▶ 0:01:52one star, two stars. Star is
▶ 0:13:13Guard and maritime transportation will come to order. I ask unanimous consent that the chairman be authorized to declare recess at any time during today's hearing without objection. So ordered. I also ask unanimous consent that members not on the subcommittee be permitted to sit with the subcommittee at today's hearing and ask questions without objection. So ordered. As a reminder, if members insert a document into the record, please also email it to documents timail.house.gov.
▶ 0:13:40I now recognize myself for the purposes of an opening statement for 5 minutes. Thank you everyone for joining the subcommittee today to discuss the Coast Guard's law enforcement missions. Specifically, we want to highlight the amazing work our Coast Guard members do to stop drugs and illegal aliens along our maritime border and the service's efforts to limit illegal, unreported, and unregulated or IU IU fishing. To do that, I'd like to welcome our witnesses.
▶ 0:14:08Real Rear Admiral David Barata, Deputy Commandant for Operations Policy and Assistant Commandant for Intelligence for the United States Coast Guard, and Miss Heather Mloud, Director of Justice, and Homeland Security Programs for the Government Accountability Office. The Coast Guard is our premier maritime guardian. Every day, Coast Guard cutters, small boats, aircraft, and boarding teams are protecting Americans from threats.
▶ 0:14:33The Coast Guard leads America's efforts to control, secure, and defend the nation's maritime border. Starting at the United States southern border, where President Trump declared a national emergency. Illicit maritime activity is a national security threat with impacts far beyond our shores.
▶ 0:14:52The Coast Guard is essential to preventing dangerous drugs from poisoning our communities, boatloads of migrants from landing on our shores or perishing at sea on unworthy makeshift vessels and countering Chinese efforts to plunder our fish stocks. In November, Coast Guard Cutter Stone broke a record, offloading over 49,000 pounds of elicit narcotics seized in 15 interdictions valued at more than $362 million.
▶ 0:15:20This marked the the most cocaine seized by a single cutter and one patrol in Coast Guard history. At the same time, the Coast Guard is addressing increasing levels of maritime migration by protecting our shores and securing and defending 260 miles of the Rio Grand River. The Coast Guard's unparalleled expertise is essential to deter, interdict, and defeat threats to our communities.
▶ 0:15:44In 2020, the Coast Guard declared that IU fishing replaced piracy as the leading global maritime security threat. IU fishing robs nations of their fish stocks, their food, and it costs legal fishing operators tens of billions of dollars a year in revenue. China is the world's worst offender of this harm. The Chinese Communist Party provides billions of dollars in subsidies to its distant water fishing fleet, which plunders fishing stocks worldwide.
▶ 0:16:12Despite its best efforts, the Coast Guard's ability to interdict drugs, aliens, and IU fishing has long been hindered by a lack of resources and Through the $25 billion generational investment that Congress authorized in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, we have helped change the tide with new vessels and aircraft coming online. But there is more to be done.
▶ 0:16:35In light of this subcommittee's oversight role over the Coast Guard, I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about what the Coast Guard is doing well, where it can be better, and what it is doing to strengthen its capabilities. In that same respect, I also look forward to hearing the Government Accountabilities Office offic's evaluation of the Coast Guard's mission performance. I appreciate our witnesses both joining us here today, and I would now like to recognize ranking member Carbajal for an opening statement for 5 minutes.
▶ 0:17:03Thank you, Chairman U. McDow, I'd like to yield to our ranking member, if it's okay, of our broader TNI committee, Mr.
▶ 0:17:12Yeah, thank you, uh, Ranking Carbal, and thank you, Chair McDow, uh, for calling this very timely hearing. Every day, the women and men of the Coast Guard coordinate and execute law enforcement operations to halt illicit activities, to protect lives, and to safeguard the interests of the US. Through partnerships with other federal agencies and with international allies and partners, cosis interrupt and intercept individuals breaking US and international laws.
▶ 0:17:39Coast Guard's been enforcing maritime laws for 250 years. And it shows from drug and migrant interdiction to IU fishing enforcement. Nobody does it better. Recently, the Coast Guard has intercepted and seized several shadow fleet oil tankers in the in the Caribbean. By violating international law, these vessels and their oper operators become subject to search and seizure by the Coast Guard. This is a long-standing Coast Guard authority. To ensure a safely executed mission, Coast Guard personnel work closely with other agencies.
