December 11, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA):
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) authored and helped secure key Coast Guard and environmental priorities in the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act, which passed the Senate today by a vote of 84-13 as part of the final National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021. The Coast Guard Reauthorization Act includes provisions to promote the recruitment and retention of women in the Coast Guard, formally authorize six polar icebreakers, strengthen oil spill prevention measures, and establish new protections for Southern resident orcas. The legislation was passed by the Senate Commerce Committee last July and included in this year’s NDAA. The NDAA passed the House of Representatives earlier this week by a vote of 335-78.
Provisions Cantwell helped secure as part of the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act will:
Support Coast Guard women and families
- The legislation makes significant improvements to the Coast Guard policies needed to recruit, retain, and invest in women in the Coast Guard. A 2019 report titled Why Do Women Leave the Coast Guard, and What Can Be Done to Encourage Them to Stay? made a number of recommendations to help improve retention of women in the Coast Guard. The bill requires the Commandant implement these recommendations.
- The bill creates two new advisory boards to support women throughout their Coast Guard careers, from the academy to leadership. Both advisory boards would bring recommendations to support women serving in the Coast Guard directly to the Commandant to ensure women’s voices are heard.
- The legislation requires the Coast Guard to create a public strategy to improve leadership development and improve the culture of inclusion and diversity in the Coast Guard. The bill also includes a number of reforms to improve diversity and inclusion at the Coast Guard Academy.
- It also creates new programs and resources to improve access to child care for Coast Guard families, which women have identified as a key barrier to long-term success in the Coast Guard.
- The bill establishes a public-private partnership pilot program to expand access to childcare facilities for Coast Guard children in underserved areas.
- It also establishes procedures to enable more Coast Guard family child care centers to be established in off base housing, creating entrepreneurship opportunities for interested spouses as well as additional childcare options for Coast Guard families.
- Senator Cantwell has worked to improve access to medical care for Coast Guard members and families, especially for members serving in remote locations. This directs the Government Accountability Office to do a thorough analysis to identify access barriers to medical care for all Coast Guard members and families, especially members stationed in remote areas.
In a speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Cantwell highlighted the impact these reforms could have on women serving in the Coast Guard: “[We are] Instituting new reforms within the Coast Guard to really help and empower women… and to make sure that they have what they need, [including] vital child care opportunities for Coast Guard families. And to make sure there is zero tolerance in the approach to any kind of sexual assault or sexual harassment.”
Authorize six icebreakers and advance U.S. Arctic leadership
- The legislation formally authorizes six icebreakers, including three heavy icebreakers that the Coast Guard intends to homeport in Seattle.
- U.S. currently has only has two operational polar icebreakers, while Russia has fifty-three icebreakers and Canada has seven.
- Icebreakers are critical to protecting U.S. interests in the polar regions, gathering data for scientific research, and responding to oil spills in some of the world’s most remote areas. And as climate change has increasingly melted Arctic sea ice, the Arctic regions have increasingly become important to commercial activity—shipping via the Northern Sea route can decrease shipping transit times by as much as two weeks.