[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 21, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10304-S10307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 246--TO EXPRESS THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE 
MISSIONS AND PERFORMANCE OF THE UNITED STATES COAST GUARD IN RESPONDING 
                          TO HURRICANE KATRINA

  Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Ms. Cantwell, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Inouye, Mr. 
Stevens, Mr. Martinez, Mr. Lott, and Ms. Murkowski) submitted the 
following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 246

       Whereas the United States Coast Guard has been charged by 
     Congress with missions central to protecting the lives and 
     well-being of individuals and communities in the United 
     States, including protecting homeland security, conducting 
     search and rescue of lives in danger, protecting marine 
     environments from pollution, maintaining maritime safety and 
     aids to navigation, enforcing Federal fishing laws, and 
     intercepting illegal drugs and migrants before they reach our 
     shores;
       Whereas the Coast Guard anticipated the potential for 
     significant loss of life and property as Hurricane Katrina 
     approached Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and made 
     landfall on August 29, 2005 and, in advance of the storm, 
     relocated its personnel, vessels, and aircraft out of harm's 
     way;
       Whereas Hurricane Katrina made landfall as a Category 4 
     hurricane with winds reaching 175 miles per hour and massive 
     storm surges, the combination of which left a trail of 
     devastation unprecedented on United States soil, as it 
     leveled countless homes, businesses, and other structures, 
     displaced millions of people from their communities, and 
     otherwise made coastal urban and rural areas unliveable;
       Whereas the Coast Guard immediately deployed nearly 1,000 
     personnel, including captains, crew, pilots, rescue swimmers, 
     pollution response teams, and other specialists and 
     reservists, from stations all over the country, to coastal 
     areas affected by the hurricane, for a total regional force 
     size of approximately 3,619 personnel;
       Whereas Coast Guard personnel who had never personally 
     worked together before began to work as teams to conduct and 
     coordinate search and rescue operations while Hurricane 
     Katrina continued to bear down on the central Gulf of Mexico 
     shoreline;
       Whereas the Coast Guard rescued or evacuated 33,544 
     individuals as of September 21, 2005, a number that 
     represents eight times the number of lives saved by the Coast 
     Guard in an average year;
       Whereas three Coast Guard pollution response Strike Teams 
     responded to 1,129 pollution incidents as of September 20, 
     2005, which include total discharges of more than 7 million 
     gallons of oil, unknown amounts of sewage, and unknown 
     quantities of other toxic chemicals, and the Coast Guard has 
     contained or otherwise closed 426 of these cases;
       Whereas Coast Guard buoy tenders have responded to 964 
     discrepancies in buoys and other aids to navigation and have 
     restored 39 of 48 critical aids to navigation as of September 
     21, 2005;
       Whereas the costs of responding to Hurricane Katrina have 
     depleted the Coast Guard's operations and maintenance budget 
     for fiscal year 2005 and are rapidly depleting its budget for 
     fiscal year 2006, and the Coast Guard's costs associated with 
     this hurricane are anticipated to exceed $500 million;
       Whereas the Coast Guard performed its hurricane response 
     missions largely with outdated legacy assets, increasing the 
     wear and tear on these assets while foregoing regularly 
     scheduled maintenance activities in the interest of 
     sustaining its surge in life-saving operations;
       Whereas the Coast Guard already conducts its missions with 
     the 40th oldest fleet of the 42 nations with Coast Guard or 
     naval fleets;
       Whereas the Coast Guard's program, known as Deepwater, for 
     modernizing its fleet of vessels and aircraft, is vital for 
     increasing the capabilities in performing its missions in the 
     face of ever-increasing natural and human threats;
       Whereas the Deepwater program requires sustained Federal 
     funding commitments in order for the citizens of the United 
     States to realize the benefits of the Coast Guard having 
     state-of-the-art vessels, aircraft, technologies, and 
     interoperable communication equipment;
       Whereas in addition to covering operation and maintenance 
     costs of a rapidly aging fleet, the Coast Guard needs to 
     rebuild several Coast Guard facilities in Louisiana, 
     Mississippi, and Alabama, including Station Gulfport which 
     was completely destroyed and where personnel are now working 
     in trailers amidst the ruins of that station;
       Whereas the Coast Guard needs a strong Federal funding 
     commitment to ensure that all of its unexpected expenditures 
