost the spending for the Coast 
Guard.
    You have a maintenance backlog, an increase in demand 
signals. You are doing fantastic work, you and your team at the 
Coast Guard. We have to make sure you have the resources you 
need to perform that mission and to come home safely to your 
families and the country.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Mr. Brown.
    We will now move on to Mr. Lowenthal. I know he was on 
earlier. I don't know if he is still on.
    [Pause.]
    Mr. Carbajal. Maybe he had to leave.
    All right. With that, we will proceed to do another round 
of additional questions. I will now recognize each Member who 
wishes to speak for 5 minutes, and I will start with myself.
    Admiral, the Coast Guard's fiscal year 2022 budget 
requested about 1,200 new operations and sustainment positions. 
What analysis has the Coast Guard conducted to support its 
request for these additional personnel?
    Admiral Buschman. Chairman, thank you for the question.
    Thanks to the support of the administration and Congress, 
we are in the midst of our largest recapitalization of our 
fleet since World War II. So, many of those positions, as we 
are bringing the new assets online, they are really to operate 
those new assets, those great ships we are going to be getting 
here through this great recapitalization effort.
    I would say there are some other things in there as well. 
We talked about some of the marine safety concerns with the 
committee here and how we are trying to address those and 
requesting some more marine inspectors, some other folks that 
work in the marine safety field. And we are also increasing our 
cyber capability as we see continued cyber threats.
    So, there are a number of different things that constitute 
those 1,200 people, sir.
    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you.
    Moving on, effective risk management and asset allocation 
requires access to informative data. However, the GAO has 
identified serious limitations to the MISLE system, a key data 
system for multiple Coast Guard missions.
    What is the status of the Coast Guard's effort to replace 
those systems, and why have you not acted sooner?
    Admiral Buschman. Mr. Chairman, MISLE is a repository of 
information we do for many of our cases, whether in 
inspections, law enforcement, search and rescue.
    We are looking at what the MISLE needs to be of the future. 
It is a system that we really are starting to get after, 
looking at what the MISLE looks like of the future.
    We are also looking at taking pieces of MISLE and breaking 
it down in applications so they can use it in a mobile fashion. 
So, the folks in the field, they are out there boarding a 
vessel; maybe it is a commercial vessel. And, right now, they 
have to drive back to their office--it may be several hours--to 
enter data in a computer. We are trying to give mobile apps to 
folks so they can be much more efficient.
    So those are the kind of things we are looking at. I think 
you asked, why were you not getting at this earlier? We talked 
about the importance to restore Coast Guard readiness and 
sustained budget growth. This is one of those things that 
really falls in that category, to having the resources to be 
able to fund these really, really important things for us to do 
our jobs, these job enablers.
    So, thanks for the question, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Carbajal. Admiral, earlier, you mentioned 
sequestration. Could you provide more details on how this is 
impacting the Service? And could you detail if this impacts 
strategic planning long term? And you touched on the 
shortcomings of that effort regarding the MISLE program, but 
what else could you touch on?
    Admiral Buschman. I think it really gets down, sir, to our 
readiness concerns. Sequestration had an impact on things we 
weren't able to fund, things we had to scale back a little bit, 
whether it is maintenance, whether it is training shortfalls 
and those types of things.
    And that is what we are really trying to get after now. And 
we really can't thank the committee enough, your support, Mr. 
Chairman, for really addressing Coast Guard readiness concerns, 
the various things we talked about. And that is how we are 
really trying to get after them.
    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Admiral.
    Next, I will proceed to Ranking Member Gibbs.
    Mr. Gibbs. Thank you, Chairman Carbajal.
    Admiral, in your testimony, you discussed the polar 
operations at length and the Coast Guard's vessels to conduct 
missions in the Arctic and Antarctica. And you mentioned the 
resources to uphold sovereign rights and advance our security 
interests, promote environmental stewardship, and support 
economic prosperity in the Arctic.
    And we have our two major vessels, the Healy and the Polar 
Star. Would you say they provide the most visible 
representation of U.S. sovereignty in the Arctic Ocean and 
waters surrounding Antarctica? That is, I guess, a simple 
