Other mission areas, most notably drug  interdiction, have declined substantially as a percentage of the operating  budget. Security Emphasis Continues to Affect Levels of Effort in Some Missions

The emphasis the Coast Guard placed on security after September 11th  has had varying effects on its level of effort among all of its missions, as  measured by the extent to which multiple-mission resources (cutters,  other boats, and aircraft) are used for a particular mission. Other missions, such as search and rescue and aids to  navigation remained at essentially the same levels as they were before  September 11th. However, the level of effort for other missions, most  notably the interdiction of illegal drugs and fisheries enforcement, is  substantially below pre-September 11th levels. Coastal security  has seen the most dramatic increase from pre-September 11th levels. For example, during  the first quarter of 2003, the level of effort in this area was 28 percent  higher than it was for the comparable period in 1998. Although search and rescue boats and buoy tenders were used  to perform homeland security functions immediately after September 11th,  their doing so did not materially affect the Coast Guard’s ability to carry  out its search and rescue or aids to navigation missions. The reduced level of effort dedicated to  these two missions is likely linked to the Coast Guard’s inability to meet  its performance goals in these two areas. Fiscal Year 2004 Budget Request Will Not Substantially Alter Current Levels of Effort

The Coast Guard’s budget request for fiscal year 2004 does not contain  initiatives or proposals that would substantially alter the current  distribution of levels of effort among mission areas. Significant Challenges Raise Concerns About Coast Guard’s Ability to Accomplish Its Diverse Missions

Despite the billion-dollar (19 percent) budget increase it has received over  the past 2 years, the Coast Guard faces fundamental challenges in  attempting to accomplish everything that has come to be expected of it. Given the funding levels for the  project, these conversions and upgrades have been slowed. Some New Homeland Security Duties Are Not Fully Factored into the Coast Guard’s Distribution of Resources

A second challenge is that the Coast Guard has been tasked with a myriad  of new homeland security requirements since the fiscal year 2004 budget  request was formulated and will have to meet many of these requirements  by pulling resources from other activities. Several Types of Actions Needed to Address Challenges

In previous work, we have examined some of the implications of the Coast  Guard’s new operating environment on the agency’s ability to fulfill its  various missions. One important effort that has received  relatively little attention, in the understandable need to first put increased  homeland security responsibilities in place, is the development of a plan  that proactively addresses how the Coast Guard should manage its various  missions in light of its new operating reality. But it  is important to complete this plan and address in it key elements and  issues so that it is both comprehensive and useful to decision makers who  must make difficult policy and budget choices. The Coast Guard needs a plan  that will help the agency, the Congress, and the public understand and  effectively deal with trade-offs and their potential impacts in such  circumstances.
Why GAO Did This Study

The September 11th attacks decidedly changed the Coast Guard's priorities and markedly increased its scope of activities. Homeland security, a long-standing but relatively small part of the Coast Guard's duties, took center stage. Still, the Coast Guard remains responsible for many other missions important to the nation's interests, such as helping stem the flow of drugs and illegal migration, protecting important fishing grounds, and responding to marine pollution. For the past several years, the Coast Guard has received substantial increases in its budget to accommodate its increased responsibilities. GAO was asked to review the Coast Guard's most recent level of effort on its various missions and compare them to past levels, analyze the implications of the proposed 2004 budget for these levels of effort, and discuss the challenges the Coast Guard faces in balancing and maximizing the effectiveness of all its missions.

What GAO Found

The most recent levels of effort for the Coast Guard's various missions show clearly the dramatic shifts that have occurred among its missions since the September 11th attacks. Predictably, levels of effort related to homeland security remain at much higher levels than before September 11th. Levels of effort for two major nonsecurity missions--search and rescue and aids to navigational--are now relatively consistent with historical levels. By contrast, several other missions--most notably fisheries enforcement and drug interdiction--dropped sharply after September 11th and remain substantially below historical levels. Although the Coast Guard has stated that its aim is to increase efforts in the missions that have declined, continued homeland security and defense demands make it unlikely that the agency, in the short run, can deliver on this goal. The 2004 budget request contains little that would appear to substantially alter the existing levels of effort among missions. The initiatives in the proposed budget relate mainly to enhancing homeland security and search and rescue missions. Although the 2004 budget request represents a sizeable increase in funding (9.6 percent), the Coast Guard still faces fundamental challenges in meeting its new security-related responsibilities while rebuilding its capacity to accomplish other missions that have declined. Given the likely constraints on the federal budget in future years, it is important for the Coast Guard to identify the likely level of effort for each of its missions; lay out a plan for achieving these levels; and tie these levels to measurable outputs and goals, so that the agency and the Congress can better decide how limited dollars should be spent.