▶ 0:18:10And while recent operations have received public attention, and I have a few questions about it, it's not uncommon for the Coast Guard to exercise this authority in these venues. There are hundreds of dark fleet commercial vessels operating in violation of fishing laws, labor laws, and in some cases trafficking people and narcotics. While the administration has chosen to target oil tankers, we can't forget these other serious maritime crimes.
▶ 0:18:36Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, otherwise known as IU fishing, is when vessel operators violate national or international laws, regulations, or management schemes designed to ensure the sustainability of fish stocks. And most of these cases are found in areas like Oceanana or Alaska and in and around the illutions. So we have a certainly a direct interest uh in in IU fishing.
▶ 0:19:02Not only does this put a strain on fish stocks, but also undermines hardworking fishers who abide by the law, including many of those folks in my district. The Coast Guard's role in addressing and provide pre preventing IU fishing not only protects US interests, it assists partners and ally nations. In fiscal year fiscal years 23 and 24, the Coast Guard set its interdiction goal at 40% of the detected fishing vessels conducting IU fishing within the US exclusive economic zone or EEZ.
▶ 0:19:31Each of those years, the service interdicted 21% of detected vessels with the majority detections and interdictions occurring at the time in the Gulf of Mexico. Over the same period, the Coast Guard boarded and inspected 274 fishing vessels on the high seas or within the EEZ of a foreign nation, resulting in 75 violations. So, with more resources, I'm hopeful we can improve those numbers. Today, we're going to hear some good news stories about the Coast Guard enforcement activities.
▶ 0:19:57But as we discuss those successes, I do want to hear as well how the Coast Guard is ensuring that other core missions like search and rescue are not neglected. In closing, I'd be remiss if I did not talk about the sacrifice that comes with military service. Each service member has dedicated his or her life to protecting the country and recent operations dem demonstrate the risk associated uh with uh with that.
▶ 0:20:22I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today on ways to improve the lives of CO serving at sea who are conducting these law enforcement missions and how we can continue to support and improve the service. With that, I yield back. I'd now like to recognize ranking member Carbajal for an opening statement for five minutes.
▶ 0:20:40Thank you uh Chairman McDow for u you and uh chairman uh Isel calling today's hearing. The US Coast Guard is the nation's premier multi-m missission law enforcement agency. As the only uniform service to conduct both homeland security and defense missions, the importance of the Coast Guard cannot be One of the reasons why the Coast Guard is so successful is their unique status as both a branch of the military and a law enforcement agency.
▶ 0:21:08When the Coast Guard conducts counterdrug missions, they not only successfully stop, board, and search vessels suspected of trafficking illegal narcotics, but they also detain individuals who often provide critical intelligence on the drug trafficking organizations that put them on the vessels in the first place. The critical piece of the puzzle is only made possible by the precise and professional actions of our Coast Guard boarding teams.
▶ 0:21:37Upholding American constitutional values and international rule of law is exactly why the Coast Guard is so successful. Another unique aspect of the Coast Guard is its ability to enter bilateral and multinational agreements with other countries to help bolster law enforcement efforts for both the United States and its partners.
▶ 0:21:59This realtime engagement with other countries not only helps preserve rules-based order in the maritime domain, but it also helps the US engage in strategic soft power diplomacy across the world. While the Coast Guard continues to put up record-breaking numbers of drugs seized and migrants rescued at sea, the numbers behind its budget have not increased at an equal rate.
▶ 0:22:23There's no doubt that we've seen an increased demand on Coast Guard law enforcement efforts, but we cannot forget the personnel who make these missions possible. I am very concerned that the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill will not appropriately fund the Coast Guard operations and support account. Coast Guard assets don't run themselves.
▶ 0:22:46As GAO has noted, insufficient asset readiness coupled with workforce shortage shortages hinder the Coast Guard's impact. We must address this issue. The Coast Guard's international collaboration is imperative. The Coast Guard is also a party to bilateral and multi-ateral agreements and conventions to protect natural resources and fish stocks from exploitation around the globe.
