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Mr. Chairman, I want to begin by commending you for leading another open, collaborative, and bipartisan process in constructing the appropriations bill the subcommittee is considering today. We will never agree on every issue or funding level, but you and your staff have consistently worked with our side of the aisle in good faith, and have accommodated members of both parties in many instances. So I will be supporting the chairman's mark, and I encourage my colleagues to do the same.
Administrator Fugate, thank you for joining us this morning to discuss FEMA's proposed budget for fiscal year 2015. Your tenure has been a busy one, particularly in 2011, which brought a record high 99 Major Disaster Declarations, along with 29 Emergency Declarations and 114 Fire Management Assistance Declarations, also a record level. Since 2011, we have seen an additional 109 Major Declarations, including of course Superstorm Sandy in 2012 – the biggest test of FEMA's capabilities since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Administrator Pistole, thank you for joining us this morning to discuss the Transportation Security Administration's budget request for fiscal year 2015. Your agency has a uniquely difficult task: broadly securing the transportation sector, including not only aviation, but also rail, mass transit, highways, and pipelines.
Good morning gentlemen. We appreciate your appearing before the subcommittee, and we appreciate your service to the country, particularly during this time of transition for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. I am hopeful that an individual will soon be nominated to be the Director of ICE; that is all the more important in light of the national debate we continue to have about reforming the immigration system. But for this morning, I am happy to have the benefit of your expertise and experience.
Admiral Papp, we are glad to have you before the subcommittee today to discuss the Coast Guard's budget request for fiscal year 2015. And because this is your last appearance before the subcommittee to testify in support of the Coast Guard's budget as Commandant, I want to take the opportunity to thank you for your service: to the Coast Guard, the Department of Homeland Security, and the nation.
The Coast Guard budget request is for $8.1 billion in discretionary funding, a cut of $364.1 million, or 4.5 percent, from the current year appropriation.