Those who served, and those who continue to serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard took an oath to uphold and protect the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, and we can never forget the importance of their commitment to our Nation.
The favorite thing I like to do is nothing. I'm such an expert at doing nothing. I have a boat. I make training films for the Coast Guard. I listen to a great deal of opera.
First at the outset, let me commend the great men and women of the United States Coast Guard for what they do.
The Coast Guard has long been known as the armed service that gets more done for less.
The Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act is an important authorization for our country and for our citizens, as we have seen so vividly in the last few weeks.
Thank God we're going to try to continue and effectively defend our frontiers with the Border Patrol, with the Customs Department, with the Coast Guard, with the Armed Forces.
Our ports are owned by local governments who are responsible for the ports. It is the Coast Guard and Customs that provide security. The federal government will never outsource our security.
I think in the wake of Katrina, the Coast Guard may well have been the only entity or agency that came out of that exercise free of fault and free of blame.
We've done it in intelligence sharing and certain elements of security. There were parts of the department, in fact, that worked very well in Katrina, like the Coast Guard and TSA.
These vessels are out of sight, out of mind. They are exempt from minimum-wage requirements, from Coast Guard inspections, OSHA regulations and other safety laws.