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(Washington, DC) -- U.S. Representative Ed Case Ed Case (Hawai‘i-First District) announced today that last week the full U.S. House of Representatives in an overwhelming show of bipartisan support passed the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act of 2025 (H.R. 4275) which includes a provision to increase focus on Coast Guard operations in the Indo-Pacific that he introduced with Congressman Trent Kelly (Mississippi-First District).

Case explained, “With bipartisan support of the full House, the Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, Congressman Kelly and Congressman John Garamendi, the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act includes my push to mandate an annual plan for Coast Guard operations in the Indo-Pacific, including the annual budget needed to support these operations.”

Case continued: “Our plan will significantly enhance the Coast Guard's effectiveness, readiness and strategic alignment in the Indo-Pacific by integrating Coast Guard activities with broader U.S. defense and foreign policy goals in the region.”

Case added that the provision “will allow for better forecasting of operational, personnel, asset and funding needs. It will ensure that the U.S. engagement in the region is sustained across the federal government and help to identify any operational gaps we have in the Indo-Pacific to better safeguard American and allied national security interests, respond to articulated needs of our Pacific Island partners and counter the People's Republic of China's increasingly malign influence in the region.”

Case said the provision comes from H.R. 3397, the Pacific Ready Coast Guard Act, a measure introduced by himself and Congressman Kelly. The provision was taken from that measure and inserted into H.R. 4275 by Congressman John Garamendi (California-Eight District), a cosponsor of the measure and a member of the T&I Committee.

Hawai‘i is the home of the Coast’s Guard’s operations throughout the Indo-Pacific. Its Oceania District is responsible for directing Coast Guard operations throughout Hawai‘i, Guam, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Oceania, Singapore and Japan. The Coast Guard works closely with the Department of Defense and America’s allies and partners to advance maritime governance as part of the rules-based international order essential to a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific. 

H.R. 4275 authorizes $66.5 billion for Coast Guard operations and maintenance for five years, along with $185 billion in total funding for Coast Guard procurement and construction for the next five years. It also provides policy guidance for the Coast Guard. 

The Coast Guard Reauthorization Act would also update Coast Guard sexual assault and harassment policies and modify requirements for commercial vessels. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee previously approved the bill by a 60 to 0 vote on July 15 and sent the measure to the full House, which was approved on July 23 by a vote of 399 to 12.

The text of the measure is here.

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