▶ 0:23:13Further, the Coast Guard works handinhand with Noah to protect and enforce our domestic fisheries, which is a multi-billion dollar industry. This mission cannot be overlooked as well. Finally, while I have a serious concern about the administration's actions in Venezuela, I am encouraged by the Coast Guard's actions to enforce the law at sea.
▶ 0:23:34The Coast Guard's recent detention and seizure of dark fleet vessels operating outside of international laws highlights the risk inherent in a flag of convenience system. American flag vessels are owned by Americans, crewed by American mariners, and follow American laws. We should be doing everything we can to encourage other countries to follow suit. I look forward to today's hearing and the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of the Coast Guard.
▶ 0:24:02I am proud to champion the service and dedicated coast who prove day in and day out that the Coast Guard is truly a global force for good. With that, I yield back, Mr. Chair.
▶ 0:24:15Well, briefly, I'd like to take a moment to explain the lighting system to our witnesses. There are three lights in front of you. Green means go. Yellow means you're running out of time, and red means please wrap it up. I ask unanimous consent that the witness's full statements be included in the record. Without objection, so ordered. I also ask unanimous consent that the record of today's hearing remain open until such time as our witnesses have provided answers to any questions that may be submitted to them in writing. Without objection, so ordered.
▶ 0:24:44I also ask unanimous consent that the record remain open for 15 days for any additional comments and information submitted by members or witnesses to be included in the record of today's hearing. Without objection, so ordered. As your written testimony has been made part of the record, the subcommittee asks that you please limit your oral remarks to five minutes. With that, Admiral Barata, you are recognized for five minutes for your testimony.
▶ 0:25:09Good morning, Chairman McDow, Ranking Member Larson, Ranking Member Carbajal, and distinguished members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the Coast Guard's law enforcement missions. As a military service, a federal law enforcement agency, and a member of the intelligence community, the Coast Guard represents a vital and unique instrument of national power. We control, secure, and defend our maritime borders and their approaches.
▶ 0:25:37Facilitate commerce vital to economic prosperity and strategic mobility, and maintain readiness to respond to crises and contingencies that often arise with little or no warning. Transnational criminal organizations and designated terrorist organizations exploit the maritime environment to move deadly drugs towards the United States. In response, your Coast Guard is on the front lines and deployed around the world as a sentinel against those who would do us harm.
▶ 0:26:07Last year, our crews and our partners' tremendous collective efforts yielded historic results, removing more than 500,000 pounds of cocaine and denying criminal networks access to over 3.4 billion dollars in This is more than double the amount we removed in 2024 and nearly triple that of 2023.
▶ 0:26:29We are also intensely focused on interdicting the precursor chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl, leveraging our broad authorities and effective partnerships to detect and interdict fentanyl and precursor materials before they could harm Americans. The Coast Guard also confronts persistent illegal migr migrant um migration in the maritime environment. We employ cutters, aircraft, and advanced unmanned systems to control, secure, and defend our maritime borders.
▶ 0:26:58We face this threat on the Texas and Mexican border, along the Rio Grand Valley, the maritime approaches to California, in the southeastern United States, and the Caribbean. Smuggling organizations and aliens use a variety of craft from hopelessly over overloaded vessels to high-speed boats and jet skis to crude homemade rafts in their attempts. In response, the Coast Guard maintains a robust forward-leaning posture to deter and interdict these voyages.
▶ 0:27:29In 2025, we interdicted or deterred over 11,700 individuals, a 120% increase over 2024. Along the Rio Grand, Operation River Wall has already supported the apprehension or deterrence of over 230 individuals attempting to illegally cross since it commenced in August of last year.
▶ 0:27:53The Coast Guard also leads the world in combating illegal, unreported and unre regulated fishing or IU fishing. This requires us to overcome an aging fleet and the sheer vastness of geography. But our efforts are crucial to stemming the growing threat that IU fishing poses to the United States economy and global food security. Malign stateup supported actors exploit weak governance, undermine world markets, and create instability through a number of illicit activities.
