CSHJR 34(STA) am - Coast Guard Arctic Operations

• Urges U.S. Congress and the Administration to fund all Coast Guard facilities and vessels necessary for Arctic missions, including icebreakers and an Arctic Coast Guard base

• Requests consideration of financing options for refurbishing current polar class icebreakers, acquiring new icebreakers, and providing long-term maintenance funding for the Coast Guard icebreaker fleet and Arctic facilities

• Cites the U.S. has only one operational polar class icebreaker (USCGC Healy) while Russia has 8 nuclear-powered icebreakers and Canada committed $38 billion to a 30-year icebreaker construction plan

• Notes the northernmost U.S. Coast Guard base in Kodiak is over 1,000 miles from Chukchi Sea drilling sites and Arctic shipping lanes in the Bering Strait, causing logistical problems and response delays

• References binding Arctic Search and Rescue Agreement (May 2011) requiring U.S. search and rescue response in Arctic waters north of Alaska, Bristol Bay, and the Bering Sea