developers are highly insented to stay in the store. during the investigation or if we warn them, typically they correct, and often that correction makes sure they pop up a notice panel telling the customers what they are doing. >> mr. davidson? >> so we have taken a slightly different approach at google. we've really strived to make sure that our platform is as open as possible, and we don't -- we have chosen not to be a gate keeper in terms of what application people get access to. that is striking a balance, but we try to maximize openness and take a different approach in protecting consumer privacy to use the power of the device itself to make sure that people know what information is selected and so the device itself will tell you when you want to install an application what that application wants to have access to, and that we

believe is a very powerful form of policing for users, but we don't then regimely go back -- generally go back and try to make sure every application does what it says it's going to do because we have a large number, but also trying to really maximize the ability of small app developers to get online. ..

as the flooding hits a high mark in memphis. live coverage on c-span3. >> if y'all are ready. [ banging gavel ] >> good morning. i would like to call the

subcommittee to order. the purpose of this meeting is to review the coast guard budget and priorities for the coming year. i welcome admiral robert papp to discuss these issues. i thank you, admiral, for being with us today. i'm joined by my ranking member, senator coates and senator lautenberg. this is your first appearance before the subcommittee. welcome, and congratulations on your new role as commandant of the coast guard. the importance of the coast guard to our nation cannot be overstated. it's one of the five the branches of the military, responsible for the safety and security of the maritime interests in u.s. ports and on

the high seas. we will never forget, particularly this senator, the heroic efforts of the coast guard men and whim who came to our aid after hurricanes katrina and rita and who rescued 33,000 citizens in the largest search and rescue operation in the coast guard's history. last year, the coast guard was the first on the scene in haiti. coordinated the response to the deepwater horizon rig and subsequent oil spill, the largest of its kind in the history of our country. the coast guard gentleman i serve with has been extremely busy with missions along the southern part of our country and all over the united states. however, the coast guard's ability to fulfill its mission requirements has reached a critical juncture.

the former commandant, admiral thad allen said with every passing year, our operating xap blt erodes. putting our people at risk and lessening our ability to fulfill our duties. admiral papp said we may need to reduce the number of our capabilitie capabilities. there has been failure of the current and previous administrations. over the past five years, this subcommittee, with my spofrt, has increased the coast guard budget by $160 million annually, above the white house request levels. continuing uncreases may not be

able to be fulfilled. this committee wants to eliminate the waste and the fat and focus on the central mission. however, we have been calling the coast guard to do more and more things with less and less. a at some point, things start to deteriorate. with that in mind, we focus on the 2012 requests, a 1.1% increase over last year. we'll be examing whether the coast guard is properly resourced. before turning to senator coates, i want to stress my concern about the status of the fema disaster relief fund. i have been pressing the white house or the need to submit to congress emergency funding requests. there's a $3 billion shortfall for 2012 currently. if the president does not seek emergency funding, it is likely

this fund will be exhausted in the spring of 2012. stopping disaster recovery efforts in 49 states, including the states impacted by the devastating and historic recent tornadoes. again, primarily in the south, but in other states as well, particularly in the state of alabama, that wias so hard hit. and states experiencing historic flooding on the mississippi, the depth and the width of our country. it makes no sense to cut funding to agencies that prepare for and fund future disasters to pay for the cost of past disasters. those are clearly emergencies. they're over the base amount that we allocate to the best of our judgment on a five-year average. we cannot predict. i cannot predict what the future

storms will be. i cannot predict the tornadoes or the river flooding. all ki can do is budget a reasonable amount of money based on a five-year average and expect the president to send emergency requests when it truly is needed. the evidence is in to support that action. following senator coatess' remarks, we'll go the vice chairman lautenberg. i want to thank my co-chair. >> thank you very much. admiral, thank you. first for your call a few weeks ago. and the opportunity to work with you. i did have the privilege of serving for ten years in the senate armed services committee. i always viewed the coast guard as the fifth armed service and as essential as the first four.

i think since 9/11, you have taken on more responsibilities. i commend the coast guard. i wish you the best on your leadership. i'm sure you breathed a short sigh of relief when congress finally gave you some direction on what your funding would be for the remainder of 2011. unfortunately, we may be in a situation where the 2012 budget that, again, leaves some uncertainty in terms of just exactly what the funding will be. i'm sorry for that. i know it makes it difficult for planning and preparing your goals and meeting your goals. in any event, you're pretty much faced with a no-growth budget this year. i'm looking forward to your testimony in terms of outlining how you have to manage your priorities. as a result of that. and if you don't mind, i'll give you a little sh peel that i have

said several times. i'm sure the chairman is tired of hearing this. we face the kind of debt and deficit situation today that i think none of us had anticipated. it will require some pretty serious action in terms of how we deal with this. my concern has been and continues to be that we are limited our focus to a small part of the overall budget. therefore, the discretionary, inclugd defense spending, is subject to taking a disproportional chair of the burden of addressing the debt and deficit problem. i've been trying to get a coalition of the discretionary that will encourage members of congress and the executive

