Coast Guard. Observations on the Requested Fiscal Year 2011 Budget, Past Performance, and Current Challenges

Testimony before the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, U.S. House of Representatives.

The Coast Guard's budget request for fiscal year 2011 is slightly lower than the agency's 2010 enacted budget and year-to-year mission performance trends are mixed. The Coast Guard's fiscal year 2011 budget request of $9.87 billion is approximately $35.8 million (or 0.4 percent) less than the service's enacted budget for fiscal year 2010. The slight reduction is largely attributable to a decrease in funds requested for (1) acquisition, construction, and improvement and (2) research, development, test, and evaluation. The reductions in these and other appropriation accounts are balanced by increases in funds requested for operating expenses and retired pay. One of the key themes of the fiscal year 2011 budget is the trade off between current operational capacity and continued investment in future capability through capital investment. Specifically, the Coast Guard is reducing funds for current assets and missions to increase funds for its top budget priority-long-term recapitalization of vessels and aircraft. The Coast Guard acknowledges that the proposed emphasis on recapitalization of aging assets may lead to a short term decline in mission performance. With regard to fiscal year 2009 performance, Coast Guard met its performance goals for 6 of 11 statutory mission areas but year-to-year performance trends are mixed. For example, the Coast Guard reported an improvement in reducing the maritime terrorism risk but reported a decline in the percentage of time that Coast Guard assets met designated combat readiness levels. Specifically, the Coast Guard reported that, for fiscal year 2009, agency assets met designated combat readiness levels 44 percent of the time, well below its goal of 100 percent. The Coast Guard attributes this decline in performance to reduced High Endurance Cutter readiness and personnel and training shortfalls for port security unit reserve forces.