U.S. Coast Guard Asset, US Coast Guard Photo

The Coast Guard Cutter Hawser steams up the East River near Manhattan during a Homeland Security patrol March 7, 2005. Looking to maintain these patrols and the Coast Guard's many other missions, Adm. Thomas H. Collins, commandant of the Coast Guard, recently delivered the fiscal year 2006 budget request before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation. The request called for an 11 percent increase over the 2005 funding level. "The budget provides the resources necessary to continue recapitalizing the Coast Guard's aging cutters, boats, aircraft, and supporting infrastructure, while building out maritime safety and security capabilities essential to meeting present and future mission demands," said Collins. USCG Photo/Mike Hvozda