branch to broaden the look at the drivers of deficit and debt, and that's the mandatory spending. i know this isout side your jurisdicti jurisdiction. i know that you are the recipient of perhaps a disproportionate chair of the burden. and lower funding than you need to accomplish some of your priorities because we have not yet come to a consensus on mandatory spending. it's continuing to be a focus on a slice of the budget of which you are a part. i just say that for the record. i'm not asking you to necessarily do anything about it. i look forward to your testimony. madame chairman, you have more at stake with the coast guard than the state of indiana does. i want to state, for the record,

that we do have a coast guard station in michigan city. we're glad to be a state that participates a little bit in the coast guard. >> thank you. senator lautenberg. >> thank you. and all of your colleges for the wonderful service the coast guard gives the country. i think it's well known that in all of my years of the united states senate, that the coast guard has been a principal focus of my views of what we ought to do and take care of our security. take care of so many other responsibilities. that the coast guard has. whether it goes from fish, i don't know if it goes from fish to fowl, but it starts out with safeguarding our supplies of fish. of protecting the quality of the water. of being there for -- it's just

an amazing thing, madame chairman. it's one of those organizations that the more good they do, the less we give them. and it's -- it's -- the kind of contrast that gives me some cause for concern. we are all so proud of what our people did when they went to get osama bin laden. and proud of the president's decision, who had the courage to take that kind of a chance, because, obviously, great personal feeling goes along with putting people in harm's way. but there we are. we learned one thing. that when we put the resources into a mission, that we can succeed. and this is a mission, the attack on osama bin laden, was in the works for years. and so when i look at the things

that we are asking the coast guard to do and see that prior to 9/11, coast guard invested only 2% of the operating budget in security activities. shifting the recourses after 9/11, spending approximately 59% of the operating budget on security missions. there are lots of positive things. in the budget for the coast guard. including the funding to modern i ize. to respond to disasters. i'm pleased that the budget includes funding to rebuild the del dela delapidat delapidated pier in new jersey. i hope we can provide the resources, the training center

desperately needs. and, may dam chairman, i asked unanimous consent in a fuller statement that i have goes into the record. >> without objection. >> and just say, that, my respect for the coast guard continues to evolve. i have looked out the window of my apartment in new jersey, and i see a small patrol both going around to make sure that things are all right in the hudson and the harbor. i can imagine what it's like to have to take care of all the ports and the security duties, the military duties that the coast guard is required to do. thank you, we're going work hard to make sure you have the resources. >> thank you, senator. senator cochran. >> i want to join you and other members to welcome the

commandant. the coast guard is front and center right now in everybody's mind. and on everybody's tv screen, with activities search and rescue, protecting our coastlines, inland waterways. entrances into our country. very complex challenge that the coast guard is facing. from my vantage point, i have been pleased and impressed with the leadership and hard work being devoted to the mission of the cost guard by everyone involved from the commandant throughout the corps of people so gallantly and impressively serving in the coast guard of today. i look forward to your comments and taking our questions that me may have. thank you. >> thank you.

admiral, proceed, please. >> good morning, madame chairwoman and the senators. thank you for the opportunity to appear here today before you. and thank you for your unvaeferring support of the member and women from the united states coast guard. it is my great honor and privilege to lead these outstanding patriots. 90% of our goods arrive by or are shipped by sea. the safety and security of our maritime affects the daily lives of every american, whether they live on or near the water. in the past year, our citizens have witnessed the coast guard in action like never before. coast guard officers working to stop drug traffic and illegal immigrants. then with the dust on their boots from haiti, they responded to the oil spill.

these show our unique mare tim multimission and military capabilities. we surged to meet the challenge, was continued to complete other missions. in the flood-ravaged ohio and. . river valleys, coast guard officials are there. on the great lakes, coast guard ice breakers freed the flow of commerce. facilitating the start of the 41st international shipping season into indiana harbor, allowing small businessmen, truckers to get back to work. the cutter midget, one of our high-endurance cutters interdicted a drug submarine, loaded with 6.6 tons of cocaine, worth $138 million.

in the arabian gulf, we still serve. they're protecting the oil platforms that provide 85% of iraq's revenue. the coast guardsmen are deployed off the coast of africa. in alaska, coast guard helicopter crews deployed from code yak to cordoba have rescued four people in two plane crashes just this week. the cutter campbell is off honduras. they've located 31 bales of cocaine on the boat. these coast guardsmen are working hirelessly to safe guard our maritime interests on our ports, on the hi seas, along our rivers. we find our coast guard today an a critical inflection point of the history. i'm aware of the nation's

current budget challenges. decisions made today will either sustain a coast guard capable of meeting missions and responding to future disasters, and as madame chairman, you mentioned, we can't predict where and when they will happen. it takes us in sufficient quantities to be prepared. the other result could be a coast guard that is less capable and diminished in force. your steadfast support enables us to continue to perform our challenging maritime missions at the level the nation demands. senator coates, you said i must have breathed a sigh of relief. i wanted to do a high five when i got this budget. it addresses the most pressing requirements. the major cutter recapitalization but fully funding cutter number five, you

enabled us to deliver the ship up to one year earlier potentially saving taxpayers millions of dollars. it was ironic that this morning, when i did my daily readings, there was a quote that said, when we pay later, the price is greater. when we buy it earlier, we get it at a better price. we'll have savings for our taxpayers. gaps in funding are costly. they jeopardize our ability to protection the nation's high seas and coveragety. the 2012 budget request responds to the nation's budget challenges. i had to make tough trade-offs. i will reinvest savings of $140 million to sustaining our front line operations to rebuilding the coast guard and enhancing the maritime response and supporting our coast guard

