Review of the Coast Guard's Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request

well that moves the tension around this place You're gonna be starting too much tension there. You know it happens. You ready? You ready?

The subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation will come to order. I ask unanimous consent that the chairman be authorized to declare recess at any time during today's hearing without objection, so ordered. Also, I ask unanimous consent that members not on the subcommittee be permitted to sit with the subcommittee at today's hearing and ask questions, without objection, so ordered. As a reminder, if members insert a document into the record, please also email it to documentsTI@mail.house.gov. I now recognize myself for the purpose of an opening statement for five minutes. I'd like to welcome our witnesses this morning, hearing on fiscal year twenty twenty-seven, Coast Guard budget general request. Admiral Lundy, Commandant of the Coast Guard, and Master Chief Phillip Waldron, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard, we are glad to have both of you here today. Thank you very much. And all the other members that are here with us. This budget request arrives at a momentous inflect inf inflection point for the Coast Guard. The service has never been better positioned to grow, and it has rarely been busier more effective or more in demand. Even amid uncertainty regarding pay, Coast Guard capabilities, commitment and professionalism have never been more evident. The President's request of nearly sixteen billion for the Coast Guard in fiscal year twenty twenty-seven reflects strong support for the service. The two billion increase in operations funding would help deliver meaningful results in protecting our maritime domain, enforcing U S laws and safeguarding our resources. However, it still falls short of what is needed to fully operate and sustain the assets, which will be acquired through the historic twenty-five billion investment that Congress provided in the one big beautiful bill act. The reconciliation investment was intended to reverse decades of underinvestment, at the requested levels. The Coast Guard risks acquiring assets without home ports, infrastructure, and support systems required to operate them effectively. The Coast Guard enjoys strong bipartisan goodwill in Congress. Compliance with mandated oversight, however, is not among them. Congress has a responsibility to ensure the appropriated funds are used properly and effectively. When the Coast Guard fails to meet statutory oversight requirements, it undermines its credibility with these most committed with those most committed to supporting it. Congress has mandated basic acquisition planning tools, including regularly quarterly briefings and a five-year capital investment plans to ensure visibility into the long-term needs. Yet the Coast Guard has consistently failed to meet these statutory requirements. This raises a fundamental concern. If the Coast Guard cannot meet its oversight obligations, can it effectively manage large, complex, and costly acquisition programs? The service now stands at a very decisive moment. That is, in many respects, an either-or proposition. Either the Coast Guard successfully manages the acquisition and integration of the new assets, while growing the organization, or the historic investment provided by Congress will fail to produce the modern capable service the investment envisions. The central question is whether the Coast Guard can successfully manage the acquisition, integration, and expansion of these assets, along with the infrastructure and personnel required to sustain them. Growth is not simply a matter of adding ships, aircraft, facilities, and personnel. It requires a clear and disciplined understanding of how to a larger and more complex organization. Elements of this budget request raise concerns about whether that balance has been achieved. The addition of assets and personnel must occur in tandem with the planning and funding of the foundational support they require. Admiral, you hold one of the most consequential roles in government today. On the one hand, you have the opportunity to be the commandant who leads the Coast Guard through and historic transformation. With the right vision, planning and transparency, you can help shape a service that is modern, strategically aligned and properly resourced for the missions ahead. That would be a lasting legacy. On the other hand, you risk being held accountable if the service fails to capitalize on this moment and continues to struggle with execution and credibility. This is a defining institutional crossroads. I am very confident that you have the leadership qualities necessary to succeed, but success will require partnership with Congress. Every member of this subcommittee stands ready to support the Coast Guard's evolution. That support, however, depends on the service meeting its legal obligation to provide timely, complete, and transparent information. Goodwill and patience are not unlimited. I urge you to accept the partnership this committee offers. and to commit to providing the information necessary to ensure that the Coast Guard becomes the service it can be and should be. Admiral Lundy and Master Chief Waldron, thank you for being here today and I look forward to this discussion. I now recognize Ranking Member Carbajal for an opening statement of five minutes.

Thank you, Chairman Rizal. Uh, I will yield to Ranking Member Larson.

