The U.S. should be investing in more personnel, aircraft and ships to help the Coast Guard stop drugs trafficked on the high seas instead of spending billions on a wall along the southwest border, a top lawmaker said Tuesday.
The Coast Guard stops more drugs headed to the U.S. than all other federal agencies combined, said Rep. Peter DeFazio, chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. That’s why more funding for new medium-endurance cutters and other Coast Guard equipment is long overdue, he added.
“An investment in assets for the Coast Guard — both personnel and equipment — would be a heck of a lot better than a static wall that people can go around, under or through,” DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat whose district includes several Coast Guard facilities, said during a hearing on maritime drug interdiction.