JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As President Donald Trump gears up to build a wall, one way to pay for it could come from cutting funds to the U.S. Coast Guard. But that idea has Florida lawmakers on edge, saying it will hurt the state.
On Friday, News4Jax talked with U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., in Jacksonville, and checked with the offices of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and congressmen Ron DeSantis and John Rutherford to find out what cuts to the Coast Guard could mean to Florida residents.
Since the Coast Guard and U.S. Navy work hand-in-hand here, both senators are worried what a 14 percent cut to the Coast Guard would mean to safety.
According to Nelson, 40 percent of the Coast Guard's work in the country takes place in Florida. Nelson said plans by the Trump administration to cut the Coast Guard budget would have a devastating effect locally.
"You want to build a wall on the Mexico-U.S. border, but you want to remove the maritime wall that we have, which is the U.S. Coast Guard?" Nelson said.
Nelson isn't alone in his concern. Rubio's office sent News4Jax the following statement:
I don’t agree with everything that Donald Trump is for, you know, he’s proposed some cuts to the Department of State and the Coast Guard that we’re going to have an issue with.”
DeSantis also weighed in on the proposed Coast Guard cuts, saying in a statement:
The Coast Guard is a critical component of our nation's defense and plays a major role in Florida. I support fortifying our border with Mexico; at the same time, our sea borders need protection and the Coast Guard ably fulfills this duty. DHS is a big bureaucracy and I'm sure bloat exists, but the Coast Guard is not an example of this and needs to be fully funded."
Rutherford also replied to News4Jax with a statement:
I am very concerned by the reports that the Administration is considering significant cuts to the Coast Guard, TSA and FEMA. The Coast Guard is critical to drug and human trafficking interdiction and is already under resourced. Cutting their budget will leave our coastal borders vulnerable. I had the chance to ask Secretary John Kelly about this and he committed to giving the Coast Guard the resources it needs to fulfill important missions. I will continue to work to ensure the Coast Guard has the tools it needs to keep our maritime borders secure."
There are other concerns, as well. The Coast Guard is crucial in ship inspections, which was evident during the hearings on the sinking of the Jacksonville-based cargo ship, the El Faro.
Nelson said he believes those roles could also be impacted.
"Just think of all the folks that get in trouble that need to be rescued. That's the Coast Guard," Nelson said. "The Navy hands off to the Coast Guard the responsibility for the Caribbean, in the southern Pacific, on all the drug runners and all of the people that are trying to sneak into the country. That's the U.S. Coast Guard."
News4Jax also checked with the Coast Guard. In a statement, it said it's "engaged in discussions" with the Department of Homeland Security as part of the normal budget process to finalize the President's budget request to Congress, and "as the discussions are pre-decisional, we do not comment on these deliberations."