Providing For Consideration Of H.R. 3619, Coast Guard Authorization Act Of 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this rule and the underlying bill--H.R. 3619, the Fiscal Year 2010 Coast Guard Authorization Act.

I would like to commend the Rules Committee for approving a Rule that will allow for a robust debate. I am particularly pleased that it provides 20 minutes of debate on the port security title of the bill.

Over the past few weeks, we worked closely, and on a bipartisan basis, with Chairman Oberstar, Chairman Cummings, Ranking Member Mica, and Ranking Member LoBiondo to bring this critical security bill to the floor as expeditiously as possible.

The bill that we are considering today builds on H.R. 2830, the Coast Guard Authorization bill that the House approved by a vote of 395 to 7 last Congress. Unfortunately, despite strong bipartisan support, that measure was not ultimately enacted into law.

Like that bill, H.R. 3619 provides long-overdue resources to an agency that has been underfunded for many years, while providing the Coast Guard new tools to secure our Nation's maritime environment in this post-9/11 world.

With respect to port and maritime security, H.R. 3619 provides key new resources to help the Coast Guard execute this homeland security mission. Specifically, it provides 1,500 additional Service Members, more Maritime Security Response Teams and Canine Detection Teams.

The bill also includes an important Coast Guard acquisition reform provision that requires the Coast Guard to take over the management of the 25-year, $24 billion Deepwater program.

Finally, I am pleased that the bill fosters greater diversity at the Coast Guard Academy--one of the Nation's fine military academies. Specifically, a provision I authored with Chairman Cummings would, for the first time, allow Members of Congress to nominate candidates for the Coast Guard Academy. It also directs the Coast Guard to establish programs to identify young adults from Minority Serving Institutions who may be candidates for becoming Coast Guard officers.

Passage of H.R. 3619 will provide the Coast Guard with a cadre of diverse, bright candidates from non-coastal areas of the nation and has the potential of helping to improve the culture within the Coast Guard Academy.

In closing, I would like to urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this rule and the underlying bill.

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