Thank you, Chairman. And what's recognized? Thank you, Chair Rizal, and Ranking Member Carvajal. Thanks for calling this hearing today and giving us a chance to review the Coast Guard's FY twenty-seven budget request. I want to welcome and thank Admiral Linde and Master Chief uh Waldron as well for being here today and for the meeting yesterday. Uh unfortunately, we're meeting today amid yet another lapse of appropriations affecting the Coast Guard. Uh we could pay and provide immediate certainty and stability if we're allowed a vote on the funding bill that already passed the Senate unanimously. Most importantly though, I want the women and men of the For many years, the Coast Guard and senior leaders of the service have called for increased funding so the Coast Guard can perform as the twenty billion dollar agency that it should be. Congress and the administration cannot keep asking more from this service without making these investments. Every day the women and men of the Coast Guard go out on their missions to save lives, protect our maritime borders, and to keep commerce flowing. The administration's FY twenty-seven budget rec- uh request offers significant promise in some areas particularly in the operations and support or or ONS budget which increases by twenty percent. Funding in this range will continue efforts to better prepare the Coast Guard for its core missions and increase the number of service members. This will be necessary as the Coast Guard reconstitutes the stations it downsized during COVID era recruitment gaps. More funding for the Coast Guard means more lives saved. safer maritime commerce, and more, uh, interdicted to drugs. Despite the misguided lethal actions taken by the Department of Defense, this Coast Guard yet remains the most effective tool to combat illicit maritime activity. That said, the administration's Procurement, Construction, and Investments, or PCNI budget request fails to meet the needs of the current Coast Guard, let alone one with a growth goal of fifteen thousand personnel. So I'm eager to discuss the discrepancy between the two major funding pillars and how Congress can fill the gap. The Coast Guard received historic funding last year from the reconciliation bill, how much of that funding was needed to recapitalize assets well past their service life and push the service into the future with the acquisition of state-of-the-art systems. However, this funding and the increase to ONS will be meaningless if we're unable to support the new personnel and assets with adequate home porting piers, workstations, housing, child care, and health care facilities. Supporting the Coast Guard must start with supporting the women and men who serve. This is one of my primary issues with the a- administration's request. A fifteen percent decrease in the PCNI in funding simply does not do the job. For example, three hundred and six million of the three hundred and forty-six million, dedicated to shoreside infrastructure, is slated to be spent in Alaska for Arctic security cutter home porting. That leaves forty million left to attempt to address an over seven billion dollar backlog. So I wholeheartedly support the funding and forward thinking of the service to tackle these projects, because they're needed. However, existing sites like Bay Seattle, Training Center Ca- Cape May, and the Academy have infrastructure demands that we should address now and prioritize funding there. So I look forward to hearing from both of you today how the Coast Guard views the prioritization of these projects. Furthermore, as the Coast Guard begins to acquire and reinvest in new or previously downgraded and shuttered shoreside facilities, it must prioritize sites that enables it to broaden the coverage of its search and rescue functions. Reconstituting these stations will be a vital benefit as the Coast Guard grows its personnel. Finally, I want to draw attention to recent changes to the planned home porting of assets at Coast Guard base Seattle, raised in a a news article and an April eleventh story, and recently confirmed by Coast Guard documents. Initial project plans include upgrades to Seattle waterfront, to home port, four offshore patrol cutters, but have now been scaled back to accommodating quote " up to four major cutters" instead. So I do want to hear more details from the Coast Guard about this change and how the Coast Guard plans to prioritize the planning and funding associated with base, Seattle home porting. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Coast Guard's ongoing effort to address sexual assault and sexual harassment in the service. accountability and transparency review initiated by former commandant uh by the former commandant steered the Coast Guard in the right direction. And I'm pleased that you are building on that momentum. The com- the committee will continue to conduct vigorous oversight of the services' actions uh uh to implement the ATNR and we stand ready to help. With that, I yield back.

Gentlemen yields. Chair now recognizes the Chairman of the full committee, Mister Sam Grace, for five minutes for an opening statement.

Thanks to you uh, Chairman Uzzell, and I also wanna thank our witnesses um for uh for being here today, and congratulate uh Admiral Langley on your uh confirmation to uh, or Lundy, sorry, on your confirmation to uh uh the Coast Guard as Commandant. So, that's fantastic. The committee stands ready to partner with you uh to ensure that the service has uh the resources needed to carry out our mission and protect uh protect our nation. I look forward to hearing uh what our uh what the witnesses have to say today about the administration's fiscal year, uh two thousand uh twenty-seven budget request for the Coast Guard. Uh Admiral Lundy, before turning to the topic uh of the hearing, I do wanna take a moment to acknowledge uh the fifty thousand uh men and women um serving both military and civilian roles um who are continuing to carry out the critical uh, Coast Guard mission despite the uncertainty over their next um paycheck. Um, we owe it to our Coasties who continue to stand watch and uh, we owe it to them to secure a deal to fund uh, DHS, which uh, the TNI committee is committed to uh, to doing. Over the last year I've been extremely proud of the historic investment um, that this committee has made to rebuild our nation's Coast Guard. After years of inadequate funding, the twenty-five billion provided in the reconciliation funding package uh is gonna enable the service to build its fleet of surface air and uh and shoreside assets. Case in point, your new C-one-thirties will be operating at Barber's Point Hawaii uh require larger hangars to insure that those adi- those assets are uh adequately maintained. I've seen firsthand uh the inadequate storage space for these planes and I appreciate your continued effort uh to upgrade the facilities uh for all of these assets. And I want to emphasize that with the historic investments this committee uh has provided comes a responsibility to insure that the money is spent wisely. And I would ask that the Coast Guard remain committed to uh the production of acquisition briefings um and long-term planning documents that the committee requires in order to conduct uh oversight uh Admiral Lundy uh um Master Chief Waldron, um thank you again for um um for being here. Um, and I look forward to your testimony, and uh really appreciate um, I really appreciate what you all are doing in some very, very uh trying times. So thank you uh for your work, and uh thanks for being here. With that, I yield back.

