WASHINGTON REPORT

Sea Power, Jun 2005 by Klamper, Amy

Lawmakers Swap Tanker Funds From Marines to Air Force

The Marine Corps last month saw the majority of its fiscal 2006 funding request for new aerial refueling tankers slashed by House and Senate authorizers, though congressional sources say the Corps ultimately could benefit from the $735 million reduction.

House and Senate versions of the fiscal 2006 defense authorization bill cut the requested number of Marine Corps KC-130J tankers from 12 to four, using the funding to add nine Air Force C-130Js to the budget. But the Senate version of the legislation would add funds to sustain the Marines' existing tanker fleet.

The tanker sustainment money shows the lengths to which Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., and Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain went to ensure that the services needs were addressed, a Senate aide said.

"There was an overwhelming concern in the Senate Armed Services Committee for the Marine Corps variant," the aide said, despite the decision to reduce the KC-130J buy.

But Senate sources say lawmakers could do more to help the Marines, and that more could have been done to keep the planned 12 KC-130Js on track.

A second Senate source said, "We probably shouldn't transfer money between the Marine Corps and Air Force accounts. There will be an effort to help the Marine Corps in future years."

The president did not request the nine Air force C-130Js in his original defense budget request for fiscal 2006 in May, as lawmakers began deliberations on the spending bill. However, Pentagon leaders had an apparent change of heart. A backdoor attempt was made to raid the Marines' $1.1 billion pot requested for the 12 KC-130Js in an effort to restore the Air Force funds, although officials at the White House Office of Management and Budget refused to approve the 11th-hour shift, the Senate source said.

In addition, "there was disagreement among senior Pentagon officials," regarding the KC-130J funds, according to the Senate source. "But what they're being promised is ... that the Marines will get their variant over a stretched period of time that will take longer" than originally planned in the fiscal 2006 budget request.

In addition to the extra tanker money, the Marines stand to benefit from the Senate mark, which added $246.8 million to the Navy and Marine Corps research and development coffers and authorized an extra $20 million for Marine Corps helicopter upgrades.

Other plus-ups that could indirectly benefit the Marines include $500 million for rapid development of new technologies and tactics to counter the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq, as well as an extra $120 million above the president's budget request for up-armored Humvees to protect troops from the IED threat. However, this additional money would be applied at the discretion of Army leaders. Last year, the Marines implemented their own effort to equip their nearly 3,000 Humvees in Iraq with additional armor by the end of 2005.

Still, committee members remain "very concerned about the Marine Corps," the Senate aide said.

Coast Guard in Uphill Struggle on Deepwater

The Coast Guard may be facing an uphill battle this summer to restore $466 million - almost half of the requested budget - in funding for its Deepwater modernization program. The funding request was axed by House appropriators seeking better insight into the service's modernization plans.

The Bush administration is requesting $966 million for Deepwater in fiscal 2006. But last month, the House Appropriations Homeland security Subcommittee, led by Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky, reduced the funding because it was unhappy with the information provided by the Coast Guard to justify planned program expenditures.

However, Deepwater may get a smoother ride in the Senate, where 14 members - seven Republicans and seven Democrats - told Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., chairman of the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, that $966 million is woefully insufficient. In an April 8 letter, they recommended 2006 funding of $1.67 billion. The senators, including Trent Lott, R-Miss.; Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.; Mary Landrieu, D-La.; and John Cornyn, R-Texas; noted that the existing Coast Guard fleet is deteriorating rapidly, consuming an ever-larger share of Deepwater funds. In 2003, 7 percent of Deepwater's budget was spent on maintenance. In 2006, that figure would rise to 25 percent.

Deepwater, the Coast Guard's acquisition plan to replace its aging fleet of cutters, aircraft, and communications and intelligence systems, is expected to cost as much as $24 billion over the next 20-25 years.

Last year's appropriations bill called on the Coast Guard to update the House and Senate appropriations committees with a new baseline plan for Deepwater, as well as a report on the status of the service's legacy assets. Both reports were late, and House lawmakers have criticized the "Revised Deepwater Implementation Plan 2005" for its lack of detail.

Although the cuts came as a surprise to the service, Adm. Thomas H. Collins, Coast Guard commandant, noted that the House subcommittee action was merely the first step in the fiscal 2006 appropriations process. The cuts could survive full committee and House floor action, but the proposal must be reconciled with the Senate version of the fiscal 2006 appropriations bill this year.