Cutting money from the Coast Guard while talking about military build up and protecting the nation is absolutely the dumbest of reasoning. The Coast Guard has many functions that protect us whether it helping the DEA find drug smugglers or ICE/Border Patrol locate illegals, cutting their budget is just wrong – PB/TK
Trump Coast Guard Budget Cut Triggers Protest From Bipartisan Group By Vishakha Sonawane 03/14/17
President Donald Trump’s proposal to cut the Coast Guard budget by $1.3 billion has triggered protest from a bipartisan group of House lawmakers who, in a letter Monday, asked appropriators to reject the plan.
Led by Coast Guard and Maritime subcommittee chairman Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-California), the lawmakers sent the letter to the Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee calling the budget cut “nonsensical.” They also said the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) seemed to be rejecting the Coast Guard’s role as a branch of the U.S. military.
“It’s nonsensical to pursue a policy of rebuilding the Armed Forces while proposing large reductions to the U.S. Coast Guard budget,” the letter read. “Without question, OMB’s proposed cut targeting the Coast Guard directly contradicts the President’s stated goals and should be dismissed.”
“Our recommendation is that OMB’s financial outline, specific to the Coast Guard, be rejected on the grounds that, if implemented, it would serve to the detriment of U.S. national security and create exposures that will most certainly be exploited by transnational criminal networks and other dangerous actors,” the letter stated.
Furthermore, they noted that in order to fortify the southern border of the country from drugs and illegal immigrants, the Coast Guard’s budget should get a hike. At present, the Coast Guard operates with a $9.1 billion annual budget.
Continue to ibtimes.com article: http://www.ibtimes.com/trump-coast-guard-budget-cut-triggers-protest-bipartisan-group-2507733