families. i'm requesting over $1.4 billion to continue our recapitalization effort. response boats, maritime patrol aircraft and sustainment of our aging ships and aircraft. i recently decommissioned two antiquated high-endurance cutters, and our oldest, the queen of the fleet, the cutter acushna, which was almost 68 years old. i betoed the queen of the fleet status to another cutter, nearly 67 years old. at some point, it becomes unfair asking our crews to spend countless hours fixing old machinery. the american people deserve the capability of a modern fleet. the good news is, because of your support, our

recaptainization is starting to pay dividends. the first of our national security cutters is currently conducting its first alaska patrol. it marks the binning of decades of service that will be provided in the bering sea. the first of 58 fast response cutters, our new patrol boat fleet was just launched in lockport, louisiana. it's a critical step in replacing the island class patrol boat fleet. the 2012 budget invests $22.7 million to ensure the safe flow of commerce and managing pollution incidents when they occur. finally, you need healthy families. this budget requests funding for military housing projects and increases access to child care services for coast guard families.

as the maritime component of the department of homeland security, the budget will allow us to provide the vital maritime missions. thank you for the opportunity to testify today. i look forward to your questions. >> thank you, admiral. i appreciate it. it's also, i think, appropriate to note on the coast guard facts and figures available on the website, some of the extraordinary work you just touched on. in the average day what the coast guard accomplishes. just to say a few, it saved 13 lives, responds to 64 search and rescue cases. provides a presence in all major ports. screened 679 commercial vessels. i can go on and on. tracked 1,200 icebergs that drifted into the transatlantic shipping lanes last year. and other testimony you have put into the records.

you had recently given a speak on on the capabilities. i have looked at it. it's quite amazing, admiral, the breadth of the services that you provide to our country. on daily basis. looking back over last year. so, again, we commend you. let me start with a few questions, you have publicly expressed, despite your very positive statement this morning, you have expressed some concerns about the coast guard's ability to carry out its 11 statutory missions. recently, in february, you said we need to respond. we need to reduce the number and range of capabilities unless we're properly resourced. i know you're pleased with several aspects of the budget. can you elaborate? do you have -- you ordered a stem to stern review of coast

guard capabilities? when will the review be completed? where would you invest the next dollar? three questions in one. elaborate on the capability shortfalls. you have ordered a review, when will that be completed? and when will the recommendations be reported to the committee? and if additional resources would be available, where will you invest your next dollar? >> the first is the review of capabilities. do we need to cut back on some of those. i think we acknowledge across the board. prior to 9/11, the coast guard was underresourced. since 9/11, we have taken on other responsibilities. we're grateful for the congress in the increase in people. we gained about 6,000 people total, it's brought us back to where the service was in 1990.

we have picked up additional duties. also, culturally, this service, blessed, has this attitude of can do. it's a blessing and a curse. as we have looked across the security responsibilities and the threats facing our country, often times, because of the can do attitude, we do thinks that no one really asked us to do. rotary wing air intercept. we're straining the helicopter pilots to do. it intercepts low, slow threats that might approach a national security event. we're resourced to do that in the washington, d.c. area. we're not resourced to do it out and we're doing it. other tactical operations we have looked at, perceived a need, started doing on our own without the proper resources to do it. and, unfortunately, some

accidents over the years as we have trained for these activities. it's given me cause for concern and to take a pause and to order this stem to stern review, that will look at all the capabilities out there, decide which ones are the highest prior to priority, make sure we're proper will i trained to be the best possible to do them. inevitably, we'll find gaps. if it's a job that the coast guard should be doing, it's my responsibility to identify that to the administration and congress and seek the proper resources to do it. if it's something that can be filled by another government agency, working through partnerships, i think it's reasonable to go out to other agencies and ask them to fill that void in cooperation with the coast guard. those are the first two questions, i think i have answered. the last, where would i invest my next dollar? clearly in recapitalization.

we cannot continue to ask these young patriots to go out in 40-year-old ships, living in conditions that are world war ii conditions. berthing areas that have konden sags, darkness. we need to give them the proper tools. new sensors, new radars. survivable ships that will take them out in the dangerous conditions, the bering sea, the gulf of alaska, the vast reaches of the pacific. we need to get those ships built as quickly as possible. >> the average age of a navy ship is 14 years. the average age of a coast guard ship is 40. is that correct? >> yes, ma'am. the high endurance ships were used as a model for the united states navy.

