Dr. Stephen Flynn, Global Resilience Institute Director, appeared on CNN on March 7th to discuss the proposed cuts to the U.S. Coast Guard’s budget. As a part of its proposed budget, the White House plans to cut 14 percent from the Coast Guard’s budget and 11 percent from both the TSA and FEMA’s budgets to pay for increased border security. Dr. Flynn, a retired Coast Guard commander himself, noted that “As you harden the land border you open up the maritime border” and “as we learned post 9/11, you can’t do this piecemeal. You have to have it as a comprehensive approach.”

A US Coast Guard Cutter (Wikimedia commons/Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Anderson)

A video of Dr. Flynn’s appearance on CNN can be found here

 

Sources and Further Reading:

  1. Trump Plan Pays for Immigration Crackdown with Cuts to Coastal, Air Security – POLITICO
  2. To Fund Border Wall, Trump Administration Weighs Cuts to Coast Guard, Airport Security – The Washington Post
  3. Report: Trump Considering Cuts to Coast Guard, Airport Security to Fund Border Wall – The Hill