Gentlemen yield, the chair now recognizes Mister Carvajal for his five minutes.

Thank you, Chairman Azalea, and uh thank you to the witnesses uh for being here today. Uh, welcome, Admiral Lunday and Master Chief Waldron. Unfortunately, we're holding today's hearing while the men and women serving in the Coast Guard are facing financial uncertainty. While I know that my Republican colleagues and I disagree about the direction of ICE and CBP, I hope we agree about the value of the Coast Guard. I urge my colleagues to support the bipartisan funding bill passed unanimously by the Senate that would provide financial certainty to the Coast Guard service members. Last year when we held this hearing, the Coast Guard was in the middle of great change across the board. The service was about to receive historic funding and reconciliation, and Coast Guard leaders were championing service-wide changes that were included in Force Design twenty-eight, even though that plan was and still is a relative mystery. I may not have agreed with the former secretary much, But she was right when she said that the Coast Guard has been neglected and under-resourced for far too long. Unfortunately, here we are a year later, and when I look at the budget, I remain just as concerned. Overall Coast Guard funding in the budget request increased by fifteen percent, which is great news. With the increasing demands being placed on the Coast Guard, it is appropriate that the budget allows for significant growth among service members. This funding increase is truly overdue and more than deserved. More Coast Guard is more Coast Guard is something everyone on this committee supports. Unfortunately, the budget takes a big s- step backward on recapitalizing the Coast Guard's shoreside infrastructure, reducing the PCNI funding by fifteen percent. Reconciliation funding becomes meaningless if it is not met with strong regular appropriations. The Government Accountability Office issued a report last year that found the Coast Guard's seven billion dollar es estimate for the shoreside infrastructure backlog is actually much higher due to over two hundred projects lacking cost estimates. A reduction at this stage is completely irresponsible and unacceptable. Budgets show priorities. This President's budget is a reflection of his values. At some point we must get past the awe of reconciliation and recognize that just like a ship takes years to build and requires regular maintenance, so do buildings, so do piers, so do homes, so do child care facilities. This is a people issue. I met a lot of service members and can say without hesitation they deserve better. I am hopeful that with some of the recent programmatic and procurement changes, we will be able to see effective management and better contracting decisions. I look forward to hearing about these changes and improvements in today's hearing. If the Coast Guard expects to grow the service by fifteen thousand members, it must continue to advocate for consti- consistency in funding and must focus on managing this recapitalization effort judiciously. Congress has the opportunity to right this ship And I look forward to talking to our witnesses about the needs of our future Coast Guard. With that, I yield back, Mr. Chairman.

Gentlemen yields, I now recognize Admiral Lundy for his five minutes opening statement.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Chairman Graves, Chairman Nizel, uh, Ranking Member Larson, uh, Ranking Member Carbajal, and distinguished members of this committee, thank you for the opportunity for both of us to testify today on behalf of the dedicated men and women of the United States Coast Guard. Mr. Chairman, I ask that my written testimony be entered into the record.

Without objection.

