Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) on Tuesday released his funding recommendations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in FY ’18, including construction of a 10th National Security Cutter (NSC) for the Coast Guard and long-lead material funds for the 11th vessel.
The Coast Guard’s program of record for the 418-foot high-endurance NSCs is eight ships but Cochran has said he wants 12 of the vessels, which would equal a one-for-one replacement for the retiring Hamilton-class high endurance cutters. The NSCs feature more sophisticated C4ISR capabilities than the cutters they are replacing, a key reason the service originally settled on eight ships to do the work of the 12 aging 378-foot Hamilton-class vessels.
But Cochran, in an explanatory statement accompanying his mark of the DHS appropriations bill, says the challenges and threats the Coast Guard is facing have increased since the NSC program was envisioned, necessitating more of the vessels than planned.
“Additionally, concepts initiated by the Coast Guard that underpinned the assumption that 12 High Endurance Cutters could be replaced with fewer NSCs have proven ineffective,” the explanatory statement says. It also says that of late the Coast Guard’s leadership has told the committee that a 10th NSC would help it perform its missions.
In July the House Appropriations Committee marked up its version of the FY ’18 DHS spending bill that didn’t include construction of a 10th NSC.
The NSCs are built by Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] in Cochran’s state. So far the company has delivered six NSCs and is scheduled to deliver the eighth and ninth vessels in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Last December, the Coast Guard awarded HII a $486 million contract to construct the ninth NSC.
Cochran’s mark, which takes the place of a markup by the full committee, recommends $540 million to build the 10th NSC and $95 million in long-lead funding for the 11th cutter.
Overall, the chairman’s mark would provide $1.8 billion for Coast Guard acquisition programs, about $600 million more than the Trump administration requested.
The bill would also fund four Fast Response Cutters (FRC) at $240 million, construction of the service’s top acquisition priority, the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC), and $19 million to continue laying the groundwork for the Heavy Polar Icebreaker program. The FRC, OPC and icebreaker recommendations are in line with the administration’s requests and the markup by House appropriators. Bollinger Shipyards builds the FRC and Eastern Shipbuilding is the contractor for the OPC.
Cochran’s DHS bill provides $44.1 billion in net discretionary funding for the department, about $250 million less than House appropriators recommend. The two committees will iron out any differences before their final bill goes to their respective chambers for a vote.
The government’s fiscal year 2018 began on Oct. 1 but is currently funded through a continuing resolution that expires on Dec. 8.
The bill also includes $1.6 billion toward construction of border walls along portions of the southern U.S. border, a line item opposed by Democrats on the committee.
“Building a wall along our southern border is a waste of taxpayer dollars and an insult to our neighbor to the South,” Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the ranking member on the committee, said in a statement. “To pay for Trump’s wall, vital programs have been slashed out of this bill, which will make our country less safe. This is bumper sticker budgeting at its worst, and it is why it is important that we reach a bipartisan budget deal as soon as possible.”
The Trump administration has yet to provide Congress with a strategy for its border security needs and requirements. Cochran says the “Committee continues to believe that a more detailed plan is necessary to accurately estimate future costs, specifically regarding the design and construction of a physical barrier along parts of the southern border.” He wants Customs and Border Protection, the arm of DHS responsible for border security, to provide his committee a plan within 120 days of the bill becoming law of how each border sector will be secured, including cost estimates and types for physical barriers or technology needed along every mile of the border.
Under Trump, DHS is emphasizing physical barriers over technology to secure the nation’s southern border. Cochran’s technology recommendations for sensors along the border include $17.4 million for the Integrated Fixed Towers supplied by Elbit Systems [ESLT], $1.6 million for Mobile Video Surveillance Systems, and $8 million above the request other mobile surveillance capabilities.