Home / calendar

Hearing

Finding Your Way: The Future of Federal Aids to Navigation

2253 Rayburn House Office Building

f t # e
0 Tuesday, February 04, 2014 @ 10:00 |


Summary of Subject Matter
Official Hearing Transcript

Witnesses:

Panel I

  • Rear Admiral Joseph Servidio, Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy, United States Coast Guard | Written Testimony
  • Rear Admiral Gerd F. Glang, Director, Office of Coast Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | Written Testimony
  • Jim Hannon, Chief, Operations and Regulatory Division, United States Army Corps of Engineers | Written Testimony

    • Panel II

  • Dana Goward, President, Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation | Written Testimony
  • Dr. Larry Mayer, Professor and Director, Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center | Written Testimony
  • Scott Perkins, GISP; on behalf of Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors | Written Testimony
  • Captain Lynn Korwatch, Executive Director, Marine Exchange of the San Francisco Bay Region | Written Testimony

    • Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-CA)

    Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
    Hearing on  “Finding Your Way:  The Future of Federal Navigation Programs”

    February 4, 2014
    Opening Statement
    (Remarks as Prepared)

     

    The Subcommittee is meeting today to review the future of the federal government’s navigation programs.  I want to thank and commend Ranking Member Garamendi for requesting the Subcommittee explore this important topic.

    We rely on the navigation activities of the Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers, and NOAA to provide for a safe, secure, and efficient marine transportation system that forms the backbone of our economy.  The maritime sector contributes more than $650 billion annually to the U.S. gross domestic product and sustains more than 13 million jobs.  Nearly 100 percent of our overseas trade enters or leaves the U.S. by vessels navigating the marine transportation system. 

    To maintain this economic output, facilitate the efficient movement of goods, protect the environment, and ensure the safety and security of marine transportation system, the navigable waters of the United States are charted, marked, and dredged on a regular basis.  NOAA is tasked with surveying and producing over 1,000 nautical charts covering 95,000 miles of shoreline and 3.4 million square nautical miles of waters; the Corps is responsible for surveying and maintaining the depth of nearly 25,000 miles of federal navigation channels throughout the country; and the Coast Guard is charged with the maintenance of over 50,000 federal government-owned buoys, beacons, and other aids-to-navigation that mark 25,000 miles of waterways.

    In fiscal year 2013, NOAA, the Corps, and the Coast Guard spent over $2.5 billion to carry out these navigation missions.  In light of the current budget environment, I am interested in exploring ways to carry out these missions in a more cost effective manner, while also ensuring the safety, security, efficiency of our waterways.

    In an age of electronic communications and digital technology, I am interested in the savings and efficiencies that can be gained through an e-navigation system, as well as the progress we have made in implementing e-navigation.  However, I am also concerned that as an e-navigation system is built out, adequate redundancies and back-up systems are put in place to ensure safety.  

    In order to grow jobs and remain competitive in a global economy, we must build and maintain a world-class navigation system.  I look forward to hearing from our witnesses what progress they have made toward making such a system a reality.

    #   #   #
    Tags:
    f t # e