The Coast Guard is a vital instrument of national power that provides unprecedented value to the American people. We save lives. We control, secure and defend the U. S. border and maritime approaches. We facilitate commerce that's vital to U. S. economic prosperity. And we respond to crises or contingencies that come without warning. The American people depend on us. and we provide them a remarkable return on that investment. And we need that investment right now. Now, this hearing is about the fiscal year twenty-seven budget. Uh, but as you've already discussed in your opening statements, the reality today is the Coast Guard is operating in a crisis. Day seventy-four of a DHS lapse in appropriations. This is needlessly harming our people and hollowing out our readiness. Over six thousand Coast Guard units and homes are at risk of shut-off of electricity, water, and other utilities. And we've already suffered some shut-offs in the last week. Each day we're begging frustrated service providers to keep that power and water going, and we're destroying the trust of the local businesses, many of them small businesses, that are providing those critical services. We have a massive growing backlog, over eighteen thousand US merchant mariner credentials that are slowing progress at a time where the nation is trying to rebuild our maritime might. And it's also paralyzed our process to suspend or revoke the mariner credentials of U. S. mariners who engage in sexual assault. My greatest concern is the toll this is taking on our people and their families, the severe hardship and uncertainty not knowing whether they'll be paid after this week. Because of this lapse, thousands of military personnel are starting their summer transfers, but they can't get their advanced allowances, meaning they have to put significant debt on credit cards, deplete personal savings, or take out loans they can't afford. They're delaying major family expenses because of the uncertainty about pay, some even deferring on medical treatments, not sure whether they can manage the co-pay for insurance. For our civilians, the financial hardship of their going without two months of no pay has left them feeling betrayed. We thank the President for his bold, decisive action several weeks ago to insure all of our people were paid despite the lapse. and the Secretary's leadership and tenacity to fight for DHS funding. This committee knows us, knows the Coast Guard. You have always supported the Coast Guard and our people, and we ask for your continued strongest advocacy across Capitol Hill now for Congress to fund DHS and the Coast Guard and this lapse and pay our people and to never let this happen again. Now on to twenty twenty seven. With a strong support from this Congress, In a twenty-five billion dollar capital investment last year in new cutters, aircraft, shore facilities and technology, the Coast Guard is undergoing historic modernization. But buying new assets to recapitalize the fleet is only a down payment. As I've testified before, we're a twenty billion dollar Coast Guard that's not funded at that level. We need higher top-line growth in annual appropriations to conduct missions that meet the needs of the American people. The President's fiscal year twenty-seven budget request significantly advances the service in that direction, focused on three priorities. First, rebuilding readiness to our people. Our service readiness starts with the readiness of every Coast Guard man and woman and their families. They're our greatest treasure, and we must provide them with quality housing, child care, and support systems they need. The twenty-seven budget prioritizes them by funding a military pay raise with a targeted increase for junior personnel, providing them child care subsidies, on par with the other military services, and expanding Coast Guard medical and training support to give them what they need. Second, growing the workforce. To meet escalating global demands, the Coast Guard needs to grow by fifteen thousand. In twenty twenty-five, we achieved record recruiting results, the greatest since nineteen ninety-one. This budget request builds on that success, requesting five thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight new positions to expand recruiting capacity, stand up new operating forces, and crew our new assets. And finally, expanding our capabilities and infrastructure. This budget initiates the third stage of the offshore patrol cutter acquisition the backbone of our fleet. It also funds required shore infrastructure for new assets, including the first two Arctic security cutters, which will be home ported in the state of Alaska. By ending the current lapse in appropriations and supporting the President's fiscal year twenty-seven budget request, you will secure Coast Guard mission success well into the future. Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.

Thank you, Admiral. Master Chief, would you like to make an opening statement?

Thank you, Mister Chairman. Good morning, Chairman Graves, Chairman Ezell, Ranking Member Larson, Ranking Member Carvajal, and distinguished members of the subcommittee. Thank you all for the opportunity to testify today on behalf of the dedicated men of the United States Coast Guard. My name is Phil Waldron. I'm a second generation Coast Guardsman. And to me, the Coast Guard is a family business. This is the only job that I ever wanted to do, and I'm proud to serve not only as the fifteenth Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard, but I'm humbled to everyday get to put on the same uniform as the men and women who I personally consider heroes. Today's hearing is focused on the fiscal year twenty twenty-seven budget request, but my most sacred duty is to our workforce, and I owe it to them to speak plainly about their reality from the deck plates. Our total workforce has spent a majority of this fiscal year operating under uncertainty, fear, and anger caused by lapse in appropriations. The dangerous missions that our folks conduct every day, from hoisting survivors from freezing water to stopping smuggling vessels at night, requires their complete and total focus. That focus is dangerously fractured when they're worried about paying their rent or supporting their families. You are this service's greatest advocates. And I cannot stress enough the urgency for Congress to end this lapse and fully fund the U S Coast Guard. Every day, Coast Guard men and women put their lives on the line to protect, defend, and save. That work is performed by our total workforce, our active duty and reserve members, our dedicated civilian employees, our auxiliary, and our families who provide the vital support that our people rely on. Looking to the future, the Coast Guard is underway with our most transformation since World War Two. We're acquiring new assets and expanding our missions. But we're not forgetting our roots. And we know that new steel means nothing without supported, highly trained crews. The fiscal year twenty twenty-seven budget request is fundamentally an investment in those crews. It targets three critical areas for our workforce. First, individual and family readiness. Our service members and their families are integral parts of the communities where they serve. This budget requests fifty-three million dollars to expand medical care and personnel support at our bases and air stations. Crucially, it also requests thirty-nine million dollars to staff two new child development centers, and finally bring our workforce closer to the child care parity they deserve alongside their Department of War counterparts. Second, sustaining our recruiting momentum. In twenty twenty-five, we saw our greatest recruiting successes in decades. To keep that momentum and grow our force, this budget inc- has sixty-three million dollars to add more than three hundred positions to our talent acquisition workforce and open new recruiting offices across the country. Third, modernizing our training pipeline. When we bring in thousands of new recruits, we must get them trained and out to the fleet efficiently. This budget requests seventy-three million dollars to increase capacity across our training system. This will alleviate the immense strain on our training centers, which are currently operating above maximum capacity, and get our most junior members into their technical schools at a much faster pace. To keep pace with the growing demands placed on the Coast Guard, we need your support for timely, stable, consistent annual top-line growth. Funding the Coast Guard below this request jeopardizes the long-term readiness of the service putting American lives, national security, and economic prosperity at risk. I'm humbled to have the privilege to serve with and represent our total workforce, And by enacting an appropriation for fiscal year twenty twenty six, and supporting the fiscal year twenty twenty seven budget, now is the time to move the U S Coast Guard forward. Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.

