WASHINGTON, DC – Wednesday morning, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell’s Deepwater bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent. The bill would ensure open competition for future Deepwater contracts, end Coast Guard reliance on a single private sector entity to oversee the entire project, and mandate better technical oversight by Coast Guard engineering staff. The legislation has been endorsed by Taxpayers for Common Sense, Citizens Against Government Waste, and the National Taxpayers Union because of the steps it would take to end the waste of taxpayer dollars and demand comprehensive accountability and transparency. 

 

“Today we have taken a major step towards securing a strong Coast Guard for the future while ending the waste of taxpayer dollars,”said Cantwell, chair of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and the Coast Guard.  “As Chair, vigorous oversight of the Deepwater Program is one of my top priorities.  The problems and abuses that have come to light over the past year are inexcusable, and I am absolutely committed to ensuring they aren’t repeated.  Those who serve in the Coast Guard and all of us who depend on them demand that we do better.”

The Deepwater program is the Coast Guard’s $24 billion effort to modernize its aging fleet—most of which dates from the 1950s and 1960s—of approximately 90 cutters and 200 aircraft used in missions more than 50 miles off the coastline. It is the largest procurement effort in the Coast Guard’s history. Through Deepwater, the Coast Guard plans to acquire three major classes of new cutters, new small boats, new or upgraded aircraft, modernized helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), all linked by state-of-the-art command, control, and communication systems.

 

Over the past year, numerous reports from the GAO and the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General have outlined the Deepwater Program’s extensive problems.  For example, the first two National Security Cutters—Deepwater’s flagship vessels—are hundreds of millions of dollars over-budget, and the contractor’s design fails to meet the Coast Guard’s performance requirements.   Eight patrol boats rebuilt at a cost of over $100 million were engineered so poorly that the ships cracked and have been decommissioned by the Coast Guard because they are no longer seaworthy.

 

Throughout the year, Senator Cantwell has engaged in vigorous oversight of the Deepwater program.  On February 14, 2007, Cantwell chaired a subcommittee hearing to review Deepwater problems reported by the GAO and Inspector General.  In March, Cantwell and Senator Snowe sent a letter to Commandant Allen calling on him to work with the Justice Department to ensure taxpayers are not burdened with National Security Cutter cost overruns, and to implement the significant changes needed to correct Deepwater's widespread problems. Cantwell and Snowe also sent a letter to Inspector General Skinner asking him to review and report on the Coast Guard's plans to hold ICGS accountable for failures to meet contract requirements.  In late June, Cantwell successfully passed an amendment on the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill requiring the Coast Guard to halt all new acquisitions under the Deepwater until a comprehensive “alternatives analysis” reviewing the program is completed by an independent third-party.  This provision was also included in the Omnibus appropriations bill recently passed by Congress.

 

The House of Representatives companion to Senator Cantwell’s Deepwater bill, introduced by Congressmen Elijah Cummings (D-MD), passed the House on July 31. Differences in the two bills will be resolved during conference negotiations.