The Coast Guard is one of the United States’ most valuable national security assets. But despite its significant role in keeping our nation safe, the U.S. Coast Guard is yet again facing drastic budget slashing—the Obama administration intends to cut the organization’s funding by 3 percent in the 2011 fiscal year. These cuts come at a time when other branches of the military continue to receive record and ever-growing funding.
Threats to U.S. safety are now less military in nature than in the past. Environmental, economic, terrorist, and natural disasters are becoming increasingly common while the probability of full-scale military invasion is becoming less and less likely. The Coast Guard is inherently built to address the former types of threats, making it imperative that our government gets serious about supporting the organization to the fullest extent.
Current developments have shown how important the Coast Guard is. The Coast Guard has shouldered the burden of responding to the monumental BP disaster, and if we learn anything from this present situation, it’s that we can’t afford to neglect an organization charged with so much responsibility. By sensibly rolling back the DoD’s massive $700 billion annual budget (much of which goes toward funding weapons technology designed to fight the wars of previous eras), in order to increase funding for the Coast Guard, the United States can significantly bolster its security now and for the future.
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