WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security Chairman Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) announced a hearing for Wednesday, December 18, 2024, at 10:00 AM ET, to receive an update on the U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG) efforts to recapitalize our aging icebreaker fleet through the Polar Security Cutter (PSC) program. The hearing will also examine ways in which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can facilitate faster turnaround times for USCG acquisitions programs. 
 
“The Coast Guard is in the process of replacing several mission-critical assets with new ships, but the PSC program has remained significantly delayed and over budget. An aging icebreaker fleet impacts the service’s mission readiness and the fleet’s strategic presence in the Arctic region, where adversaries like Putin’s Russia and Communist China undermine our sovereignty and the rules-based order,” Chairman Gimenez said. “While the Coast Guard has thankfully awarded a contract to acquire a commercially available icebreaker, this is only a temporary fix. In a hearing earlier this year, the Coast Guard’s leadership testified that the program’s first cutter could be ready to begin construction by December 2024. I look forward to hearing a progress update on the design and construction as we continue our work to get the program back on track.”
 
DETAILS:
 
What: Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security hearing entitled “Examining the Polar Security Cutter: An Update on Coast Guard Acquisitions.”
 
When: Wednesday, December 18, 2024, at 10:00 AM ET
 
Where: 310 Cannon House Office Building

WITNESSES:

Vice Admiral Thomas G. Allan

Deputy Commandant for Mission Support, U.S. Coast Guard

Witness testimony will be added here. The hearing will be livestreamed on YouTube and will be open to the public and press.

Background:

Last year, Committee Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) joined Subcommittee Chairman Gimenez in requesting a CBO estimate for the PSC program. Earlier this year, the CBO previewed the report and stated the program is going to likely cost 60 percent more than the Coast Guard initially estimated.

In May 2024, the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security held a hearing to examine the USCG’s shipbuilding and acquisitions process, featuring testimony from Director of Contracting and National Security Acquisitions for the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Shelby Oakley; Congressional Research Service (CRS) Specialist in Naval Affairs Ron O’Rourke;  Senior Analyst for Naval Weapons and Forces at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Eric Labs; U.S. Coast Guard Deputy Commandant for Mission Support, Vice Admiral Paul Thomas; and DHS Under Secretary for Management Randolph “Tex” Alles. Representatives Jim Moylan (R-Guam) and Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa) waived on for the hearing.

In the hearing, members received a vital update from the administration and the Coast Guard on these lagging programs, and learned construction on the first new icebreaker will not begin until potentially later this year––even though the ship was supposed to be operational by that time. This delay is concerning, as these ships are crucial to maintaining a presence in the Arctic and defending U.S. sovereignty and freedom of navigation. In addition, members and witnesses both highlighted the numerous factors contributing to these significant delays, including but not limited to a lack of experience in both the Coast Guard and the domestic industrial base workforce with building icebreakers, rising inflation, a failure to follow standard practices, and most of all, a failure to effectively estimate costs for both programs.

###