The added funds would be used for new personnel in order to permit performance of long overdue maintenance and training activities. which would otherwise require cutbacks in normal operating missions. such as law enforcement. and search and rescue. It would also be used to make a small dent in the Coast Guards billion dollar backlog of deferred equipment. procurement. and maintenance projects. I would ask my colleagues. particularly those in great numbers who have given speeches in the past few months about the problem of Haitian and Cuban refugees. about the problem of illegal immigration in this country. about the problem of how we interdict the illegal drug trade coming into this country. about the loss of human lives at sea. about the increasing threats to the sanctity of the marine environment because of the extension of offshore drilling activities. to give some thought to how very hollow those speeches are going to sound if those problems continue to grow precisely because we have refused to put even a minimum amount of resources where our speeches were. Remember. I plead with the Members. that the Coast Guard cannot save lives. it cannot arrest drug smugglers. it cannot halt illegal immigration. it cannot maintain aids to navigation. it cannot clean up oil spills. and it cannot maintain military readiness essential to the defense posture of this country and keep an eye on foreign fishermen if it cannot buy fuel. if it cannot operate safely. and if it cannot train its personnel. Let me plead with my colleagues. the amendment before us is modest in the extreme. It is my hope and that of the members of the Subcommittee on the Coast Guard that in the coming fiscal year. in the following year. we can come to the Members with a comprehensive review of all of the missions of the Coast Guard and with some very serious proposals with respect to whether or not we wish to have a U.S.
Keywords matched
illegal immigration refugees