[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 106 (Thursday, July 26, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8273-S8274]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ORDERS FOR FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2001
Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the
Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until the hour of 10
a.m. on Friday, July 27. I further ask that on Friday, immediately
following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be
approved to date and the morning hour be deemed to have expired, the
time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day,
and the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 2299, the Transportation
appropriations bill, and that the time remaining under cloture be
counted as if the Senate had remained in session continuously since
cloture was invoked earlier this afternoon.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. GRAMM. Reserving the right to object. Posing a question to the
Chair, the time that is being used this evening will not count against
any individual Senator's time; is that right?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.
Mr. GRAMM. I have no objection.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. REID. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. REID. Madam President, the majority leader has asked that I
announce that there will be no more rollcall votes tonight, but there
are expected to be several tomorrow starting in the morning.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, today I rise to support an amendment to
increase the Coast Guard's funding by $46.1 million. Unfortunately,
under the funding levels in the pending bill, the Coast Guard would be
forced to reduce routine operations by 20 percent. The increase
provided by our amendment will address the Coast Guard's current
readiness needs and raise the Coast Guard's law enforcement
capabilities to the levels enacted in the budget resolution.
The past two national defense authorization bills mandated pay
raises, new medical benefits, recruiting and retention incentives, and
other entitlements that exceeded the funds appropriated during the
consideration of the regular Transportation appropriations bills.
Compounding this, the Coast Guard has had to face rising energy costs,
aging assets, and missions that grow increasingly complex. To pay for
these increases the Coast Guard has had to dip into its operational
accounts resulting in reduced law enforcement patrols.
Without the funding authorized in this amendment, the Coast Guard
will again be forced to reduce its level of operations. These routine
operations are extremely important. As you know, the Coast Guard is a
branch of the Armed Forces, but on a day-to-day basis, they are a
multi-mission agency. Last year alone, the Coast Guard responded to
over 40,000 calls for assistance, assisted $1.4 billion in property,
and saved 3,355 lives.
These brave men and women risk their lives to defend our borders from
drugs, illegal immigrants, and other national security threats. And in
2000, the Coast Guard seized a record 132,000 pounds of cocaine and
50,000 pounds of marijuana through successful drug interdiction
missions. They also stopped 4,210 illegal migrants from reaching our
shores. They conducted patrols to protect our valuable fisheries stocks
and they responded to more than 11,000 pollution incidents.
On April 6 Senior DeWine, myself, and 10 of the colleagues offered an
amendment to the budget resolution which was adopted by the Senate that
addressed this very issue. That amendment increased funding for the
Coast Guard by $250 million.
The amendment that we are offering today, will go a long way toward
repairing the fundamental problems facing the Coast Guard. It will
increase funding by $46.1 million in fiscal year 2002 so that the Coast
Guard will not need to reduce its routine operations.
Now, during the drafting of the fiscal year 2002 Transportation
appropriations bill, Senators Murray and Shelby had a daunting task in
crafting a bill that would cover a wide range of priorities within the
allocations provided to their subcommittee. Fortunately, they both
recognize the importance of the Coast Guard to their home States and
the Nation and their bill provides a significant increase above the
President's budget request accordingly. However, based upon the Coast
Guard's estimates, this increase will not eliminate the need for
operational cutbacks.
The $46.1 million increase we are asking for in this amendment is
well below the $250 million the Senate agreed to in April, but the
Coast Guard has assured us that they have taken a careful look at the
funding allocations provided in this bill and that this small increase
is all that is needed to restore the Coast Guard's operations and
readiness. This will allow the Coast Guard to address an alarming spare
parts shortage, maintain operations, and take care of other basic
readiness problems.
By supporting this amendment, my colleagues will be saying that it is
unacceptable to reduce these critical law enforcement missions and
supplying the Coast Guard with the resources and tools they need to
fulfill the mandates Congress has given them. It provides the Coast
Guard with the foundation needed to do its job.
This is a bipartisan amendment, and I thank Senators Graham and
DeWine for their efforts on behalf of the Coast
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Guard. This is noncontroversial amendment, and I urge my colleagues to
support it.
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