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“Today we face unparalleled growth in vessel traffic and complexity within the marine transportation system, from liquefied natural gas exports, to offshore wind farms, to increasingly sophisticated vessels. These factors and a host of others all contribute to an unprecedented demand for Coast Guard services.” – Adm. Karl Schultz.

“The Coast Guard operates our nation’s only icebreaker ? eet countering malign in? uence as our nation’s most per- sistent surface military presence at the Polar regions. We do this with just two cutters: one heavy and one medium icebreaker. This is a woefully unacceptable level of pres- ence in an area where we must be a leading force. Presence equals in? uence, and we must up our game with respect to high latitude presence.

“The good news is that both the Administration and

Congress have duly recognized the burden our Polar Star sailors bear to meet the Nation’s call. That’s why I’m grateful for their recent support to fully fund our new Polar Security

Cutter, the ? rst modern heavy icebreaker to be built in the

United States in half a century. Additionally, the President requested $555 million in Fiscal Year 2021 to fully fund our critically needed second Polar Security Cutter, and there’s an acquisitions and funding strategy to build a third.

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