they have all been decommissioned, we're still running our original 12 high-endurance cutters with the exception of the two we just decommissioned. >> one other question. we have many. the coast guard policy requires an incident specific preparedness review. the review of 2010 was completed in march. however, it is reported that many lessons learned from prior stills, such as the 2008 spill and the cape mohican spill 11 years earlier had not been addressed. now the deepwater horizon. after those two smaller spills. where are we in your review, of what it's going the take for this country, and i think it's a priority for the majority members of the senate, to get deep water drilling back up and

operational in the gulf of mexico as soon as possible, recognizing there are additional safety requirements. where are we in that task? could you explain the role of the coast guard in making sure that spills are prevented and responded to properly. >> yes, ma'am. we did the isper for the deep water horizon spill. it's an introspective review that i order for us to look at the service and decide how we did the job, look at the problems, challenges, and sho shortfalls we may have. i just received the report. we're in the process of going through it. our marine casualty investigation has just been wrapped up. we'll look across all those reports and come up with a

comprehensive plan on what we need to do. we're not sitting back waiting on that. we're already moving ahead. the 22.7 million dollars that we put in the fy 12 budget builds on plan we are started after the first spill you mentioned. it's a measured look making sure that we grow slowly to make sure we're going the right thing and the 2012 budget continues that process and in addition puts in their an incident management assist team that includes about 33 people that we will forward deploy with when an incident happens. the lack of capacity we have for a sustained operation was evident in the deep water horizon spill. we're not sitting back in terms

of efforts. we have asked the captains to review the spill plans. we're working with our area committees to look at worst case scenarios and how we bring sfri and federal and state and local together to combat those things. all these things are in progress as we continue to evaluate. >> and finally, when will you have that report to us? do you think it will be 30 days, 60 days in time for us to consider it in this budget cyclipsyccycl cycle? >> i think the report has been published. it's out there. the report itself went out. it has a number of recommendations. clearly, i can't do every recommendation in the report. we're going assign priorities. the report is available. >> as soon as you assign your priorities, let us know. >> admiral, thanks for the testimony. you mentioned tough trade-offs.

garnering $140 million that you tried to reinvest in front line operations. give me some examples of those tough trade-offs. particularly that generated that $140 million. what did you have to take way? >> well, sir, back to the 2011 budget. i have to thank this committee for restoring money in the 2011 budget. we were facing rather drastic cuts in there, including maritime safety and security teams and cutters. that's a quick way to get savings but cuts back on the front line operations. as we went into the 2012 budget cycle, my first budget preparation to go forward, my guiding principle was we will sustain our front line operations. i don't want to lose any coast guard people or resources that deliver services to the american people. we looked at administrative

overhead. some fat to caverve away. we didn't find much. most of sit operation nat nal support reductions. travel, things we would like to be doing because it helps us keep a healthy work force. but the alternative is to cut back operations or aircraft and ships and i just don't want to do that. >> we have had a lot of interest here in strengthening border patrol regarding illegal immigration. there have been some successes at a cost. as we strengthen our border security and illegal immigration, there may be more attempts to cruise the oceans and the seas at entering points. is this something you have looked at? do you anticipate more responsibilities coming your way? >> yes, sir.

it's like squeezing the balloon. if you make the border, the land border more secure, there's the possibility of going around it by going out to sea. we have that fairly well covered on the gulf and pacific sides of the mexico-america border. we have patrol boats and larger cutters out to sea. most of our migrant vectors are down in terms of number of people. we have seen a slight rise in the last couple of months in hash yans. all those numbers are down. i believe everything points back to us having a persistent presence out there, maintaining the cutters and air kaft out there. and people know that and a policy of returning migrants to their home country when we pick

them up. we're increasingly challenged because of the difficulty in keeping the old ships running out there and keeping them out on station. >> describe the process for me, if you would, you're in the gulf. you come across a makeshift boat. there's 45 illegal imgranmigran trying to reach land. you intercept that. what happens from that point forward? in terms of those individuals. they're brought on the boat, brought on shore. where are they detained, how are they -- what's the process? >> that is the value of the multimission cutters that we have. flight decks for landing helicopters. we can accommodate large groups of migrants. it's not unusual to find a group of 45. we bring them aboard. treat them humanely. we feed them, make sure they

have facilities to protect them. we have agreements in place with cuba and haiti to repatriate them to their countries. we interview them to make sure there are not articulable situations. we interview the people. if there's a threat or belief, then we will work with customs and border patrol and i.c.e. and they'll get further interviews. >> i'm new to the committee. i don't know the answer to this. when you repatriate those ill legal immigrants, you to take them back yourself?

or they go through some process system on land before they're -- >> if they are interdicted at sea, we bring them on, treat them, and then we bring them directly back. for haiti, we take our ships into cap haitian. it's a delivery point. we turn them over to haitian officials overseen by united nations people there. we have an agreement with cuba. we generally have to transfer them to a smaller cutter to return them to the port of cuba. we have two cubans, four cubans just this morning that were able to voice what they perceived as a threat. we took them around to guantanamo bay and delivered them there. we have a migrant holding facility there to do further interviews to decide what to do. >> i have more questions. but i think we'll do a second

round? >> yes, we will. thank you. senator lautenberg? >> thank you, chairman. admiral, you're now a seasoned commandant. i can tell you that you have won respect for the kind of leadership you have shown with the coast guard since the time you have become the commandant. we thank you for that. >> yes, sir. >> according to the fbi in new jersey -- it's home for the most at risk terrorist attack in the united states. the area has targets ranging from the port to the airports, chlorine and gas plants. an attack in this area could endanger 12 million people who live within a fairly short radius. with the administration's

decreased budget requests, what, will any efforts in the port of new york-new jersey area be affected in terms of its supervision by the coast guard? >> no, senator. as i said earlier, my emphasis on the 2012 budget is sustaining at the current level our operations in the field. delivering the services that the american citizens expect of our coast guard. new york is well covered. the sector new york, one of the most robust, located on staten island. we have basically doubled the number of boats and people at the station in the last ten years. we have maritime safety team new york there to provide response to terrorist events or provide additional security when there are security events in process. the active partnerships are important as well.

