WASHINGTON, DC – Following news reports that the Trump Administration plans to slash U.S. Coast Guard funding -- as well as other vital programs that help keep Americans safe -- U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, is vowing to oppose the cuts, which he says “are short-sighted and would make us less safe.”

The New York Times reported today that the Trump Administration is planning a 14 percent cut to the Coast Guard’s $9.1 billion annual budget and with the intention of redirecting a significant portion of the money toward building a wall along the southern border.  Such a severe cut would cause a ripple effect across the Coast Guard’s essential missions, which include: maritime safety and security; border protection; and drug interdiction.

Reed noted that cutting the Coast Guard “would be disastrous for Rhode Island and other coastal states.  These cuts could have negative impact on boater safety; life-saving search and rescue capabilities; and port security.  President Trump seems to be essentially proposing devastating cuts to the Coast Guard and other proven programs in order to fund a wasteful, $25 billion border wall that experts tell us will not be effective.”

Rhode Island is the homeport for three Coast Guard buoy tenders (the Ida Lewis, the Oak, and the Juniper), as well as a new shore support facility at Naval Station Newport.  The Ocean State is also the home of the Coast Guard’s Civil Engineering Unit for the Northeast, which is located in Warwick.  An Aids-to-Navigation unit is located in Bristol, and the state is also home to waterway management, enforcement, and other Coast Guard functions, which are based in East Providence.  Finally, the Coast Guard operates stations at Castle Hill, Point Judith, and seasonally on Block Island.

“Like their counterparts in other branches of our uniformed services, the men and women of the Coast Guard are asked to make extraordinary sacrifices and face tremendous demands every day.  These kinds of budget cuts would impede its ability to effectively carry out its missions, such as search and rescue, drug interdiction, maintaining aids to navigation, and ensuring maritime safety,” stated Reed, who noted that, as a service funded largely out of the non-defense budget, the Coast Guard has been challenged in recent years by budget caps and forced to balance the needs of its personnel and the need to recapitalize its fleet and equipment.  “President Trump can’t protect the nation by simply building a wall and talking more about bombs.  We need to make smart, strategic decisions about allocating limited resources.  So far, the President has just thrown out arbitrary numbers without a strategy to match, and the numbers we’ve seen have been troubling to say the least.”

Reed continued: “At a time when the Trump Administration is talking tough about protecting U.S. borders, it frankly defies logic for the President to contemplate a $1.3 billion plus cut to our Coast Guard, which is integral to protecting our borders and citizens.  The fact that such sharp cuts are on the table show how far-reaching and irresponsible the President’s plan to cut $54 billion from the non-defense budget is.” 

“The President’s spending proposals must go through Congress.  I am going to work hard in the Appropriations Committee to reverse these and other ill-advised cuts and ensure the Coast Guard and other critical programs get the funding they need to serve and protect Rhode Island and our nation,” Reed concluded.