     during its response to Katrina are reimbursed;
       Whereas more than 700 Coast Guard personnel stationed in 
     the Gulf region lost their homes and all personal property 
     and are now living on overcrowded Coast Guard vessels and in 
     makeshift shelters;
       Whereas before, during, and after the landfall of Hurricane 
     Katrina, Coast Guard personnel exhibited determination and a 
     full commitment to their missions, and the Coast Guard has 
     proven to be one of the most resourceful and capable services 
     in the United States government;
       Whereas before, during, and after the landfall of Hurricane 
     Katrina, Coast Guard personnel performed their missions with 
     the highest level of bravery and self-sacrifice, and their 
     effectiveness in performing their missions is unparalleled in 
     the United States government;
       Whereas the Coast Guard has an operational and command 
     structure that allowed it to quickly take a leadership role 
     in saving lives, without waiting for instruction or 
     permission to act;
       Whereas the Coast Guard's operational and command structure 
     continues to serve as a model for other agencies that need to 
     respond quickly to large-scale natural and man-made 
     disasters;
       Whereas the Coast Guard's effective leadership in 
     responding to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and the 
     appointment of Vice Admiral Thad Allen as the primary Federal 
     officer in charge of this response, is helping to restore the 
     public's confidence in the Federal response effort: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, by the Senate  That it is the sense of the Senate 
     that--
       (1) the United States Coast Guard should receive Congress's 
     highest commendation for its tremendous and highly effective 
     response to the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina;
       (2) the United States Congress should commit to providing 
     the Coast Guard with the resources it needs to modernize and 
     maintain its fleet of vessels and aircraft; and
       (3) the Administration should ensure that the Coast Guard 
     receives sufficient funding to cover its unexpected 
     operational and capital costs associated with Hurricane 
     Katrina.
  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today to commend and praise the 
extraordinary response of the U.S. Coast Guard to Hurricane Katrina, to 
demonstrate why that response exemplifies the imperative of providing 
that service with the modern assets required to carry out these 
lifesaving missions, and to submit a resolution recognizing the awe-
inspiring efforts of the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard.
  I just visited the gulf coast region on Monday with the Commandant of 
the Coast Guard, Tom Collins, and we were guided by Eighth District 
Commander ADM Robert Duncan. What I saw and heard on that day is a 
story of heroism and a relentless can-do attitude that is nothing short 
of miraculous. The human spirit I witnessed was truly transcendental 
and a level I had never before experienced.
  As we well know, Hurricane Katrina was the worst natural disaster 
ever to visit itself upon the United States, with an almost 
unimaginable magnitude of devastation and loss. The scale of the 
destruction has been most horrifically reflected in the faces of those 
we have seen over the past week, faces etched with an indelible and 
almost unimaginable sorrow, suffering, and burden. Their images have 
reverberated throughout a country in solidarity with their terrible 
plight. In Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama lives have been forever 
transformed along with the landscape, as we have witnessed untold 
scenes of homes that no longer exist, floods that ravaged entire 
neighborhoods and cities, fires that consumed what remains of 
buildings, and men, women, and children missing loved ones. We have 
also seen and heard the stories of those individuals who have rushed to 
the aid of our fellow man, demonstrating that no human or natural act 
can deprive us of our unyielding and singularly determined spirit. 
While the hurricane winds and rain have long since dissipated--and now 
we have anticipation of Hurricane Rita--we all have the collective 
concern and strength of this Nation that continues unabated, unbroken, 
undaunted, and unflagging.
  We must now bring to bear all of our collective will and resources 
over what will undoubtedly be a long but ultimately victorious process 
of reclaiming the gulf coast towns and cities for the future. I extend 
my thoughts and prayers to my colleagues, Senators Cochran, Lott, 
Sessions, Shelby, Landrieu, and Vitter, as they work to guide their 
constituents and their families through these most difficult of times. 
I will certainly do everything I can to assist them and the citizens of 
their States.
  Today, as chair of the Fisheries and Coast Guard Subcommittee, I 
believe it is entirely appropriate to focus the Nation's attention on 
the performance of the U.S. Coast Guard in response to Hurricane 
Katrina, as I believe it is an