we bring today the state and local port partners plus industry. one of the biggest al lies are commissioner ray kelly of the city of new york. they have robust services. they're all complementary. i think new york is well covered. >> cape may coast gartd training center is in bad shape. presents a safety hazard. the pier supports missions in the mid-atlantic region. your budget question includes $11 billion for the reconstruction of that pier. what kind of requirement might that contain? >> i have been up there. i have walked that peier, sir.

we cannot take heavy i equipment out there. you need to take cranes out to do work on the ships when they're in port. you cannot move heavy equipment out there. so you have to move the ships in order to get any work done. i affects dale why work like delivering supplies. getting that replaced and giving us the versatility to do pier-side work sand keep the cutters sustained that are in home port there and not have to put extra bursd on our people to have to move the ship if work is to be done, after they have already come in off of long patrols is a great benefit to us. >> you know the coast guard represents the u.s. before the international maritime organizations in our efforts to prevent and respond to acts of piracy. pirate attacks have risen in the

last months. some are calling for increased use of arms on merchant ships. what is the coast guard thinking about that? it sounds like our ships ought to be able to defend themselves. >> what we do know, sir, i think the pirates are 0 for 12 or 13 or 14 when they have tried to attack and take a ship that has a security team on board. we have evidence to validate that if you have a security team on board, you're most likely going to survive. how those teams are provide sd the real question. and some countries still prohibit the use of security teams on board ships that fly their flag. some shipping companies are changing the flag to other countries so they can bring security teams on board. there seems to be a fairly robust activity out there.

the shipping companies seem to be able to afford them. i encourage the use of security teams. we have other measures at work as well. including safe ty procedures. it's a full range of activities you can do. ultimately, security team work. >> and, i close with this. i would hope that you wouldn't keep using the reference to as old as world war ii. there is some of the parts still remain functioning quite well. >> yes, sir. >> thank you, senator. senator cochran? >> welcome, again, commandant to our hearing. we appreciate the fact that in our state of mississippi, we're building coast guard vessels and we're very proud of the fact

that shipbuilding has produced two cutters, i think, number 5 and 6. and they're looking to continue the construction of these cutters. and my question is, what is your assessment of the workman contribution to this project? what are your assessments of the efficiencies gained by long lead pro curement of these vessels? >> sir, that's a great question. i have been out to san francisco, just a few weeks ago. i spent a full day riding nsc number 2, the waischi. it's an outstanding ship. i am almost willing to give up these stripes to get that job to

be the captain of that ship. it's outstanding. but it's not extravagant. it gives us enhanced kab ed capabilities to carry out our mission in a longer range and speed and do it more economically with fewer crew members, better fuel e fish sirks and better environmental conditions as well. i was totally impressed with the smooth functioning of that ship and the capabilities it brings to bear for all coast guard missions. proving it is another thing. and right now, the cutter bertoff, the first ship, is up in the bering sea. i read a report from its commanding officer, captain john prince just this morning. they're out in 20-foot seas. with up to 60 knots of wind and still able to launch and recover their helicopter. unheard of in the past to be

able to do that from one of our high endurance cutters on the bering sea. they're launching in more difficult conditions than they have in the past because of the stern launch capability. they're able to stay out there longer. the engines are more economical to run even at higher speeds. we're doing it with about 40 people fewer in the crew. they're living better. the ship rides better because of segregated ball last tanks. you have a better, more stable ride. it's proving the solid design and all the work that went in and i couldn't be more pleased with these ships. number three, is nearing completion, the dorothy stratten. she'll be able to be used later this year. the generosity of the subcommittee, we have the money

in the '11 budget to award the contract on number five. the final question on long lead materials, when ever we can keep a stable and predictable flow of funding going, the shipyard quan gains confidence, we gain confidence, prices are lower, we save money in the long run. >> that's a very impressive report. it makes me very proud of the workers and the officials of engels and the coast guard that devoted such a strong and workmanlike performance in building the ships and getting them to sea. we need them operating there. there are plans to build additional cutters. and long lead time materials are need for those ships. are those requests contained in your budget request before the

committee? or do we need to have a conference with you to see what you need and what you can use and what would be efficient and appropriate for the committee to support? >> sir, ultimately in my original plans and the joer all balance, we could have liked to have requested funding for national security cutter number 6 in the budget that is going forward. we were confronted with a dishlt si difficult situation. we had a lead systems integrator. we ran into trouble there. we needed to negotiate a fixed-price contract for cutters 4 through 8. it took us a little long to hammer out that deal to get the fixed-price contract. i believe the shipyard, i think, is negotiating in very good faith on number five, which we'll see

