Senators appeal for increased Coast Guard funds

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The Coast Guard needs additional funding for port security, two senators wrote to the Bush administration on Friday.

"As the committee that crafted the legislation establishing the Department of Homeland Security, we continue to focus on our nation's vulnerability to terrorist attack through our port system," wrote Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn. "We need to ensure that the Coast Guard has the tools it needs ... to defend our ports and waterways."

In the letter, the chairwoman and ranking Democrat of the Governmental Affairs Committee urged White House Office of Management and Budget Director Josh Bolten to increase funding for the agency in next year's budget to speed the Coast Guard's deepwater technology integration.

"[The project] would provide an integrated approach to upgrading existing assets while transitioning to newer, more capable platforms with improved communications and surveillance equipment and innovative logistics support systems," they said.

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