[[Page S10305]]

exemplary model for future responses. As I do so, I also thank all of 
our military Active-Duty and Reserve for their heroic service in the 
gulf shore region. Their performance under these conditions has been 
outstanding and unprecedented on American soil.
  As a result of the U.S. Coast Guard's unparalleled performance and 
operations responding to the unfathomable destruction along the Gulf of 
Mexico, the plans for which were put into motion even before the storm 
subsided, thousands of children, senior citizens, and entire families 
are sleeping safely tonight. Indeed, the heart-wrenching stories I 
heard during my visit to the Coast Guard--of crews rescuing families 
trapped in attics, of children separated from their parents, rescue 
swimmers tapping on roofs seeking signs of life in submerged houses--
will be forever etched in my own mind. People waving towels from 
windows signifying the need for help, pregnant women about to go into 
labor being hoisted into awaiting helicopters, rescue crews busting 
into windows and roofs because there was no means of escape for the 
occupants--the stories are real, seemingly endless, and all faced with 
an unrelenting sense of duty and humanity by the men and women of the 
Coast Guard.
  Indeed, over the past few weeks, as we see in this chart, we have 
witnessed time and time again from news sources and television stations 
the perilous helicopter rescues occurring each and every day. There is 
an outstanding example of one on this chart that shows exactly the kind 
of circumstance the Coast Guard has to perform in which to save life 
after life. Incredibly, the Coast Guard, as of September 20, has saved 
33,544 lives. That is the equivalent of the number of rescues performed 
by the Coast Guard in 8 to 10 years. They accomplished those rescue 
missions in just the past 2 weeks. The Coast Guard air station in New 
Orleans, which I visited on Monday, under the incredible leadership of 
CAPT Bruce Jones, has saved 6,471 lives, almost double the 3,689 lives 
the station had saved over its previous 50 years of operation.
  This chart shows the level of catastrophe to which the Coast Guard 
responded. I talked to a rescue swimmer who genuinely believed that if 
he had completed 15 rescues that day, it somehow wasn't enough. What is 
perhaps most remarkable is that the Coast Guard simply did not rescue 
these people and deliver them to a nearby field or highway overpass 
until they could get further help. Nor did they forget that other 
family members remained in peril, not yet rescued. Rather, the men and 
women of the Coast Guard took it upon themselves to ensure to the best 
of their ability that families would be kept intact and assisted those 
they rescued even after the rescue operation was complete. They 
actually returned to overpasses to follow up with those whom they had 
rescued. And if they still needed additional assistance or they hadn't 
been taken to where they should have been going with the medical rescue 
crews, they made that happen.

  They got them water if they needed it. If they required food, they 
brought them food. As ADM Robert Duncan, District Commander for the 
gulf region, so eloquently expressed:

       When the Coast Guard rescue teams touched a person, they 
     owned them.

  This meant the Coast Guard was making itself responsible for their 
continued well-being. I ask my colleagues, what could be a more 
touching or profound testament to the boundless will and compassion 
that the U.S. Coast Guard exhibited during this operation? The people 
of the Coast Guard have conducted themselves oblivious to the true 
level of their own personal sacrifice and seemingly without regard to 
the horrific conditions in which they serve. Seventy percent of them 
alone lost their houses; lost everything, that is, but their sense of 
duty to their fellow human beings in distress and despair.
  The fact is, the Coast Guard has been, is, and will always remain a 
vital component of America's national security and disaster response. 
Coast Guard personnel risk their lives each and every day protecting 
our Nation and saving lives, no more so than during this national 
tragedy. Leadership, as we all know, starts from the top. For the U.S. 
Coast Guard, that individual is ADM Tom Collins. Admiral Collins has 
been a solid steady force in ensuring the rapid and safe execution of 
rescue operations.
  In the midst of the storm and bureaucratic interagency chaos, the 
Coast Guard remained resolved, organized, focused, and responsive to 
those in desperate need.
  The bottom line is that the members of the Coast Guard did not wait 
to be told to conduct their mission. They knew their mission. They 
refused to let anything, including redtape, get in their way. When they 
needed fuel for helicopters, they found fuel. When they needed water 
for their crews or for those they rescued, they found water. They did 
not ask if an operation was actually a State responsibility or local 
responsibility or another Federal agency's responsibility. They made it 
their responsibility. They took ownership of the life-and-death tasks 
at hand. Again, the can-do attitude of the Coast Guard is what allowed 
them to shine.
  As Vice Admiral Allen, the principal Federal officer in charge of the 
relief operation, so simply stated:

       The Coast Guard has a bias for action.

