Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak in support of H.R. 7659, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2024. This bipartisan legislation reauthorizes funding for the U.S. Coast Guard for fiscal years 2025 and 2026 and updates Coast Guard programs and policies. This bill is a result of bipartisan negotiations between Chair Graves, Chair Webster, myself, and Ranking Member Carbajal and includes numerous contributions from members on and off the committee. This bill is the latest example of bipartisanship thriving on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Coast Guard operational readiness is at risk due to years of underfunding. A lack of investment led to a $3 billion shoreside infrastructure backlog, a lack of ice-breaking capacity in the Arctic and Great Lakes, and reduced capacity across several essential missions such as marine safety and mariner credentialing. This bill begins to address the shortfall by authorizing $14.78 billion for the Coast Guard for fiscal year 2025 and $15.52 billion for fiscal year 2026. These increases over current funding levels will give the Coast Guard the resources needed to execute its missions and ensure a basic standard of living for servicemembers. In addition, this bill authorizes the Procurement, Construction, and Improvements account at $3.48 billion for fiscal year 2025 and $3.65 billion for fiscal year 2026--well above the President's budget request.…”