awarded here very soon. because we didn't have a price for number four, we were uncertain what it would cost, what number five would cost, and we thought we would need some additional money given our estimates for national security cutter number five. we could not fit that additional money plus the full cost of number six in the 2012 budget. so i made what i thought was a reasonable decision at the time was just to ask for the additional money to complete national security number five, and we would defer the full funding, what i'm confronted with now is onb circular requires full funding, long lead production, and post production costs all in the same year. this is a challenge for us because it eats up almost half our acquisition budget. so i can't fit that in until the 2013 budget. we did ask for $77 million in the 2012 budget to complete

number five. you gave us the money within the 2011 budget. so that leaves a little bit of a bogie there in the '12 budget. >> what is -- >> a bogie is a target of target of opportunity or a problem. because it sits there originally as the president's budget goes forward, it's $77 million to complete the funding for nsc funding number five. so it sits there with no assignment. >> i hope the committee can work with you and your team and the house -- our house counterparts to try to figure out the most efficient and effective thing we can do in this cycle. you're open to further consultation and discussion of this issue, i hope. >> yes, sir. >> madame chairman, i have other questions, but particularly i'm impressed just in passing if i have time to ask about the

unmanned aerial systems. the coast guard has been analyzing various unmanned aerial systems. i wonder what the status is of potential requests for next year's budget or a supplemental request dealing with unmanned aerial assets. >> well, clearly when we devised the system of unmanned aerial systems was a part of that to enhance the effectiveness of the system and to compensate for having fewer ships out there. right now, i am searching for room on where we might fit that in. plus, i have to look at other partnerships, as well, to see if we might leverage them. the navy is experimenting with a tactical ship launched uas fire scout, which i think holds promise, but i don't have the money to move forward with that right now. so we're leveraging off the

navy's work, and we're hopeful they will work with us to see if that's the direction to go. . . the other is more a predator type uas that would cover, which would do wide area coverage. and right now, customs of board protection is working with predators, we're experimenting with them, using coast guard pilots to look at that system and how it might employ were our systems and cutters. ultimately we're doing better because the national security cutter gives us better sensors and coverage and working with our current manned aircraft, it makes us no less capable than we have been in the past, but we would look forward to the future when we can identify the systems we need and work them into our budget. >> thank you. >> thank you. let me just follow up on that. because when you think about, i guess, the question is what is the most effective way to catch the bad guys? you know, is it with our ship

patrols, unmanned support? i'm concerned about what i'm understanding are the increased reliability -- increased reliance by these major drug dealers to basically build their own submarines. without going into too much and looking at classified information, what is the coast guard's current response to some of these new and emerging and more sophisticated operations? >> well, they're clearly presenting us with a challenge, but the drug trafficking organizations are still using a wide range of conveyances. sometimes slow-fishing vessels sometimes go fast. also as you know using semisubmersibles and fully submersibles. it's basically a chess game. they will move to another new tactic and we have to react to that. when you ask what's the most

effective, it's really a combination of all of those things. and another element which you didn't mention, which is intelligence. we can't do nearly as well as we do now if it was not for active intelligence working with our partners, bilateral and multi-lateral agreements that we have with south and central american countries that allow us to work together and train together and also actually conduct operations together on the water and sometimes even allow us to go into other sovereign waters based upon the agreements we've come up with. so intelligence is probably one of the most important things for us because it will tell us often times not only where to go to, but what ship to look at and often times what compartment in that ship to look at. i'm not divulging. i'm talking in generality, that's our sophisticated our intelligence is, and it's a

combination with our operational assets out there. >> i was recently down in guatemala on a trip focused on another issue but took the opportunity to get a security briefing. this is what they were talking about. the guatemalan government were very complimentary of the coast guard and your partnerships. because i want this committee to know that we just can't stop drugs at the border along the western border, they're coming through maritime channels and ship channels and oceans and bayous. and getting the right intelligence before they leave the ports or intercepting them well before they get into our ports is a smart strategy. but it's a combination of the right kind of materials and platforms. but the intelligence aspect and the partnership with some of these governments of honduras, guatemala, nicaragua, and el salvador, extremely important. if you want to get one more comment on that and get one more

question, i'll go to the senator. >> a quick one, as well. but another thing that i'd like to brag a little bit about is it's not just the united states coast guard cooperating with those south and central american countries, we also facilitate cooperation amongst federal agencies as well. one of my collateral duties is the chairman of the committee where we bring together to share and to work together to come up with strategies. our last meeting we brought in general frazier who is a commander, at the end of the day, you're absolutely right. we need to stop these drugs in the transit zone where we can pick it up before it gets ashore. broken down into thousands of packages to come across our border at various locations and

across, of course, at fueling the violence that we're seeing down there in mexico. >> thank you. and one more question. since 2008, and touched on this, but i want to go a little deeper, 14 coast guard aviators have died in accidents while conducting routine missions. keeping the men and women of the coast guard i'm sure is your highest priority. i understand the coast guard has reviewed the cause of these incidents and the adequacy of operation and maintenance, but what recommendations are you making in this budget or what have you made that we can support you in our efforts to keep these men and women safe on these routine training missions? >> yes, ma'am, thank you for that. i was asked a couple of days ago what keeps me awake at night? and i said i sleep pretty good. we've got good coast guard people out there and good leaders getting the job done. but one of the sleepless nights i can count is the loss of our helicopter 6017 very shortly

