John Joseph Moakley: “Mr. Speaker, today is March 17. It is not only a great day for the Irish, but it is a great day for the Coast Guard. Mr.…”

“Mr. Speaker, today is March 17. It is not only a great day for the Irish, but it is a great day for the Coast Guard. Mr. Speaker, during the last 84 years, the United States Coast Guard has been protecting people at sea and enforcing United States law. This bill for which the rule provides consideration will authorize funding for the Coast Guard for another 2 years, including $380 million for drug interdiction efforts in keeping with last year's Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act. It will also provide funding to finish the design work and the replacement for the Great Lakes icebreaker Mackinaw. This bill will authorize 40,000 active duty Coast Guard personnel who perform all kinds of services, including safety inspections of freighters, transporting sick or injured people to medical attention, measuring the catch of a commercial fishing boat, searching for sailors lost at sea, breaking ice in the northeastern rivers, and on and on and on. The first Coast Guard district in my hometown of Boston oversees 30 cutters, 11 aircraft, and more than 200 small boats to ensure boaters' safety. Mr. Speaker, let me tell my colleagues, these people earn their keep. Every day the Coast Guard saves an average of 12 lives.”