[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 118 (Tuesday, September 20, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1899]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 889, COAST GUARD AND MARITIME 
                       TRANSPORTATION ACT OF 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                    HON. JUANITA MILLENDER-McDONALD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 20, 2005

  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Chairman, as a Member on the Coast Guard 
Subcommittee, I want to thank you and Ranking Member Filner for your 
continued leadership in bringing this bill to the House floor today.
  Year after year a select group of Members come to the Floor and sing 
the praises of the Coast Guard on how this agency continues to do more 
with less.
  Recently, our Nation has witnessed what we have been addressing each 
year.
  This month we witnessed just how vital the Coast Guard is to the 
safety and security of our country.
  The Coast Guard was the only Federal agency that responded in the 
Gulf Coast States in a timely and efficient manner.
  Here are the Search and Rescue numbers for the Coast Guard in 
response to Katrina: 24,132 lives saved to date; 33,537 lives saved or 
evacuated to date; 12,534 Cumulative lives saved by air resources; 
11,598 Cumulative lives saved by surface resources; 9,405 Cumulated 
hospital evacuations.
  Where would we be without the Coast Guard during the devastation of 
Hurricane Katrina?
  As we speak here today--the Coast Guard continues to save lives. We 
must support them! We need more agencies like the Coast Guard.
  The Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2005 authorizes 
$8.7 billion for the Coast Guard and authorizes $1.6 billion for the 
Coast Guard's Deepwater program to replace aging ships and aircraft, 
and requires a new implementation plan.
  This bill before us today is important--now more than ever. It is our 
obligation to provide the Coast Guard with the tools to heighten their 
service.
  I will argue that we need to go further as a Congress and increase 
the appropriated funding for the Deepwater program. I hope that with 
the Coast Guard's strong showing in the gulf States during Katrina 
validates why the appropriations committee and the Administration 
should make a greater commitment to the Coast Guard and the Deepwater 
program this year by increasing funding for the program.
  Finally, I want to take this opportunity to reiterate a request for a 
joint port security hearing with the Coast Guard subcommittee and the 
Full Homeland Security Committee.
  In the aftermath of Katrina, we are reminded just how much work needs 
to be done in coordinating with Federal and local agencies and 
emergency responders.
  Our approach to port security is no different. The Coast Guard is 
responsible for securing the 95,000 coast lines that includes Great 
Lakes and inland waterways. This is our longest border. Given the 
miscommunication surrounding FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security 
and local and State emergency responders, a joint port security hearing 
is an excellent opportunity to make sure we are all on the same page--
if there were to be a catastrophe at one of our ports--terrorist or 
natural--we will be able to respond and save lives.
  In closing, I urge my colleagues to vote for this important bill that 
provides for the Coast Guard to continue to do its extraordinary job.
  Mr. Chairman, I look forward to continuing to work with you on these 
and other vital issues that face our country.

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