``yes'' or----
    Admiral Buschman. Ranking Member Gibbs, that is an absolute 
``yes.''
    Mr. Gibbs. OK.
    And, also, in your testimony, you state that the Service 
remains committed to providing year-round surface coverage in 
the Bering Sea. The Seattle Times reported that there was a 12-
week deployment this year of the Polar Star, and that it was 
the first winter deployment of any U.S. Coast Guard vessel 
since 1982. That is, like, 40 years ago.
    Was the Seattle Times incorrect in its reporting? When is 
the next winter deployment in the Bering Sea of a U.S. Coast 
Guard surface vessel?
    Admiral Buschman. Ranking Member Gibbs, so, as it relates 
to Alaska, it is certainly a unique operating environment--huge 
territory, tyranny of weather as well.
    We have a major cutter in the Bering Sea at all times, a 
minimum of 1.0 presence in the Bering Sea. That is the 
commitment we have made there. In addition to that, our Coast 
Guard cutter Healy you just talked about operates up there part 
of the year, sometimes doing science in support of science 
missions.
    This year, the Polar Security Cutter normally would deploy 
down to Antarctica to support the breakout of the McMurdo 
Research Station there and do some other things. It was unable 
to do so due to COVID, due to concerns of the unique 
environment down there, introducing COVID. We had the great 
opportunity to deploy it for the first time in many years up to 
the north, the furthest north I think it had ever been in many, 
many years--went up to 72 degrees north--in the wintertime.
    But we always have at least a major cutter presence in the 
Bering Sea as well.
    Mr. Gibbs. OK. So, Seattle Times was incorrect in their 
reporting, then?
    Admiral Buschman. Sir, I am not familiar with that 
reporting, but I can certainly look into that article and get 
back to you, sir.
    Mr. Gibbs. OK. Thank you.
    Also, we talked about domestic icebreaking policy 
prioritizing maritime deliveries of food and fuel over 
industrial supplies. While that prioritization of tier 1 
waterway commerce might be appropriate in the Northeastern 
States, in the Great Lakes, the vast majority of food and fuel 
is delivered by land transportation, not vessels. Instead, the 
Great Lakes steel manufacturing industry depends on adequate 
winter icebreaking to facilitate delivery of raw materials, and 
this icebreaking is needed in more areas than just the four 
Great Lakes connecting channels that the Coast Guard considers 
tier 1.
    In light of the creation of an office to look at 
construction of a new Great Lakes icebreaker, will you revisit 
the Coast Guard's domestic icebreaking policy with respect to 
the Great Lakes so that it more appropriately considers the 
maritime commerce needs of this important area?
    Admiral Buschman. Ranking Member Gibbs, so let me just talk 
about domestic icebreaking.
    We have a number of domestic icebreakers, most of them 140 
feet. They are on the Great Lakes. A few of them are in the 
Northeast. And we have some smaller 65-foot cutters.
    We are very much focused in on that mission and keeping the 
shipping lanes open in the winter. One of the good news is, our 
140-foot icebreakers just went through a service-life extension 
program, and so they are going to be more cruising-reliable. 
They won't be out of service, going through an extended dry 
dock. There are more of them there. We shifted an additional 
one in the Great Lakes to keep commerce moving.
    So, we are very much focused in on that, as well as our 
existing cutter Mackinaw.
    And then I think you asked about some of the measures of 
that. We certainly have measures, our performance measures, 
keeping 95 percent of the major waterways up there open year-
round.
    And I hope that answers your question, Ranking Member 
Gibbs.
    Mr. Gibbs. Yeah, I do appreciate that. Because I just want 
to make sure the Coast Guard realizes how they prioritize stuff 
for the economic commerce is very important. It is more than 
just fuel and food. And so, thank you very much.
    I yield back.
    Admiral Buschman. Yes, sir, absolutely.
    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Mr. Gibbs.
    Representative Steel, I know you are online. I don't know 
if you have additional questions.
    [Pause.]
    Mr. Carbajal. Not hearing any, I will move forward to close 
our hearing.
    This concludes our hearing for today.
    I would like to thank the witness for your testimony.
    I ask unanimous consent that the record of today's hearing 
remain open until such time as our witness has provided answers 
to any questions that may be submitted to him in writing.
    I also ask unanimous consent that the record remain open 
for 15 days for additional comments and information submitted 
by Members or the witness to be included in the record of 
today's hearing.
    Without objection, so ordered.
    The subcommittee stands adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 11:17 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]