▶ 0:28:23Maritime drug trafficking, illegal migration, and IU fishing are all examples of this exploit exploitation in the maritime Similarly, dark fleet oil tankers subvert the rules-based order by operating substandard vessels with obscured nationality and ownership and false locations and documentation. These actions endanger seafares and the environment and provide revenue streams to transnational criminal organizations.
▶ 0:28:52The Coast Guard directly confronts these evolving threats both near and far from US shores, delivering an exceptional return on investment to the American people. Through the continued tremendous support of the Congress, especially this subcommittee, we are we are recapitalizing our aging fleet with more capable cutters, aircraft, boats, and autonomous systems and transforming our talent management to build a larger, more capable workforce, as well as pursuing comprehensive modernization
▶ 0:29:22through force design 2028. To sustain these efforts and to protect the nation's maritime interests, we will continue to work closely with the Congress to support increased and recurring funding for the service, including operations, assets, and personnel readiness. Thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Coast Guard men and women. I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:29:46Thank you. Now to Miss McCloud. You are recognized for five minutes for your Chairman McDell, Ranking Member Larson, Ranking Member Carbajal, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to be here today to discuss GAO's work examining Coast Guard law enforcement efforts. These efforts, including drug and migrant interdiction and prevention of illegal fishing, are vital to confronting maritime illicit maritime activities.
▶ 0:30:14My testimony today will not be a surprise to anyone on this committee. GAO's work has identified persistent challenges Coast Guard faces related to vessel and aircraft availability, acquisitions, and staffing shortfalls that hinder the services ability to meet its growing mission demands. We've made dozens of recommendations to the Coast Guard to help address these issues.
▶ 0:30:39Addressing our open recommendations pertaining to the Coast Guard's assets and workforce would help ensure that the service is efficiently using its resources to carry out its law enforcement missions. In 2025, the Coast Guard received nearly $25 billion for various acquisitions and in support of efforts to modernize operation and capabilities.
▶ 0:31:05This additional funding could help the Coast Guard address long-standing challenges that we've identified related to vessel and aircraft availability. The condition of the Coast Guard assets has been in a state of decline for decades. Our work has shown a concerning trend that the cost of maintaining these assets is increasing at the same time that their availability is decreasing.
▶ 0:31:30For example, in June, we reported that the availability of the cutters that the Coast Guard relies on for its law enforcement missions declined. We also reported that increasing maintenance challenges have led to cutters missing patrol obligations. We made five recommendations in that report to help address cutter challenges. These readiness challenges are not limited to its cutters.
▶ 0:31:55In April 2024, we reported that the Coast Guard's aircraft generally did not meet its availability target. Coast Guard officials attributed this to maintenance and repair challenges. We made five recommendations, including that the Coast Guard assess the type and number of helicopters needed to meet its mission demands.
▶ 0:32:16Our work has also noted that acquisition program delays have been a long-standing challenge for the service and continue to affect the availability of Coast Guard assets. For example, the Coast Guard's newest cutters, the offshore patrol cutter and the Polar Security Cutter are intended to support law enforcement missions like drug interdiction and prevention of illegal fishing. But we found that combined these two programs are billions of dollars over their initial cost estimates and years behind schedule.
▶ 0:32:46We've made dozens of recommendations on how Coast Guard can better manage acquisition programs for new vessels and aircraft. The final challenge I'd like to highlight is Coast Guard staffing shortfall and poor workforce planning. In recent years, the Coast Guard has raised concerns that its mission workload has outpaced its workforce levels. Staffing gaps, particularly in specialized units like tactical law enforcement teams, can hinder drug interdiction and other other law enforcement missions.
▶ 0:33:17While the service recruited more enlisted service members than it lost in 2024, that had not been the case in prior years. In in April 2025, we reported that even with the increase in recruiting, the service remained short of its enlisted workforce target. As a result, Coast Guard was operating below the workforce level it deemed necessary to meet its operational demands at that time.
▶ 0:33:43We made three recommendations to help address these challenges, including that the Coast Guard develop a clear plan to support its retention initiatives. In conclusion, while the Coast Guard plays a vital role in confronting and mitigating illicit maritime activities, it faces significant challenges in carrying out these missions.
