Political Quotes

“Just yesterday, the Alaska Dispatch chronicled the increased tourist and commercial vessel traffic in the Arctic and the challenges the Coast Guard is facing in ensuring safe navigation. For example, the Coast Guard recently announced that the Polar Sea icebreaker will be out of service until next year and the Polar Star icebreaker won't be fixed until 2013. As a result, there are no adequate icebreakers to patrol in the Arctic or come to the aid of anyone in need. Simply, safe navigation in the U.S. Arctic is in a precarious state. My bill would amend the Hydrographic Services Improvement Act to authorize much-needed funds for hydrographic surveys and coastal mapping of the Arctic regions. Sadly, we still have a long way to go before we finish the job on nautically charting critical navigation regions throughout this country. The Arctic region in particular has been ignored and lacks survey data. It is my understanding, as the good lady said, the last major hydro survey campaign in the Arctic was conducted following World War II, over 60 years ago. Currently, base hydrographic data in the Arctic is woefully inadequate and not sufficient to support current, let alone future, marine activity. With the reduction of sea ice, there's increased vessel traffic and opportunities for more drilling, and up-to-date nautical charts or coastal maps are critical for these activities.”