  And from all I have seen, I could not agree more.
  Indeed, the results are a living testament to the service's 
efficiency and organization and the superlative leadership of Admiral 
Collins.
  The Coast Guard had the foresight and the wherewithal to pre-position 
its assets before the storm struck and to respond rapidly to its 
aftermath. Moreover, the Coast Guard's exceptional planning led to not 
a single loss of a Coast Guard plane or boat and enabled it to be on 
the scene immediately upon the passage of the storm. This planning 
expertise and management of assets should be the example for all 
Federal agencies to follow.
  The Coast Guard also sent to the area personnel from Coast Guard 
stations from around the country to help with the effort as part of its 
well-conceived plan. These personnel specialize in different fields and 
had never previously worked together yet got the job done as if they 
had been on the same team forever.
  I think of the 160 crew members attached to the Coast Guard cutter 
Harriet Lane, a 270-foot cutter I visited on Monday, docked in New 
Orleans, that normally berths just 100 crew members. Yet all of those 
aboard worked flawlessly together, overcoming obstacle after obstacle.
  In one instance, due to the cutter's inability to make water from 
oil-polluted river water, the crew set out to procure water from 
wherever possible. This mission led them to the discovery of water held 
in tanks controlled by the Forest Service on the pier. Unable to simply 
give them the water due to bureaucratic hurdles, the Coast Guard found 
a contractor who was able to pump water from their tanks into the 
cutter.
  This is a ridiculous hurdle that should never have existed in the 
first place. Yet, once again, the Coast Guard didn't waste time with 
bureaucratic paperwork; instead, they got the job done.
  The bottom line is, from what we have seen to date, I believe that 
the Coast Guard's Herculean efforts provides a model for the proper 
planning and execution of a mission to respond to a national emergency 
or crisis. And on that note, I was certainly pleased that Vice Admiral 
Allen was selected to coordinate the Federal response to Katrina. He 
will bring that Coast Guard sensibility to the entire operation.
  These astounding results, however, do not come without a cost. The 
Coast Guard has already used the funds allocated for search and rescue 
operations for the entire year and beyond. Furthermore, the extensive 
rate of use during the rescue mission is also degrading Coast Guard 
assets faster and delaying necessary maintenance.
  Supplemental funding, which the Coast Guard has not yet received, is 
essential to ensure that cutters, small boats, and aircraft can operate 
and continue its heroic service in the coming months.
  The Coast Guard has sustained damage to several small boat stations 
and air stations and to other facilities throughout the region. The 
Coast Guard station in Gulfport, MS, simply no longer exists.

[[Page S10306]]

  The Coast Guard is actively assisting Americans, and we in the 
Congress must return the favor and start helping the Coast Guard by 
providing them with crucial supplemental funding to cover the entirety 
of their operational requirements and to provide the necessary funding 
to replace its lost infrastructure.
  In that light, I have sent a letter to the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget encouraging him to include a funding line in the 
next supplemental appropriations bill for the Coast Guard. I thank my 
many colleagues who have joined me in support of this request.
  In addition, the Coast Guard is charged with maintaining all the aids 
to navigation within the region, including those of the Mississippi 
River. These aids were either totally lost or severely damaged.
  Again, it shows on this chart that Congress has also mandated the 
Coast Guard to respond to marine environmental pollution, which is now 
reaching untold levels of hazardous contamination throughout the 
Mississippi and Gulf of Mexico, and I think it is an indication of all 
the responses to the contamination of oil spills in the region to which 
the Coast Guard has had to respond. More than 7 million gallons of oil 
has polluted the water in New Orleans.