▶ 0:34:03Addressing our recommendations in these areas will help ensure that Coast Guard is effectively and efficiently using resources to carry out these critical missions and protect our maritime borders. This completes my prepared statement and I'd be pleased to respond to any questions you may have.
▶ 0:34:22Thank you. I'd now like to begin questioning and I'll recognize myself uh for questions for five minutes. Uh want to thank you again for for being here with us today and um just want to give a a very heartfelt thank you to uh the members of the Coast Guard and especially to uh the stone. It's incredible work. Um and our country thanks you for that.
▶ 0:34:46But the Coast Guard recognizes illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing as the leading global maritime security threat. And it's no coincidence that the largest perpetrator of this illicit activity is whose many many violations include fishing in other nations, exclusive economic zones and incorrectly reporting fishing activity.
▶ 0:35:13Can you, Admiral Barata, can you characterize the the economic harm that these violations or to to either of you, can you kind of e can you characterize what this IU fishing how uh it harms the United States and explain what steps are being taken to prioritize that threat.
▶ 0:35:37Chairman, uh good morning. Good morning again. So IU um is is a threat to both the global uh economy and the US economy. Um you know the the illegal catch that is brought in uh to the United States devalues the work that our domestic LMR uh living marine resources the fish stocks that we that we uh sell to our own our own folks and impacts um you know over $150 billion dollars that our fishermen uh bring to the uh the
▶ 0:36:07global uh domestic product. So, you know, from from our standpoint, it's a it's a very difficult issue to deal with. Um, you know, as as we look at the number of fleets that are out there, the distant water fleets, there's about 6,000 that we know were registered with China and almost 17,000 that we think are registered uh in other flags that are conducting this type of work.
▶ 0:36:29The difficulty um is that you know as we get into some of these island nations where those EEZs exist that are not the US EEZ many of these island nations do not have the ability they don't have the expertise they don't have um they don't have the capabilities the the small boats and so the work that we do uh through uh multilateral agreements uh to carry ship riders aboard our vessels to uh sell them equipment to do it themselves uh to enforce on their behalf um you know as
▶ 0:36:59we're out there under these treaties gives them the opportunity to help enforce in their own econ exclusive economic zones.
▶ 0:37:06Just curious what species are they targeting the most uh to to harvest?
▶ 0:37:12Um it's it's actually all a full range of species about about 10% of uh the the stocks that we bring in the seafood that we bring into the US
▶ 0:37:21uh we we estimate to be from uh as part of this is this trade ourselves.
▶ 0:37:25Wow. Uh but it's it's offiscated, you know, as they land it in different countries. They do trans shipments on mother ships and so it's very hard to track where the fish are actually coming
▶ 0:37:35Gotcha. Uh the one big beautiful bill as I mentioned earlier included an investment of nearly $25 billion uh in the Coast Guard for new cutters, helicopters, modernized shore infrastructure, maritime surveillance systems, and much more. What benefit will these additional resources bring to the Coast Guard's law enforcement efforts? And how quickly will we see these benefits realized?
▶ 0:38:02the um it is it is a generational maybe a historic uh change for the Coast Guard to get this type of windfall and the big beautiful bill. Um it's you know it's assets you know the things that Miss McCloud talked about it allows us to um you know across our our uh our cutter fleet. Uh it adds allows us to add to our icebreaking fleet which also where the fish stocks are going as well technology autonomous systems.
▶ 0:38:30It allows us to uh build out Kate May uh and maybe a new a new training center to bring more uh Coast Guard people which for us is is the lifeblood of everything that we do. So, um, thank you very much for the support of this subcommittee. Uh, we we can't thank you enough. It is is much needed and we will put that money, uh, to good use. I will tell you, uh, the Coast Guard is 100% focused on, uh, on obligating those funds in a timely manner and and putting those assets in
▶ 0:38:59Uh, Miss McCloud, to you, the the offshore patrol cutter is is one of the services highest acquisition priorities. when delivered, this new class of ships will play an important role uh for the Coast Guard's law enforcement efforts. Can you discuss very quickly uh the importance of this program and your assessment of its progress?
