A bill was introduced in the U.S. House to authorize funds for the U.S. Coast Guard through fiscal year 2021.
The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2019 (H.R. 3409) includes funds to promote the U.S. maritime industry and offshore renewable energy development, authorization of funding to build new polar security cutters (heavy ice breakers), new requirements for the Coast Guard to evaluate unmanned technologies for use in Coast Guard operations, provisions to increase diversity at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and new maritime safety enhancements.
“The Coast Guard works tirelessly to keep our coastal communities safe, maintain the security of our ports and waterways, carry out critically important drug interdictions, and respond efficiently to emergencies and disasters,” House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), one of the bill’s sponsors, said. “This bipartisan bill ensures the Coast Guard has the resources necessary to accomplish its missions. I am pleased to see the Committee again demonstrate true bipartisan cooperation to get results and I encourage my House and Senate colleagues to pass this critical legislation and get it signed into law.”
It was also sponsored by Reps. Sam Graves (R-MO), Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), and Bob Gibbs (R-OH).
“This bill authorizes the resources necessary to ensure the Coast Guard can carry out its important range of missions to ensure maritime safety, interdict drugs and illegal migrants, enforce U.S. laws at sea, and protect our Nation’s borders. Furthermore, this legislation takes steps necessary to provide the men and women of the Coast Guard – as one of the five armed services – parity with other service members in the Department of Defense,” Graves, who is the ranking member on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said.