after i became commandant. fortunately we had already started our aviation safe thety study, and we are well along in terms -- and i want to thank the senator for calling me at the time and pointing us toward an investigation that the army did on helicopter losses. what we found out was there was not a connection. the army was mostly mechanical. what i mean by that is we've seen a lot of rapid cultural change within our aviation community over the last ten years. we've picked up additional new responsibilities, the air intercept i talked about, tactical vertical assertion, and other things other than search and rescue we didn't do ten years ago. you can't necessarily point it on just that either. we've also gone through a rapid progression of upgrades and instrument and equipment changes within our helicopters. so there's been change there. and then i think also, perhaps, a little bit of complacency that

has slipped into our aviation culture across the coast guard. perhaps a diversion of focus away from safety concerns, leaders getting out on the flight deck and spending time with their young pilots and having them focused on their qualifications, crew management within the cockpit. it's a whole collection of things that came together and resulted in what were very, very unfortunate accidents under very routine circumstances. and it was not mechanical, it was human failure. we're working very hard right now taking our most senior aviators going around to every air station, and we've got a number of other things in the works to improve upon aviation culture in the coast guard that has that produced the best maritime pilots in the world and making them even better. there was no cost in the budget for this. it's something we have to take on as leaders. and we're about the business

doing that. >> thank you. admiral, i'm aware that the navy has placed on every ship afloat and every sailor on that ship has a locating device that if there's a man overboard, woman overboard, they have an instant alert and gps location. i mean, we all think of going out on a sunday on chesapeake bay, somebody falls overboard, the boat turns and picks them up. obviously that's not the case. in the open ocean. do you have a similar system in place? >> what we -- >> with regards -- >> well, i'm not sure if we have something similar because i'm not familiar with the system that the navy has employed. and i haven't read anything about that.

there are a number of small personal systems that are out there on the market right now, in fact. we just did a rescue because this one i talked about in alaska where an airplane crashed, somebody was able to light off their personal device, which gave us an alert and vectored us into it. we put a number of what we call personal protective equipment on our people whenever they're involved in dangerous operations. there are a full range of things from signaling devices to strobe lights and other things. what i'll have to do is look at a comparison of what the navy is issuing right now and see if there are any enhancements we can do for our people, as well. >> yeah, i don't even know the name of it or the company or what the market is. it's just that i -- i've run into someone who told me about it and indicated there's been a dramatic reduction in sailors lost at sea as a result of this.

>> talk a little bit to me about your living conditions. what percent of your forces are married? >> we are one of the highest. and i don't have the exact figure, but my recollection is it's up close to 50%, which is -- we actually have the highest rate of people that are married compared to the other services. >> and married with children, i assume? >> most of them, yes, sir. >> so you mentioned then your concerns about adequate housing and child care. where are you in that process? and where do you rank? we all know the air force has the best facilities, including golf courses. we all know that the navy does pretty well, and the army's improved dramatically. marines are happy with a slab of cement and a tarp, but where does the coast guard fit in this list of services here in terms

of what you would call the kind of housing that you're proud to have your people live in? are -- >> we're clearly at the bottom of the ladder, but what i have qualify that with is we are -- we have fewer people that live on big bases. we are locally dispersed, and it's very hard to come up with coast guard housing because we're so many small stations around the country. so we look at government leases. housing allowances for all of our people. and one thing we've picked up. this is the year of the coast guard family. and my wife and i have traveled around, she's met with literally thousands of coast guard people. and we've chosen to focus on those things we think we can make a difference on, which is housing, child care, and spouses

helping spouses. housing is a challenge for us because where we do have bases, cape may, new jersey, or kodiak, alaska, we have done okay in terms of trying to maintain them, but they're very costly. the other services we're facing the same challenges. and they got authorities and the money to enter into a private -- public/private ventures. >> you have that authority? >> we do not have that authority. we've had it in the past, but it requires us to escrow a large amount of money which we never are able to get in our budget. so what we've done is actually leveraged off the other services. out in hawaii, what we did was we seated some of our land that we have for our old housing to the army. they brought in their public/private authorities and built houses, which now our coast guard take part in.

i live in a privatized house over boeing air space right now. we're selling the house which we owned for 40 years out at chevy chase because it costs a lot of money. and we do have authorities to take the proceeds from those sales and turn them back into housing for our service members. we're selling the commandant's house, and i've moved into a house i pay rent on, and it is up to air force standards, sir. but that's what we need to do for the rest of our workforce. what we're doing is we've got a mixture of coast guard supported housing. taking advantage of other authorities, and coming up with a comprehensive plan on the way ahead. >> i think you should keep us advised. morale and quality of service is directly related to quality of life that is provided for family and children.