▶ 0:39:21Yeah, the Coast Guard has identified this as one of its most important programs. Um the progress has been slow, challenging, and um underwhelming at times. uh they continue to struggle with this acquis acquisition and uh I think taking the lessons learned from this acquisition could be applied uh to future funds including the those authorized in the big beautiful bill that you mentioned.
▶ 0:39:50Well, thank you. My time has expired. I'd now like to recognize uh ranking member Larson for five minutes.
▶ 0:39:56Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to start with Admiral Brada and I don't need a lot of detail but I think it's important [clears throat] for us to understand authorities under which Coast Guard is uh is boarding these these oil tankers. If you could just briefly discuss the the right to visit boarding uh as but that only gives you the the the legal authority to board but what's the authority under which you're acting in order to board? I think that's important to understand as well.
▶ 0:40:26Ranking member, briefly uh we are using uh customary international law first and foremost to do to conduct the right of visit boardings. Um and once aboard, you know, if we can establish that the vessel is without nationality in um we can either get flag state consent or we can in the cases that they're without nationality, um we can determine that they under US jurisdiction and so that is kind of our opening point to use title 14, sir.
▶ 0:40:53Sure. Yeah. uh title 14. But on that point to establish the the nationality, um is it is it like pulling them over because of a broken uh um tail light and then you check on nationality or is that established first by the state department in in an inter agency process and then you target that particular
▶ 0:41:14So the for us on the high seas, we do this very routinely on almost every vessel that's out there multiple countries, multiple vessels. uh it's it's under the law of the sea it's customary for us to engage uh either right of approach or a right of visit and just you know determine what the vessel status is who what the nationality is you know what their their intentions are um in these cases we've gotten some indication that they are their nationality is not accurate u by either uh a database that we
▶ 0:41:44have intelligence background that we have working with the department of state and working with their own flag states uh we're seeing that there's a lot of these tankers that are just using false flags without notifying the flag state.
▶ 0:41:54Yeah. And and not to get in detail because you probably can't hear, maybe we can talk to you all later um in a different envir different setting. Uh but there's a use of Coast Guard and other intelligence assets to to maybe narrow the focus a little bit. So it's not every tanker, it's specific tankers.
▶ 0:42:12Yes. and and obviously we're we're cued uh by the fact that these these tankers are operating in Venezuela and um you know every vessel should be operating in its automatic identification system and every vessel should be flagged uh so that we can tell these things and uh yes we we work through our intelligence and other other open source means to just determine that there's some anomalous information that's being provided um and so that that does uh kind of trigger us.
▶ 0:42:38Just [clears throat] want to establish that um because you kind of use this do the same thing if you're doing drug interdiction or migrate interdiction.
▶ 0:42:44Absolutely. Yes.
▶ 0:42:45Same process.
▶ 0:42:46Same process.
▶ 0:42:46This focus is on uh these tankers.
▶ 0:42:49Yes. Absolutely.
▶ 0:42:50I don't want to simplify it too much. I'm sure there's nuance, but
▶ 0:42:53Yes, sir.
▶ 0:42:54Yeah. Thanks. Um Mr. Clyde, I want to shift a little bit. Um so yeah, we provided the Coast Guard 25 billion dollars over the next 10 years through the reconciliation bill and uh and we Coastg Guard exceeded recruitment goals last year I think as well.
▶ 0:43:14Um, so there's platforms, there's people, but over the last couple years, the Coast Guard has retrenched a little bit in terms of uh um sites in terms of uh because of recruitment, because of the lack of people, move people um away from current Coast Guard sites and and assets from them. Is there a plan now that we're going to build uh additional replacement and additional platforms and recruit more people?
▶ 0:43:38Is the Coast Guard have you looked at whether Coastg Guard has a plan now to move back to places that they have retrenched from over the last last couple of years? We had we got to put these people somewhere and these platforms somewhere.
▶ 0:43:51Yeah, we've certainly examined um you know the funding related to the bill as well as force design 2028. Um it's ambitious uh for the Coast Guard to be able to achieve those goals. Um we haven't seen uh from the Coast Guard yet specific plans on how it how it will execute that funding or achieve those recruitment goals.
