Oversight Hearing – The United States Coast Guard
House Subcommittee on Department of Homeland Security
2025-05-14
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Source: Congress.gov
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Subcommittee on Homeland Security will come to order. I'm pleased to be joined by the subcommittee's distinguished ranking member, gentlelady from Illinois, Ms. Underwood. Welcome, Admiral Lunde. Thank you for being here. While we await the details of the full fiscal year 2026 budget request, the focus of this hearing will be on the Coast Guard's priorities, a deeper dive into the current state of its acquisition programs, and the Coast Guard's strategies to expand its presence in the Arctic and counter China in the Indo-Pacific.
uh we will begin with the ranking members opening statement thank you mr chairman and welcome admiral lunday thank you for joining us today as i said repeatedly repeatedly over the last two weeks it's challenging to have budget hearings without a budget request from this administration it puts us in a difficult position and admiral lunday it puts you in a difficult position as well So let me start by saying that my frustration and the frustration from my side of the aisle is not with you, Admiral, nor is it with the brave men and women of the Coast Guard who serve every day as armed forces, first responders, law enforcement officers, health care providers, intelligence officers, environmental engineers, navigation equipment maintainers, cybersecurity specialists, and so much more. The Coast Guard does it all, and we are so thankful that they do. We see that every day in Illinois, where nearly 200 Coasties promote trade and protect waterway safety in Lake Michigan and the Illinois River watershed. And we see it in your creative approach to problem solving, like the Coast Guard's groundbreaking 2022 decision to begin training medical providers, which as a nurse is something that I'm excited to continue to support and help expand. Congress and the subcommittee are here to be your partners in these efforts. Our job is to ensure that the Coast Guard has the resources it needs to do all 11 of its statutory missions, including saving lives, stopping drug flow, and keeping our waterways open to commerce. But we cannot be good partners without good information, and we are not getting good information from this administration's Department of Homeland Security. At a time when the Coast Guard is in the middle of a massive fleet recapitalization and you are staring down some very big acquisition decisions, that information flow is more important than ever. Unfortunately, there are several areas where the Coast Guard is falling short. The Coast Guard was the last of the DHS components to provide Congress with its legally required spending plan for fiscal year 25. missing the deadline by nine days. When it showed up, it included plans for a new $50 million corporate jet for the department that had never been requested or even mentioned before.
The administration has failed to send up a fiscal year 26 budget, and we are hearing rumors that it may not do so until next month. The Coast Guard's rumored force-designed 2028 plan has yet to see the light of day, and we did not receive your testimony until 8 p.m. last night. That's an information flow problem, and it's not sustainable. Consistent, detailed communication is critical to achieving our shared goals this Congress, and that's what we need from the Coast Guard moving forward. Lastly, while we discuss your work to combat external threats, we cannot overlook threats within the Coast Guard itself. Operation Fouled Anchor exposed serious failures in addressing misconduct, and we have a responsibility to ensure that survivors receive the support that they deserve. Perpetrators are held accountable, and the culture within the Coast Guard reflects the highest standards of integrity and professionalism. I very much appreciate your commitment in our meeting yesterday to providing a full briefing on the current status of this issue and the steps the Coast Guard has taken to improve its sexual assault prevention work and support survivors. Thank you again, Admiral, for your service, and I look forward to working closely with you and my colleagues to ensure the Coast Guard has the resources it needs to succeed.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Thank you, Madam Ranking Member. As part of my respect for your time and the fact that I was late, And since I still haven't gotten a request for anybody on this committee for me to do an opening statement on anybody's budget, I am going to yield back my opening statement time. And I also want to thank you for our fellow on this committee who hooked me up with my phone cover, which, by the way, if there's anybody else on the committee that has one of these for their phone cover, please go on the record now.
Okay, we'll move right along. Admiral, you're recognized for your opening statement. good afternoon chairman emma day ranking member underwood distinguished members of the subcommittee thank you for the opportunity to testify here today chairman i ask that my written testimony be entered into the record thank you for your enduring support of the coast guard and of our servicemen and women and their families our people who volunteer to serve who operate in a dangerous and unforgiving maritime environment to protect the american people are extraordinary they make the u.s coast guard the best in the world Today is a pivotal moment for our service – a time of both profound change and challenge and unprecedented opportunity. Our nation faces increasingly complex and dangerous threats to the security and prosperity of Americans, and the American people need a strong and capable Coast Guard now more than ever. Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, the Coast Guard is making America more secure. On January 21, I directed our operational commanders to immediately increase Coast Guard presence and operations along the U.S. border and maritime approaches, starting with the southern border, where the President had declared a national emergency just the day before. We surged forces, tripling the number of forward-deployed aircraft, ships, boats, and teams to control, secure, and defend the southern border. The Coast Guard also increased efforts to secure and defend our ports and waterways, which are vital to U.S. economic prosperity and strategic mobility. And we did that both in the physical domain and in cyberspace. And the Coast Guard continues other operations to secure our northern border and the border and approaches around Alaska, Hawaii, our three U.S. territories in the Pacific, and our two U.S. territories in the Caribbean. Our highest priority is achieving full operational control of the border, and that includes our ports and waterways. As the Coast Guard has done throughout our history, we addressed our operational posture to focus on the top needs and priorities while continuing to conduct our other missions with excellence. Every day, our Coast Guard men and women – with our ships, aircraft, boats, and technology – are delivering results for the American people.
We are deterring and interdicting illegal migration by sea. In the last four months alone, we've prevented over 860 aliens from illegally reaching the U.S. by sea and deterred thousands more. We continue to combat foreign terrorist organizations. including cartels and transnational criminal organizations, by interdicting smugglers and seizing bulk cocaine and other drugs at sea.
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