your out doing -- your people are out doing dangerous work and away from home. and they want -- they need to have some sense of comfort that their loved ones are being taken care of. >> yes, sir, absolutely. >> thank you. >> i'd like to follow up on that, as well. and i'll recognize the senator in a moment. but i helped to lead the effort to privatize the army housing, which has been really successful with the family housing. at a one point, senators, it was estimated it would take nearly at the rate we were going 200 years or more to provide housing for some of our men and women in uniform according to what the budgets looked like. so we had to change the paradigm. and this private housing has been phenomenally successful. so perhaps, senator, you and i could work together on this committee on new strategies that we might be able to employ and other avenues to provide really stepped up housing opportunities

for our men and women of the coast guard. and i'd like to commit to you to do that with your help and assistance. senator lautenberg? >> i'll tell you this, that for the -- for the people in the guard, the coast guard who are at cape may, new jersey, it's a wonderful place to be. and if we could enlarge that facility, maybe we could take care of more. and then the summer that's right on the beach. so we could put up some tents and accommodate people. then the rest of the year. they deserve better, i can tell you that. and when i look at the deteriorated situation there now, it makes me unhappy. and i'm so proud that you're able to do the recruiting that

you have to do as mentioned earlier. i want to go on to something a little touchy. the recent report on the coast guard's response to the deepwater horizon oil spill found that the coast guard ability to respond to environmental disasters at -- and i quote here, atrophy over the past decade. how do you respond to that? and what can you do to improve the -- your plans for better security admissions? and the need to improve the environmental response? >> well, sir, i agree that it had atrophied over the last decade to probably 20 years. and part of that is because we've been very good at prevention. you have prevention and response. you hope you don't have to

respond because you've prevented the spills from happening in the first place. and we've been so good at the prevention side that i think -- i don't know whether we just became complacent. part of it's complacency, and once complacency slips in, perhaps you're not as looking as far forward in terms of new technology and other things that you might be able to help you in the future for a response. i think the pollution act in 1990 placed most of the responsibility with private industry. and i don't think private industry has looked that far forward either or considered the implications of a worst-case scenario spill like we experienced in deepwater horizon. i think it's incumbent upon us to look at what's the proper balance between federal and industry in terms of maintaining equipment and preparation, ultimately the answer is working together. the coast guard has already started.

>> that include -- forgive the interruption, does that include develop better specks for drilling and accident prevention. is that something the coast guard would be taking on? i don't know how you do the preventive side. and make it the rule. >> organic to the coast guard, we do not have the expertise in terms of drilling. i think we all learned an awful lot through that. that falls on to the department of the interior right now. and what we're doing and we're working very close with the department of interior to make sure that we collaborate as we go forward. the coast guard has expertise in fire fighting, stability, construction of the mobile platforms and other things. but we've got zero organic technical expertise in the drilling operations, particularly in the deep sea.

i'm unwilling to volunteer to take on additional responsibilities to bring that organic to the coast guard. i think it exists within the department of interior. and what we need to do is making sure we do exactly what we do now is work very close with the federal partners. >> so you can encourage them to participate more actively on the prevention side? >> yes, sir. >> i want to ask you this. that we've seen incredible changes in our marine ecology as a result of changing temperatures. does the coast guard have the ability to either recognize changes in marine functioning, fish, the undersea plants, those kinds of things that all make up part of the ecology? is there any awareness of the coast guard about what is taking

place as a result of what is obviously the climate change that we're seeing? >> well, we're certainly interested in it. and no, we don't have organic expertise or staffs that are i p applied to that. for instance, in the arctic, we have much more open water now. and the potential for a commerce and shipping to increase up in those areas. we rely upon noaa and other government agencies that do have that focus of the scientific study of our waters and the changes that are happening. the results of those changes are something that we have to deal with. >> it shows that you have so many people on the sea. and there are changes that are occurring, and i don't know whether you see these changes in

makeup or quantity or things that just fall your way. i know when we put an embargo years ago and so forth, the coast guard -- maintaining the rules. and it worked wonders. we replaced the quantity and improved and quality, as well. so i asked that because they're concerned about the -- what is taking place in the environment. and the climate change. and if there's any way that there's information flow witho atlantic, in the barring thanks very much. >> thank you.

i think we're about complete. if you all would be be patient for one more question from me and then we're going to end the meeting. you recently released the draft -- i understand this is arguably the most important acquisition of these particular boats are the backbone of the guard. it reaches almost 2.3 billion. you've never requested more than $1.4 billion in one year. can you briefly comment? and then we'll use that question to close the meeting? >> yes, ma'am. it's an interesting turn of events because i've watched commandants come up here for years and always beinged of not asking for what they need or not asking for enough. we're asking for what we need. and we need to be about the business of designing, selecting, and building the offshore patrol cutters. 25 of them in our project baseline.

the national security cutter the high end with most capabilities. it doesn't have a flight deck, is less capable. the opc, or offshore patrol cutter will provide the connection between those two in the -- in the outer zone of our defenses for security as you come to the country. it's got to be capable, though, of operating in the north atlantic, in the barring sea. they are not stout or capable enough of surviving those types of elements. we need something that's probably going to perform and be able to launch helicopters and recover boats in more challenging conditions. and the offshore patrol cutter is that ship. i've looked at the basic specks that we put out recently. i think it will be a very good

ship to provide that to fill that gap. we also have to be mindful that ultimately with the cutters, that's 33 ships replacing the 41 that we have right now. so we're pressing ahead. my job is to identify what we need on those years and they signed off on the capital investment plan, so i'm hopeful we'll follow through on that. >> thank you, admiral. and thank you for your testimony today, for your forthrightness for asking what you really need. we look forward to working with you. and thank you for what your men and women do. amazing work every day. meeting is adjourned.