                       Submissions for the Record

                              ----------                              

   Prepared Statement of Hon. Peter A. DeFazio, a Representative in 
      Congress from the State of Oregon, and Chair, Committee on 
                   Transportation and Infrastructure
    Thank you, Chairman Carbajal for calling this important hearing. 
The Coast Guard is a vital service with increasing demands that test 
the Service's ability to execute each of its missions. In recent years 
we've seen an increased risk to recreational and commercial boating, a 
rise in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, an increased 
Coast Guard presence in international missions, deteriorating 
infrastructure and aging assets. Without proper resources, the Coast 
Guard can only do so much.
    The Coast Guard is a service that operates on a budget that pales 
in comparison to the other uniformed services. It is imperative that 
its core missions are not neglected, and Congress must ensure that the 
Coast Guard is receiving the resources needed to support state of the 
art technology, necessary acquisitions, and, most importantly, a 
thriving workforce.
    Today, the Coast Guard executes eleven missions. These are: port 
and waterway security, drug interdiction, aids to navigation, search 
and rescue, living marine resources, marine safety, defense readiness, 
migrant interdiction, marine environmental protection, ice operations 
and law enforcement. However, I cannot imagine how this agency is 
supposed to execute these responsibilities with a $13 billion budget. 
By comparison, the Navy spends around $160 billion per year.
    While the Coast Guard is in the midst of the largest 
recapitalization in its history, service members continue to operate an 
aging fleet of aircrafts and vessels, and are forced to live, work, and 
send their children to deteriorating facilities for childcare.
    With natural disasters increasing tenfold over the past decade and 
sea-level rise beckoning at their piers, the Service has been forced to 
surge personnel and acquisitions from across the country to respond. 
Understanding these operations is paramount to understanding the 
constraints within the Coast Guard's budget, and I look forward to 
hearing from the Vice Admiral on how the agency strives to achieve 
mission balance through the context of funding, resource hours, and 
strategic planning.
    The Service's greatest asset is its workforce--the men and women 
who choose to serve this country. I am keenly aware that the agency is 
currently operating below its workforce needs, and this has impacted 
its ability to meet mission demands. Even though the Coast Guard is the 
smallest military service, it lacks a comprehensive understanding of 
its manpower needs. According to a 2020 GAO report, the Coast Guard had 
completed Manpower Requirements Determinations--its preferred workforce 
assessment method--for only 6 percent of its workforce. Without full 
consideration for workforce needs, I fear the service cannot 
appropriately assign its resources to complete its missions.
    Over the past decade we have seen the Coast Guard allocate its 
largest percentage of resource hours and funding on drug interdiction 
missions. Further, 51.5 percent of resources are dedicated to homeland 
security missions. While those missions are certainly important, the 
service must not lose sight of its non-homeland security missions, 
including marine safety and marine environmental protection. Although, 
these missions aren't the exciting ones we see on the news, they're 
vital to safety at sea as well as our national and economic security 
interests.
    As the nation's primary maritime response and law enforcement 
entity, I am committed to working hard to ensure that the Coast Guard 
is equipped to surge assets and personnel to respond to hurricanes, 
international emergencies, mandatory ice-breaking operations, and oil 
spills.
    This past month alone, we've seen the essential service the Coast 
Guard gives our country as the California oil spill continues to ravage 
our marine wildlife, physical environments, and maritime economy. I 
will continue to work to ensure that the Coast Guard is fully funded 
and that the workforce who keep the service operating is not neglected.
    I thank Vice Admiral Buschman for appearing today and I look 
forward to his testimony.

                                 
  Prepared Statement of Hon. Sam Graves, a Representative in Congress 
     from the State of Missouri, and Ranking Member, Committee on 
                   Transportation and Infrastructure
    Thank you, Chair Carbajal, and thanks to our witness for being here 
today.
    The Coast Guard conducts many missions, even as the national 
spotlight on different Coast Guard issues fluctuates at different 
times.
    After 9/11, a great deal of attention was paid to maritime 
security, and there was significant growth in the Coast Guard's ports, 
waterways, and coastal security program.
    This Committee tracked that growth closely and attempted to ensure 
that increased maritime security didn't mean decreased maritime safety.
    There was a recent incident off the coast of Southern California 
where we witnessed the importance the Coast Guard's role not only in 
ensuring maritime safety on the front end but also in responding to 
emergency situations.
    In addition, the United States is more active in the Pacific due to 
concerns about China and it appears the Coast Guard is poised to take a 
more active role in national defense and international relations 
activities.
    I look forward to hearing from Vice Admiral Buschman today about 
how the Coast Guard plans to ensure that it can carry out its many 
functions in the future.
    I particularly look forward to hearing how the Coast Guard intends 
to carry out its missions related to keeping maritime commerce 
operating smoothly. This is an extremely pertinent and serious issue 
given the current supply chain crisis which this Administration has 
only made worse.
    Thank you, Chair Carbajal. I yield back.