Gentlemen yields. Briefly, I'll take a moment to explain the lighting system to our witnesses. There are three lights in front of you. Green means go, yellow means you're running out of time, red means put on brakes. I ask unanimous consent that the witnesses' full statements be included in the record. Without objection, so ordered. I ask unanimous consent that the record of today's hearing remain open until such time as our witnesses has provided answers to any questions that may be submitted to them in writing without objection, so ordered. I also ask unanimous consent that the ruma- record remain open for fifteen additional days for additional comments and information submitted by members or witnesses to be included in the record of today's hearing without objection, so ordered. As your written testimony has been made part of the record, the committee asks that you limit your all remarks to five minutes. Mm, yeah, well.

Questions.

Yeah. I now recognize myself for five minutes. Admiral Lundy, thank you again for being here today. Um, last year's reconciliation package provided the Coast Guard with a historic investment of nearly twenty-five billion. to procure an estimated seventeen new ice breakers, twenty-one new cutters, over forty helicopters, six C J six one thirty J aircraft, while modernizing shore infrastructure and maritime s- surveillance systems. For these assets to serve our vital national security missions and ensure safe commerce, the Coast Guard will need more infrastructure, housing, training, and people. Can you explain how your fiscal twenty twenty-seven budget supports these goals?

Uh, thank you for the question, Mr. Chairman. One of the things that I'm most proud about the President's strong support is that continues his focus as being an advocate for renewal of our Coast Guard, and along with the strong support of OMB and the Department of Homeland Security. Uh, this is reflected in clearly the historic investment that Congress also supported but also now and will be supported uh with the President's uh budget request for twenty-seven. It reflects a significant increase in our operating funds to grow the workforce, will need to crew and support all of the assets that uh the renewal and the uh Working Family Tax Cut Act is going to bring us. And so the um uh the budget request will bring five thousand seven hundred sixty-eight new people. Uh, so for example, Mister Chairman, of the eleven icebreakers, which are our top priority, the Arctic security cutters, for the nation. Uh, that requires, uh, thirteen hundred Coast Guard men and women just to crew, operate and maintain those eleven Arctic security cutters. And then we have additional people we need to recruit that workforce and then also to support them and take care of them. And so the budget request that has a significant increase, almost two billion dollars in ONS increase over the twenty-five CR amount is necessary for us to grow the workforce at the pace we need.

Thank you. Going forward, what's your plan to request the resources that the service requires in order to sustain its operations over the long term and fulfill the President's vision of a recapitalized Coast Guard?

Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. The the strength of the President's budget request in twenty-seven reflects our most immediate needs. Uh, but beyond the top line, we look forward to providing the committee and Congress with the unfunded priority list that reflects additional needs the service has as we grow toward that twenty billion dollar Coast Guard that the nation and the American people demand we uh we provide the services at.

Air and surface autonomous assets have the ability to serve as a multi-force multiplier to support the service's ability to execute search and rescue missions and confront drug and human traffickers. The reconciliation legislation provided significant for such systems. Can you speak a little bit of how the President's budget continues to support that?

Yes, sir. So the uh the President's budget request includes sixty-nine million dollars for additional long-range uh un- unmanned aerial systems. Uh, this is on top of the significant investment in the Working Family Tax Code Act uh for UAS. Um, the UAS that we operate, and its spans a range from short-range, medium-range, and long-range, And the twenty-seven budget request is for additional long-range UAS. That is proving to be game-changing technology that is enabling our crewed cutters and aircraft to be much more effective, from search and rescue to countering cartels by stopping the flow of illegal and dangerous drugs toward the United States and our communities. What we've proven with our mission success over the last fifteen months plus is that when it matters, the Coast Guard delivers. And so the investments in on crewed systems are vital to our ability to continue to deliver those mission results.

Thank you. And uh, just tell me a little bit how important these systems are for uh your capability and your growth.

