Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2342 - Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1987

(House)
(Hutto (D) Florida and 3 others)

The administration opposes enactment of H.R. 2342 unless it is amended to:

— authorize appropriations for fiscal year 1988 of $1,934,813,000 for operations (instead of $2,006,000,000), and $277,893,000 for acquisition (instead of $373,000,000);

— authorize appropriations for research and development (R&D) for fiscal year 1988 of $20,119,000 instead of $21,069,000 (the additional $950,000 for a logistics supply vessel for oil spill clean ups is an inappropriate use of R&D funds);

— delete section 5, which would continue limitations on contracting which inhibit the Coast Guard's ability to operate its facilities in the most cost efficient manner;

— delete section 7, which requires Coast Guard vessel and related construction in U.S. shipyards, because it (l) is not necessary to meet national defense requirements; (2) could undermine efforts to increase U.S. exports by encouraging our trading partners to adopt their own buy-national requirements; and (3) would restrict the Coast Guard's ability to accept the most cost effective bids for such construction;

— amend section 8 to raise the threshold for coverage of Coast Guard contracts under the Davis-Bacon and Service Contract Acts to $100,000, rather than $25,000;

— delete section 11, concerning disposal of Coast Guard property owned in Palm Beach County, Florida, because it is contrary to existing law governing the disposal of real property owned by the Federal Government;

— delete section 12, which would establish a National Offshore Vessel Operators Safety Advisory Committee, because it would impair the Secretary of Transportation's ability to address changing offshore safety issues in a flexible manner; and

— delete section 23, which would declare the bridge between East Hannibal, Illinois, and Hannibal, Missouri, an unreasonable obstruction to navigation, because it interferes with the Secretary of Transportation's authority to so designate such obstructions in an orderly and objective manner and would make the bridge eligible for Federal financial assistance for which it might not otherwise be eligible.