                                Appendix

                              ----------                              


    Questions from Hon. Alan S. Lowenthal to Vice Admiral Scott A. 
      Buschman, Deputy Commandant for Operations, U.S. Coast Guard

    Question 1. For hundreds of years, maritime pilots have relied on 
buoys as aids to navigation (AToNs) while at sea. Buoys and AToNs sit 
in key navigational points where they can provide maritime pilots with 
critical data, such as geolocation, wind speed and direction, and 
current speed and direction. However, buoys and AToNs in the United 
States lack ``smart'' technology to provide maritime pilots with 
intelligent sensor data and aid in the recovery of these assets after 
storms, speeding the reopening of ports and better utilizing U.S. Coast 
Guard assets.
    a.  What is the U.S. Coast Guard's plan to pilot connected 
technology on buoys and AToNs?
    Answer. In September 2021, the Coast Guard contracted with SailPlan 
Inc. to integrate ``Smart Buoy'' technologies on two buoys in 
Chesapeake Bay for one year. The Coast Guard expects to deploy the 
equipment early in calendar year 2022. Working in cooperation with the 
Maryland Pilots Association, the Coast Guard will evaluate the 
effectiveness of providing real-time environmental data including wind, 
current, and wave height to area pilots. Furthermore, the Coast Guard 
will also have access to buoy ``health'' data, including power 
consumption and location information.

    b.  What is the Coast Guard's long-term plan to transition the 
buoys and AToNs in U.S. waters to smart technology?
    Answer. It is unlikely that this technology can be applied to all 
of the 45,000 aids that make up the entire ATON constellation in the 
U.S. due to harsh conditions endured by aids and their frequent loss 
caused by allisions and natural disasters; however, the Coast Guard 
will use the Chesapeake study to inform further internal discussion on 
the application of this technology on a larger scale.

 Questions from Hon. Michelle Steel to Vice Admiral Scott A. Buschman, 
           Deputy Commandant for Operations, U.S. Coast Guard

    Question 1. Why haven't the Coast Guard and the Marine Exchange of 
Southern California updated Anchorage Management Guidelines since 
triple the number of vessels have anchored in South Foxtrot off the 
coast of California's 48th Congressional District since January, 2021?
    Answer. The Coast Guard works closely with Federal, State, and Port 
partners, including the Marine Exchange, on the Ports of Los Angeles-
Long Beach (LA/LB) Harbor Safety Committee (HSC). The HSC periodically 
reviews and updates the Ports of LA/LB Harbor Safety Plan (HSP) as 
necessary to improve safety of navigation in the Ports of LA/LB. The 
HSC most recently updated the Anchorage Chapter of the HSP in February 
2021. Furthermore, following the Pipeline P00547 Incident in October 
2021, the Coast Guard permanently discontinued the use of three South 
Foxtrot anchorage circles, and is working to codify that change in 
policy.

    Question 2. The Marine Exchange Vessel Traffic Service of Los 
Angeles-Long Beach is supposed to make the San Pedro Bay ports safer, 
cleaner, and more efficient. Unfortunately, the overflow of vessels in 
anchorage areas off the coast of California's 48th Congressional 
District is threatening the safety, environment surrounding, and 
efficiency of those ports. Will the Coast Guard commit to working with 
the Marine Exchange to update the VTS and Anchorage Guidelines 
applicable to the San Pedro Bay ports to assure the goals of safer, 
cleaner, more efficient ports are met?
    Answer. Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach works daily with 
the Marine Exchange of Southern California and other Federal, State, 
and Port partners to ensure the safety of vessels navigating, 
anchoring, and transiting in and out of the Ports of Los Angeles-Long 
Beach. The ongoing investigation into the Pipeline P00547 incident will 
help to inform any changes necessary to local VTS and Anchorage 
Guidelines to make the Port of Los Angeles-Long Beach safer and more 
efficient.