Yes, yes, sir, and so those systems uh are are vital because um they enable us as a force multiplier. So one example, Mister Chairman, uh the Coast Guard Cutter Stone, one of our national security cutters in the fall was in the eastern Pacific under Operation Pacific Viper. Countering cartels that are moving uh, cocaine at bulk, and we're operating under a maritime law enforcement authority.

Mm-hmm.

Using onboard UAS, they were able to prosecute and take down, seize, and detain the um individuals aboard four separate go-fest vessels loaded with cocaine. Record breaking, we've never done four at once. Until about three weeks later when another national security guard or the James did exactly the same thing. And so we're breaking our own records with this new unmatched technology that we're bringing to bear.

Thank you, and I yield back my time, and I now recognize Mister Carbajal.

Thank you, Chairman Zell. I will yield uh to rank committee ranking member uh Larson.

Mister Larson.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, ranking member. Master Chief Waldron, thanks for being here today. Uh, we talked about recruitment. We talked about recruitment numbers today um as well. And we had a chance to talk about that and how the Coast Guard's exceeding last year's recruiting goals. But we haven't talked really about retention, both from the enlisted as well as the officer corps. And while each segment has its differences, uh, there are things that are consistent, health care, housing, medical, um, child care. So, there's been a recent spike in officer retirements. What are you seeing on the enlisted side?

Uh, thank you, sir. On the enlisted side, we're not seeing the spikes that we've seen, uh, on the officer corps. Uh, in fact, uh, our recruiting, uh, I'm sorry, our retention has remained relatively stable as of late. Uh, I'd be remiss to not point out that as we continue in a lapse, there's a lot of conversation amongst the crew that, uh, they wonder is this the job that I wanna continue doing whenever I'm not certain that I'm gonna continue getting paid. Uh, but as it stands right now, sir, our our retention is relatively stable across the enlisted side.

So, that aside, even though it's a reality, set that aside for a moment. What what do we need to ensure is happening so you can maintain that consistent retention

sir as the common uh stated a few minutes ago whenever he said that uh the readiness of the service begins with the individual readiness of our members and their families that's the side that i remain uh squarely focused on there and so when we talk about the uh the medical side of the house there um quite frankly we've struggled with medical care for our folks and their families over time uh a lot of that's just simply due to the size of our our medical force. For comparison, in the US Navy, the hospital corpsman rating is the largest rating in the Navy, whereas in the Coast Guard we have right now seven hundred and thirty-two health services technicians. Uh, in this budget is the provisions to increase our medical force by four hundred personnel, so that we can more adequately care for our own people. When you speak to the child care side of the things there, our larger bases, it's a little bit easier than some of our more disparate areas there. But that's why we built in the inclusion of two new child care facilities, uh, child development centers in Mobile, Alabama and Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

Mm.

For our folks that are located in the more re remote areas there, um, we lean heavily upon the local community there,

Mm.

and so there's provisions in there for making sure that we can adequately subsidize their child care.

Okay. Uh, Admiral, um, can you talk a little bit about this relationship between the service surpassance recruiting goals, the timeline to reconstitute stations that were closed or downgraded, and the um uh the PCI budget for shoreside inf- for uh shoreside infrastructure for buildings. Cuz you know, we need to be sure that all those match. As you're bringing people back and recruiting, you have places to put them and the places they're going are actually ready to receive them.

Yes, sir. Uh, so as you mentioned, uh, in twenty twenty three we began to uh change the forced posture, reduce the forced posture at many of our small boat stations uh throughout the United States particularly in the Great Lakes New England and Mid-Atlantic because we were ten percent short in our enlisted workforce. With significant investments in recruiting and strong support from Congress, we've made significant progress. We're now at ninety-seven percent ninety-seven percent of our strength, and now are poised to build on that momentum and grow the additional fifty over fifty seven hundred people supported by the president's budget. Um, these small small boat stations and other stations that you described, um, I've we're n- we never intended to close them and, uh, we're not going to close them. In fact, I've directed both of our senior operational commanders in the two areas to come back and provide me directions on how to begin to restore those forced posture at those stations. Uh, I know, we've heard from our members, um, and members of this committee certainly, uh, that they have the strongest support for the Coast Guard crews that work and live in their c- local communities. Uh, we could not ask for greater support for the American people. And so we have begun a process to, uh, restore that forced posture. And this request in the President's budget includes thirty f- of that, over fifty-seven hundred, thirty-five hundred of those personnel will be, uh, spread out, distributed to stations, bases, air stations, uh, to be able to to restore a workforce that has been stretched thin over the past several decades from underinvestment.

All right, well we'll do get some more follow-up on that, appreciate it, and I'll yield back. Yield back to the chair.

Gentlemen yields, the chair now recognizes Mister Webster for his five minutes of questions.

