House panel presses for details on CG plus-up

[unhappycamper]

House panel presses for details on CG plus-up
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Feb 26, 2008 18:18:54 EST

Members of a House panel on Monday pressed two top Coast Guardsmen for details on the service’s fiscal 2009 budget request, asking — at times pointedly — for more information about the lifesaving service’s goals for bigger end strength and its oversight on the failed 123-foot patrol boat conversion project.

Coast Guard Chief of Staff Vice Adm. Robert Papp and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Charles Bowen appeared on Capitol Hill before members of the House Transportation Subcommittee on the Coast Guard.

Minnesota Democratic Rep. James Oberstar, chairman of the full House Transportation Committee, asked Papp to elaborate on recent hints dropped around Washington by top Coast Guardsmen that it needs more people to meet its broadening portfolio of responsibilities. Papp, like Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen before him, demurred from giving a number or an estimate: “I don’t know how big the Coast Guard should be, but I now that it’s too small now,” he said.

“I think you know what you need,” Oberstar said, but Coast Guard officials have been pressured by the White House Office of Management and Budget not to disclose how much they want to grow the force until after the current cycle of budget approval, he said.

Not so, Papp insisted — the Coast Guard’s senior leadership just wants to “start a discussion” with Congress and federal officials about how much it should grow before it begins seriously getting into those details.

Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/02/coastguard_budget_hearing_080226w/