  The bottom line is, not only have the people of the Coast Guard been 
risking their own lives to save the 33,544 other individuals, but they 
have also responded to hazardous liquid spills in the region, conducted 
4,688 sorties, carried out 11,548 small boat and cutter sorties, 
repaired vital aids to navigation to facilitate the flow of commerce in 
the Mississippi, and have assisted in the replenishment of critical 
supplies to thousands of displaced persons.
  Yet, as capable and successful as the Coast Guard has been in 
carrying out all of its missions, including opening the ports and the 
waterways and drug interdiction--they are even doing that down there in 
combination with all of these other missions--this service was already 
stretched thin in the aftermath of 9/11. Unless Congress pledges to 
equip the service with modern equipment, we jeopardize the success of 
any future missions. The Coast Guard requires new cutters and aircraft 
now, and it can start this process only if Congress fully funds 
Deepwater, the service's recapitalization program for procuring new 
cutters, small boats, and aircraft.
  The Senate version of the Coast Guard bill authorizes a total of $8.2 
billion for the Coast Guard, $400 million over the administration's 
request. Within that request, Deepwater authorized $1.1 billion, $134 
million over the administration's request. We must ensure our numbers, 
the Senate numbers, which are the higher numbers, are maintained in 
conference of this legislation.
  By accomplishing this, it will allow for a targeted acceleration of 
required assets, those resources deemed most critical to the Coast 
Guard now.
  The current situation can only be categorized as dire. It is a 
national disgrace that this service that is integral to search and 
rescue operations, integral to our homeland security, as we saw in the 
aftermath of September 11 when they immediately secured New York 
Harbor, integral to our fishing industry, would be operating the 40th 
oldest fleet out of 42 in the world. Only the Philippines and Mexico 
have older fleets. Deepwater is designed to remedy this situation, but 
in 20 to 25 years, rather than as I have insisted and I have requested, 
that Deepwater needs to be completed in 10 to 15 years at the outset.
  If anyone questions the condition of the Coast Guard assets, I 
suggest they go out and sail on an aging cutter, go fly on an aging 
airframe, and you will witness firsthand the conditions that we 
continue to place upon the dedicated members of the Coast Guard. You 
only have to recall the graphic portrayals of what occurred during 
Hurricane Katrina, when these Coast Guard men and women performed under 
such perilous circumstances, when they were able to save so many 
thousands and thousands of men and women--in fact, more than 33,544 
individuals under very hazardous circumstances and conditions.
  At my subcommittee's June 21 hearing on the revised Deepwater 
implementation plan, we once again revisited the Coast Guard's current 
status of its legacy assets and the extremely high maintenance costs 
associated with them. The inescapable conclusion was the Coast Guard 
cannot continue on the path it is currently being forced to walk. It 
requires the additional money, the additional cutters and aircraft, and 
the latest technologies associated with command, control, and 
communications.
  On my visit to the cutter Harriet Lane in New Orleans this last week, 
I was briefed on the extreme difficulties encountered in trying to 
establish effective communications among Federal, State, and local 
agencies. This cutter does not have the communications capabilities of 
what a new Deepwater cutter would be able to provide.
  In fact, when cell phones didn't work and text messages were limited, 
they tried to find old satellite phones to use to communicate. We know 
that the new equipment on the new ships would provide this kind of 
capability that is absolutely essential. They would be paramount in 
streamlining and making these rescue efforts more efficient.
  Yet, even without this new technology, the Coast Guard, as I said, 
made it work with the resources they had at their disposal. With an 
inadequate amount of satellite receivers, the cutters still prioritized 
and switched communication channels to effectively prosecute the 
mission.
  Yet the undeniable truth is, such a workaround should not have to 
happen and would not happen on new Deepwater cutters.
  The Coast Guard is a service clearly already populated with heroes. 
We should not ask them all to be MacGuivers, as well as jury-rigging 
and Rube Goldberging rescue operations already perilous enough.
  Doesn't America deserve better? Don't the men and women of the Coast 
Guard who perform so heroically deserve more from us than fighting 21st 
century threats and the war on terrorism with equipment from World War 
II?
  Think about it: Some of these ships were operating when Emperor 
Hirohito of Japan surrendered to the United States, operating through 
the Korean war, the Vietnam war, the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin 
Wall and the Soviet Union, and yet they remain as part of our U.S. 
Coast Guard in the year 2005. Some vessels are so old the Coast Guard 
has to go to maritime museums to find spare parts.