Thank you Mister Chairman, appreciate it, and uh Admiral Lunde and uh Master Chief Aldrin Appreciate your testimonies. Heartfelt and to the point. Not uh, not pressed, just there. And uh stating the facts. The fact is you're not getting paid and uh uh after this week um the money that was sort of added in on the side is going away. So anyway, I thought about how uh just uh the things you've said state the point, and I appreciate it. Thank you for what you've done. Thank you for what you're doing. Thank you for your members of your team, and uh for all the uh Coast Guard um members. Thank you for everything you've done. So, it's my understanding uh White House uh from the White House that the uh redirected funds for DHS will run out. sometime this week and the salaries will run out also so what uh Admiral Lunde what uh can you share what with the committee the impact of the not having the current funding would be on Coast Guard men and women

Yes sir so there's an immediate impact that I described uh in the opening about not being certain about their pay. But I think the greatest feeling is that, and the Met Master Chief of Staffs, the Coast Guard, spoke to this very powerfully. Uh, they've stepped forward to serve their country. Our Coast Guard men and women serve in a dangerous and unforgiving maritime environment, often against those who would do their harm do them harm. They're frequently cold, wet and tired, those out at the tactical edge. But they've, they've given up themselves to step forward and do this, taking an oath. And they simply expect that in response they're gonna be supported, uh, for the sacrifice that they're giving, because, and again, we're the only armed services, the only o- military service, uh, that is not within the Department of War, and so the only military service that's not being funded. My concern, sir, is that they will begin to lose heart. The, and, and they have not yet. They're still to getting the mission done. But they expect that they'll be supported, rightfully so. Um, that they're doing their part and that we will do our part as leaders. to give them the support that they need, including b- pay, so they can take care of their families.

Uh, Master Chief, do you have anything to add to that?

Thank you, sir. If I may, I'd like to take a moment and also focus on our civilian workforce. Uh, the week before last, I spent the week in southeast Alaska, and while I was traveling around, I met with our civilians at Base Ketchikan. One of the gentlemen that was in the room there that I spoke with was telling me about how a about a week before the uh the executive order came out to pay all of them, he had to sell his own vehicle uh just to make his rent payment. And this was a man that's still showing up to work every day and working at the base, that's kind of our functional equivalent to a West Coast shipyard. Without that staff of folks there, we wouldn't be repairing our ships on the West Coast right now. And he just sold his own vehicle just so that he could pay his rent and continue coming to work. Uh, so that's the impact that it's having on our civilian side. Um, on our active duty and reserve side, I'm just as concerned. With our civilians, though, they're the backbone that often gets uh their value gets understated, and I I would not feel right walking out of here without pointing out the impact that it's having to them as well, sir.

Yeah, so uh, Commendant, can you can you explain or speak to the purpose of increased growth?

I'm I'm sorry, the purpose of increased

Gross.

Yes, sir. And so we've seen this historic investment, the twenty five billion last year, that buys new cutters, aircraft, shore infrastructure and technology. Now we need the people to be able to accrue these assets. I mean, these assets are amazing, and the Arctic security cutters that the President announced last October, that we are building and will be the first assets we deliver in twenty twenty eight to meet the President's requirement. Uh, they don't become Coast Guard cutters because we paint them, with a stripe and put Coast Guard on the side. They only become cutters when we breathe life into them with the amazing Coast Guard men and women that are the best from across our nation, that we train and develop into professionals, starting at Cape May and then at future training centers, places like the new training center at Birmingham Southern. That's what makes it special. So this personnel growth is significant because it enables us to crew the assets and give our, uh, give our people the support and services they need to be successful.

Thank you very much. Uh, Yelbeck.

Gentlemen Yields, chair now recognizes Mister Carbajal.

Thank you, Mister Chair, Master Chief, uh, Waldron. Service members continue to be my top priority. When I talk to COSI's, I usually ask what concerns they have. A majority of the responses are somehow related to housing. And the other issue is health care access. How important is safe and affordable housing to service members?

Thank you, sir. As we were saying a little bit ago how the service readiness begins with the individual readiness of the crew members and their families, I think that we can't overstate how important it is that we focus on the little things that don't relate directly to the job because as we can remove those from their list of concerns they can focus more squarely on doing their jobs. Housing is always at the top of that list there, sir. And depending on where in the nation our folks are serving at, that may be a combination of Coast Guard owned housing, Coast Guard leased housing, a rout on the economy. When we focus on Coast Guard owned housing, um, we're growing that, and we need to continue growing that, sir. The predictability and the stability that comes with owning our own inventory of housing, uh, it's absolutely paramount. Beyond that, whenever we look at Coast Guard lease housing, that also alleviates the concerns from those folks and allows them to more efficiently do their jobs.

