Congress approves bill to boost Coast Guard funding, hiring

The Senate passed by voice vote and sent to the president Thursday a bill that approves the spending of $8.2 billion for the Coast Guard.

The Senate action came on the heels of Wednesday's House passage of the legislation, 425-1.

The fiscal 2005 spending bill increases active-duty Coast Guard personnel from the current level of 37,000 to 45,500 and gives officers authority to carry firearms and make arrests for maritime security violations.

The bill omits language in the original House bill that would have required the Coast Guard to approve security plans for every foreign vessel that enters a U.S. port.

Instead, because of the high cost involved, House and Senate negotiators decided to stay with the current system, under which a foreign government or its designated agent is responsible for approving each ship's security plan.

The legislation requires the development of a long-range vessel tracking system and a plan to improve the collection and sharing of maritime intelligence by federal agencies.

Last year the Coast Guard was put under the jurisdiction of the Homeland Security Department.