Hal Rogers: “Like the chairman, I am sympathetic with the gentleman's concern about funding for REAL ID. It is a mandate that we put…”

“Like the chairman, I am sympathetic with the gentleman's concern about funding for REAL ID. It is a mandate that we put on the States that we need to match money for. And we've done that. As the chairman indicated, there's $50 million in this bill which was unrequested by the administration. In addition to that, there's $40 million that was put in this program in '06 and most of that is unobligated. So there will be around $90 million that REAL ID has. So there's plenty of money, I think, in the REAL ID program. The gentleman, I think, should be pleased with that. But at the same time, I must say that we can't afford to take more money out of the Deepwater program. This subcommittee has maintained aggressive oversight of that program. But this bill also makes, as the chairman said, substantial cuts already of almost $200 million to Deepwater that will, in effect, slow down the program's acquisition schedule and delay the much-needed modernization of the Coast Guard's ships and aircraft. Specifically, the bill cuts $60 million from the National Security Cutter, $70 million from the Maritime Patrol Aircraft, and over $50 million from the Fast Response Cutter. Now, those reductions are made in the name of good oversight, but I fear that the security of shores will be further delayed by these sizable reductions, and may unnecessarily prolong the operation of antiquated systems, some dating back to World War II.”