Thank you. In that same vein, we know the Coast Guard has conducted housing studies in concert with the Department of Defense. However, sometimes the outcomes have had the opposite effect of lowering housing subsidies rather than raising them. I was the Coast Guard advocating for commensurate housing subsidies to guarantee that coasties can afford to live in some of the highest cost living areas in the country.

Sir, when it comes to the the housing allowance, uh, that's one that we're tied to the Department of War on, and so I very frequently interact with the other services, senior enlisted advisors. So and, uh, and that's a topic that we need to take a, uh, a joint, uh, effort into making sure that we can address with parity.

Thank you. Um, I'll be visiting, uh, coasties uh housing in santa barbara in uh the next week or so uh if you don't know you might wanna connect with your people because i'm gonna be going and visiting the areas that uh were greatly dilapidated over the years and that you have been doing some work on as a result of our uh my office's inquiries uh admiral lunday while i'm glad that the coast guard is investing in housing in santa barbara I'm concerned that the shoreside infrastructure account in the President's budget is wholly inadequate. Given that the shoreside infrastructure backlog is over seven billion dollars and growing daily, what is your plan to ensure safe, affordable housing for service members?

Sure, thank you for the question and the stressed importance on housing. Uh, we have been making investments in housing and we've, uh, been providing, in terms of Coast Guard owned housing, and providing the highest quality housing that uh that our members deserve. And a great example of that is in places like Kodiak, Alaska, where last August, the Master Chief of Office of the Coast Guard and I, along with the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, opened that new section of housing. We need to continue to build uh housing in the areas where our Coast Guard people need it, especially where housing is not available on the economy. And so we look forward to continued investment, uh both within the President's budget request, but then in addition to that, uh as reflected uh will be reflected on on continued unfunded priorities, not only for FY twenty-six, but we look forward to delivering the unfunded priority list for FY twenty-seven.

Thank you. for the Coast Guard readiness often depends on regular dredging. In Santa Barbara and Morro Bay, we are at risk of serious impact on Coast Guard missions if the channel is not dredged. How is the Coast Guard working with the Army Corps of Engineers to ensure mission readiness in Santa Barbara and elsewhere across the country, like the Coast Guard Yard?

Um, I can remember thank you for your advocacy and the support of this committee for the six million dollars for the necessary dredging in Santa Barbara, which I understand was recently completed uh under the direction of the Corps of Engineers. We worked closely with the Corps to address those needs, but in Santa Barbara, uh specifically, uh we really needed the support there because the eighty-seven foot patrol boat was having difficulty before the dredging getting underway. So thank you for the support to be able to get that done.

Thank you. Um, I also wanted to draw that to your attention because, as was the case in fiscal year twenty-six, for fiscal year twenty-seven the President did not include funding for the Santa Barbara Harbor again. So we're gonna have to continue to work together as we did in twenty twenty-six to make sure that the funding is there for the dredging so that the Coast Guard could continue performing its missions there. With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

Gentlemen yields. Chair, and I'll recognize Mister McDowell for five minutes questioning.

Thank you, Chairman, and thank you, Admiral and Master Chief, for being with us today. And I, as I sit here, I've become incredibly angry because we have a job to do. And part of that job is to give you all the funding that you need. And every time that that has come up for me to vote for it, I've done that. Because I think it's important, the job that you're doing, that we fund you. So I I'm not gonna spend my entire time debating why or why not, uh, that - that my colleagues and - and the Senate have not passed, uh, this appropriations bill, but I - I do have one question. Who in this room, just by raise of hands, who is active duty in the Coast Guard? And how many of you all are married? How many of you have children? That's who we're not paying. their kids, their spouse, and them, that is who's not getting paid. We have to do our job. This is, it's ridiculous to me. Um Admiral, last month Admiral Allen was here and he testified that the Coast Guard currently has three cyber teams uh to respond to attacks against our maritime transportation system but that the Coast Guard really needed six. Um How does this budget address the Coast Guard's expanding responsibilities in in cyberspace?

Congressman, thank you for the question. Uh, our cyber capabilities, these cyber protection teams, which are really are part of the maneuver forces in cyberspace and operational domain are vital to our mission's success. And I was proud to command cyber command when we stood up the first one about a decade ago. So the President's twenty-seven budget advances our capability in a significant way. It will fund uh, build out of two additional cyber protection teams. When complete, that will bring us to five active duty cyber protection teams, and then a reserve cyber protection team, all that, although they focus and can def- they do defend our network, their primary focus is on defending US maritime critical infrastructure and then other critical infrastructure, against threats from uh China, Iran, North Korea, and other malign actors that are attempting to hold our infrastructure at risk. But with the strong support of the work of the Coast Guard, in conjunction with CISA and US Cyber Command, we will ensure that uh the US uh cannot be held at risk by adversaries.