November 20, 2002
Wednesday - 12:05 am

Late Tuesday, by a vote of 90-9, the Senate passed a bill creating a Department of Homeland Security. Senate passage represents the last major hurdle before the bill can be sent to the President for his signature.

The legislation includes language originally developed by Senators Stevens and Collins to preserve the Coast Guard's traditional and essential non-homeland security missions, such as search and rescue, fisheries enforcement, aids to navigation, maritime boundary patrols

"All of the Coast Guard's missions are critical to the well-being of Alaskans..." Sen. Ted Stevens

in the Bering Sea, ice operations, and marine environmental protection.

Speaking on the Senate floor in support of the homeland security legislation, Stevens said, "We all recognize the critical homeland security missions the Coast Guard performs. However, it is just as critical to the United States that the Coast Guard effectively and successfully accomplish its non-homeland security missions. The criticality of these non-homeland security missions extends far beyond the 30 coastal and Great Lake states. These non-homeland security missions affect the maritime safety, law enforcement, environmental conditions, and economic security of our entire nation."

"All of the Coast Guard's missions are critical to the well-being of Alaskans, and we rely on the Coast Guard virtually every day for protection and assistance in these mission areas. Since September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard has assumed greatly expanded homeland security responsibilities without seeing a reduction in its non-homeland security requirements. This is a strong justification for allocating even more total resources to the Coast Guard on an annual and long-term basis," continued Stevens.

"This legislation further reinforces and protects the Coast Guard's non-homeland security missions and capabilities by preventing the diversion of any mission, function, or asset - including ships, aircraft, and helicopters - to the principal and continuing use of any other organization, unit, or entity of the Homeland Security Department. This restriction is intended to minimize, if not eliminate, any prospect of the diversion from the Coast Guard of the personnel, equipment or other resources needed to perform its non-homeland security missions," added Stevens.

Source of News Release:

Office of Senator Ted Stevens
Web Site

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