  How can we relegate the Coast Guard to this fate? As you look on this 
chart, USA Today did a very indepth story on the Coast Guard and its 
aging assets of ships and aircraft. It says, and this was done July 6:

       Aging Fleet Could Threaten Service's Anti-terror Mission.

  That is what it is all about. We should have learned in the aftermath 
of September 11 what we need to accelerate, what we need to establish 
for priorities and making sure the agency we ask so much from, the 
Coast Guard, that we ask to do so much for so little, gets at least the 
equipment they deserve when they are performing these risky missions, 
as we have seen so graphically over the last few weeks.
  How can we relegate the Coast Guard to this fate? How can a nation of 
such resources fail to provide them to this indispensable service?
  While the people of the Coast Guard certainly go above and beyond the 
call of duty, the very equipment they sail and fly on has gone way 
beyond the call of duty, and it is time they were retired for good.
  Yet the Coast Guard will continue to operate one of the oldest fleets 
for another 20 to 25 years with the current funding formula that is 
being made available for the Deepwater program. We are not just talking 
about ships. Under Deepwater, vital aircraft, including the outdated 
HH-65 Dolphin and the HH-60 Jayhawk helicopters we have all seen 
conducting the rescue hoists on television, would be reengined and 
reoutfitted with improved navigation and radar equipment. But if 
Deepwater is not fully funded, these crucial improvements will not 
occur on a timely basis, preventing the Coast Guard from being fully 
capable when the next tragedy strikes.
  These are not exaggerated predictions. Pilots told me firsthand that 
with the new technology, they could have seen much more clearly in the

[[Page S10307]]

