[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 21]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 29850]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        GAP IN HOMELAND SECURITY

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                           HON. HOWARD COBLE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 18, 2003

  Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to a serious 
gap in our homeland security strategy and to encourage my colleagues to 
work with me to move expeditiously and cost effectively to remedy this 
problem. Currently, the Coast Guard only employs eight armed air assets 
that are equipped to use force to protect our entire port and waterway 
network and to enforce our nation's drug laws. This is unacceptable. 
This fleet is obviously much too small to provide coverage to the 
almost 90,000 miles of U.S. coastline and hundreds of ports and 
waterways. In light of this serious vulnerability, it is my strong 
belief that the Coast Guard should move quickly to initiate a 
competition for a new multi-mission armed cutter helicopter. We need 
more assets now and should not stand idle while millions of Americans 
who live along our coastlines remain vulnerable. This being said, I 
completely support the mandate of the Transportation and Infrastructure 
Committee contained in H.R. 2443 that directs the Coast Guard to expand 
its fleet of armed Sting Ray helicopters. The plan to acquire 
additional HITRON Sting Ray helicopters through a flexible lease 
arrangement is a common sense interim solution until a new state-of-
the-art multi-purpose helicopter can be deployed. In the aftermath of 
9-11, the Sting Ray fleet suddenly has a key role on the front lines of 
both America's war on drugs and terrorism.
  On September 15, 2003, Coast Guard Subcommittee Chairman LoBiondo and 
Ranking Member Filner wrote the leadership of the Appropriations 
Committee to emphasize the priority our Coast Guard Subcommittee is 
giving to the establishment of a an expanded fleet of MH-68A armed 
helicopters. Recognizing the Coast Guard is confronting a serious 
challenge in trying to balance its limited resources to meet both its 
humanitarian missions and its new homeland security responsibilities, 
it is my belief that the only way to effectively address this problem 
is to increase the number of assets tasked to perform these kinds of 
operations and to ensure that these assets have prioritized missions. 
The Coast Guard simply does not have enough assets to perform all their 
traditional missions plus all their new responsibilities. As a result, 
the Coast Guard should acquire additional assets for the airborne use 
of force mission.
  I am particularly alarmed over reports out of the Coast Guard that 
there is a plan to rebuild their existing 20 year old HH-65 fleet 
rather than replace it through a competitive process. This is a classic 
case of being penny wise and dollar foolish and it defies common logic 
in this post-9-11 environment. Instead of accurately identifying the 
new mission and then deciding on the best possible helicopter to carry 
it out, it is an example of shrinking the mission to fit the assets on 
hand. The Department of Homeland Security requires a new and larger 
state-of-the-art cutter-deployed helicopter to meet the growing 
challenge. Rebuilding a twenty year old helicopter is simply not 
acceptable. The Coast Guard should move quickly to initiate a 
competition to procure a modern technology Multi-Mission Cutter 
Helicopter and related Airborne Use of Force assets that can also be 
used by Customs, Secret Service and the Border Patrol. Mr. Speaker, as 
you and others in this body know, I am a fiscal conservative who is 
always conscious of how we in Washington spend taxpayer dollars. I have 
also always been a strong advocate for the Coast Guard and believe that 
this branch of our military service is a big bang for the taxpayer 
buck. Given the 100 percent success of the current HITRON fleet, I 
believe this would be one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways 
to address the enormous vulnerabilities that continue to exist along 
our nation's coastlines and in our ports and waterways.

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