Dan Webster: “This is my warning to the Coast Guard: Please start saving yourselves from your own sinking ship.”

At the same time, our nation has two operational icebreakers, one of which is dedicated to the Service's Antarctic mission in support of the National Science Foundation and is operating well past its intended service life.

We absolutely have to do better on this.

The United States has relied on the Coast Guard's persistent presence to demonstrate American sovereignty in the Arctic since the United States acquired Alaska in 1867.

Given these immense resources, it should come as no surprise that adversaries, including Russia and China, are working to assert themselves in the region.