total darkness that loomed over New Orleans, allowing them to identify 
downed power lines, vertical obstructions, and citizens requiring 
assistance.
  That is why I repeatedly urged the administration and the Congress, 
for the last 4 years, to increase the funding for this program 
immediately and why I successfully fought to include a report on the 
possibility of accelerating the Deepwater program from a 20-to-25-year 
program to a 10-year program in the Homeland Security bill.
  The fact is, by reducing the duration of implementation for the 
program, the Coast Guard could receive these vital assets 10 to 15 
years sooner, and not a moment too soon in my book. We cannot forget 
that ships are not constructed in weeks or months. They take years to 
design and fabricate.
  Now, only one national security cutter is in fabrication. The 
offshore patrol cutter is not in production, and the fast response 
cutter remains in the design phase. So we must act now.
  Moreover, the unequivocal findings of the report I required was 
acceleration of the Deepwater program is not only feasible, it would 
also save the American taxpayers a billion dollars in total acquisition 
costs.
  So, I ask, what exactly is there not to get? By accelerating the 
Deepwater program, we would provide desperately-needed updated 
equipment to this premier security and search and rescue service, while 
saving taxpayer money, not to mention ultimately saving lives. Simply 
put, it defies the laws of common sense to not implement Deepwater as 
soon as possible.
  That is why I have recently sent the appropriations committee a 
letter, urging them to increase the funding for Deepwater in this 
year's Homeland Security appropriations bill. Specifically, in the 
Senate version of the Coast Guard's authorization bill, we authorize 
$1.1 billion to be appropriated for Deepwater. This level will keep the 
Coast Guard on the proper road to guide them toward a modern maritime 
fleet of cutters and aircraft, able to perform their vital missions in 
the 21st century.
  It is critically important we not only provide the level of funding 
but we also ensure that we accelerate the Deepwater acquisition program 
to 10 to 15 years as absolutely vital and essential.
  So I hope we would be able to also release from the Senate the Coast 
Guard authorization legislation that allows for the increased funding, 
that allows for this process to continue and, in addition, to get the 
higher amount of the appropriations and to get the acceleration of the 
Deepwater program.
  That is what I ask, that we release the Coast Guard authorization 
bill that is bottled up in the Senate. We need to remove all of the 
excuses and allow this process to go forward for the service that has 
conducted itself so courageously and heroically during the course of 
Hurricane Katrina.
  In visiting with the men and women of the various Coast Guard 
stations, in New Orleans as well as the station in Gulfport, MS, I can 
tell you not one was complaining--not one. In fact, one admiral said, 
you know, we have just been telling you some of the obstacles we had to 
overcome to do our job, and we will do it no matter what, no matter the 
circumstance. We are asking you not to use it as a rationale to defer 
the needed repairs, maintenance, and the new equipment for the future 
because we don't know what is in the future when it comes to 
unforeseeable events. We cannot predict. We did not predict 9/11. We 
predicted Hurricane Katrina. Look what happened. It was the Coast Guard 
that performed that mission. But we have to make sure that the Coast 
Guard receives the funding it requires in the future in order to enable 
it to respond as it did during the course of Hurricane Katrina. We 
cannot build ships nor aircraft overnight. It takes several years to 
get these ships in the pipeline.
  So unless we get the authorization bill out of the Senate and out of 
the entire Congress that we have been urging for months to get done, to 
have an accelerating program, to get the appropriations that are 
essential, that cannot happen. So I am pleading with the Senate, 
pleading with the Congress to do what is right for this magnificent 
agency that is, by the way, on the frontlines for protecting us and our 
homeland security, one of the greatest problems of which, as you know, 
is the transshipment of weapons of mass destruction.
  The Coast Guard is also essential and a vital component in protecting 
our homeland.
  They are a multimission agency. They are asked, as I said earlier, to 
do so much with so little. And even as they are performing down there 
in the gulf, they didn't ignore their other responsibilities--because 
of homeland security--for keeping the waterways open, which they have 
now done in the gulf, because it is important we continue the commerce, 
the interdiction of drugs; as a matter of fact, even over the weekend, 
providing the humanitarian assistance that is so vital, cleaning up the 
oil spills and the pollution that has occurred. As I showed you in a 
previous chart, as we have seen here in the active response that they 
have provided in so many areas, because of the spill of oil that is 
polluting the area and contaminating the water, that has complicated 
the task of the cleanup. You can't ask the Agency to do more in 
addition to the saving of 33,000 lives. When I talked to the rescue 
swimmers and the pilots, I asked them what was the greatest challenge 
and they said: You know, we were overwhelmed, we were overwhelmed 
because we had so many people to rescue, and we feel we are doing 
nothing in a day when we are rescuing 15 individuals--under, as you can 
imagine, some very difficult and dire circumstances.
  I ask my colleagues, what more does the Coast Guard have to do to 
prove its immense value to America? After the service's heroic and well 
planned efforts in responding to Hurricane Katrina, they have clearly 
and convincingly shown that all Americans are well served by the United 
States Coast Guard.
  Therefore, I am proud to send this resolution to the desk for 
consideration in the Senate, which gives recognition to the valiant 
work of the Coast Guard. The resolution also notes the necessity of 
improving the Coast Guard's aging fleet of ships and aircraft. I hope 
all of my colleagues can support this resolution.
  Now is the time for us in the Congress to fully recognize the 
importance of the Coast Guard and provide the service with the assets 
it needs to do the job now and into the future. The time has come, it 
is now our responsibility and our solemn duty to ensure it has the 
resources needed in order to serve the citizens of the United States 
for decades to come and I hope my colleagues will join me in that 
effort.
  It is vital because they are on the frontlines. They responded 
magnificently, and they should be recognized and rewarded and applauded 
for the job they have done and the job they will continue to do in the 
future. I thank the Chair.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Will the Senator yield to me for a request.
  Ms. SNOWE. Yes, I am happy to yield.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Will the Senator allow me to be a cosponsor of her 
resolution?
  Ms. SNOWE. Yes, I will be happy to.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. I compliment her for her forceful words on the Coast 
Guard, and I wish to align myself with them, as I fully believe in the 
remarks of the Senator.
  Ms. SNOWE. I am delighted to add my colleague, the Senator from 
Maryland, as a cosponsor. She has been an ardent advocate and supporter 
of the Coast Guard. I thank the Senator.
  I ask unanimous consent to add the Senator from Maryland as a 
cosponsor of this resolution.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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