Speeches & Testimony

Chairman Graves, Ranking Member Larsen, and Members of the Committee:

Mahalo for the opportunity to share my priorities for matters under your Committee’s jurisdiction for the 119th Congress. In particular, I ask for your continued support of the U.S. Coast Guard. 

My home state of Hawai‘i relies heavily on and has benefited greatly from the presence of the Coast Guard. We appreciate the Coast Guard’s direct support of Hawai‘i residents, both generally and through its District 14 headquartered in Honolulu, not only performance of its statutory missions like search and rescue and maritime environmental protection, but also for its indirect support through its presence beyond Hawai‘i throughout the Indo-Pacific.

The Pacific Islands region has long held strategic importance to the United States. These island nations and other jurisdictions are located in the vast expanse of ocean between Hawai‘i and New Zealand and control a shared exclusive economic zone larger than the surface area of Russia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) combined. The battles fought in the Pacific Islands during the Second World War showed us the importance of the region. Following the war, the United States became administrator of the United Nations-designated Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. In that time, our nation rapidly advanced relationships with many Pacific Islands countries and jurisdictions.

However, our engagement unfortunately waned over time and suffered from decades of insufficient attention, a situation the pacing challenge of the People’s Republic of China has been only too willing to exploit. This includes the PRC’s Coast Guard, which falls under the People’s Armed Police, a paramilitary force that reports to the PRC’s Central Military Commission, as well as its maritime militia, also a projection of its armed forces.

Our Coast Guard is uniquely positioned to advance our engagement and has an important national security role in the face of rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific region. It is critical to our nation’s effort to counter the PRC through strengthening presence and partnerships, focusing on maritime law enforcement and addressing “gray zone” tactics through capacity building, joint patrols and other means. In addition, the Coast Guard has a respected track record of assisting partner nations, especially the island nations of the Pacific, with their real-world challenges, from maritime domain awareness, exclusive economic zone and fisheries protection (including through joint shiprider agreements) high seas fisheries treaty enforcement, transnational law enforcement, search and rescue and humanitarian aid.

The white hulls of the Coast Guard are a symbol of the U.S. humanitarian and a soft power presence. It is widely accepted and welcomed throughout the Indo-Pacific, and leaders in the region have consistently requested a larger Coast Guard presence.

Yet, despite its current and especially potential contributions to our Indo-Pacific engagement, the reality is that the Coast Guard does not have the full suite of authorities and resources to conduct its expanding mission.

As one response, to enhance the Coast Guard’s role, in the 118th Congress, Congressman Trent Kelly and I introduced the Pacific Ready Coast Guard Act, which we plan to reintroduce this week. This bill would help our Coast Guard transform into one that is ready to take on the unique challenges and opportunities that the Pacific region poses in this Pacific century. Specifically, it would establish a Coast Guard-led Center of Expertise in Indo-Pacific Maritime Governance. Its mission would be to work with partner nations to provide and facilitate education and research on maritime governance best practices, including how to build critical regional state capacity.

Additionally, our bill would also require the Coast Guard to issue an annual plan for its operations in the Indo-Pacific, evaluate the feasibility of a standing Indo-Pacific Maritime Group to conduct humanitarian and law enforcement missions in the Indo-Pacific, review the feasibility of establishing more forward operating bases in the Pacific and advise on expanding Coast Guard attaché positions in U.S. embassies in the region.

The Pacific Ready Coast Guard Act will further focus on specific areas where Coast Guard operations and resources in the Indo-Pacific should be updated and expanded to match the Coast Guard’s expanded mission and to fully realize its potential contributions to our increased engagement throughout this critical region. I ask for the Committee’s consideration and support of our measure. 

I sincerely appreciate this Committee’s consideration of the bill and its continued support for our Coast Guard’s presence in the critical Indo-Pacific region.