▶ 0:44:15Certainly um they've made efforts and expanding their recruitment efforts um through the different offices and different technologies um which is encouraging but uh we haven't seen them measure the results of those efforts yet. that remains an open recommendation uh from us and so uh we'll wait and see what what happens there. Yeah,
▶ 0:44:38Admiral brought it back to you the same question. You got the dollar for the platforms, you got uh and we'll watch and we will definitely be watching that you're recruiting um but under Admiral Fagan, those were all great goals and you're achieving them as well, but she also had to take actions because of the lack of recruitment previously to um to shrink the footprint a little bit of the Coast Guard. What's a plan to put people and platforms back to those places?
▶ 0:45:03So, as as part of force design 2028, I I think as Miss McCloud uh mentioned, it's it is ambitious uh but we're excited about it. We've reorganized the Coast Guard in several ways, which includes uh a group uh to focus just on people, which includes recruiting, and as as you hinted at, um you know, over the last few years, we had been short, almost 9,000 people short on the enlisted side. And so the first thing we need to do is is uh get those folks into the into the service and then expand by another 15,000.
▶ 0:45:33And so those are part of our goals. We to use to crew those ships to return those stations uh where we had uh had to take some some of those uh some of those operators and and place them elsewhere for our most demanding needs. But we have a plan in place. U we're happy to come and talk to the subcommittee about what that plan looks like. Sir,
▶ 0:45:52that'd be great. Thank you very much. Chairman now recognizes Mr. Webster. Five minutes.
▶ 0:46:03Thank the witnesses for being here today and your testimony. Really appreciate that. Thank you, Chairman. Appreciate that, too. Um uh Peroa um Coast Guard began to ramp up the deployment of of uh unmanned aircraft systems and uh I guess it was for a cost-effective approach to provide a uh airborne surveillance capabilities across the national uh security cutter fleet
▶ 0:46:33and has validated a mission need for landbased UAS significantly enhance ocean surveillance in support of the of the services operations. How is the Coast Guard currently utilizing drones as a kind of a force multiplier uh for the AY's law enforcement missions and uh how do we have to see them in the future use them in the future?
▶ 0:47:02How do they use to progress what's already
▶ 0:47:08Congressman, uh good morning. Good to see you as always, sir. Um so the uh big beautiful bill gives us quite a bit of funding for uh all time all types of autonomous systems um which we kind of break down into long range, mid-range and short range. Um the some of the short range drones um we have found to be great force multipliers at a lot of our um local patrol boats uh and our our uh shore-based units to do any number of things.
▶ 0:47:38Um you know especially you know for instance where we don't have an air station or we don't have a helicopter or an aircraft available to us uh to do to help with search and rescue in some cases to help with pollution response. Uh when I was the district commander down in the Heartland district, we had a well head that had let loose and it was spilling oil uh and we worked with Noah to put drones in the air to kind of reposition uh the boom you know as as the oil was spilling and it was was progressing into the marsh
▶ 0:48:08uh to protect sensitive areas. So, so you know, I if you think about, you know, just a local unit, you know, arriving in a government vehicle and not having the ability uh after, you know, for instance, on the on the Mississippi River where there a number of barges maybe have crashed and sunk u to to kind of put a drone in the air and take a look and see, you know, what the expanse of that is, you know, what the damage looks like to the bridge and other things.
▶ 0:48:33Um those are the type of things that if we put this technology in the hands of some of our innovative young people who uh are really excited about this. Um we've you know we have a program where we actually um you know we qualify uh folks from the unit. Uh and so many of these units are these kids are volunteering. There's eight or 10 kids at a time who are I say kids these are petty officers uh who are 27. They're they're much younger than than me.
▶ 0:48:59So, um, but they're they are, um, taking, uh, the ball and running with it, and we're we're pretty excited about that capability.
▶ 0:49:08So, they're in the air and they can see and you can see and what's going on. Is there more to it than that? Is there more than just reconnaissance uh by them or is there some other use?
▶ 0:49:22Uh, no. No, Congressman. using it to inform our operations and uh and so um you know for us awareness informs the the operational commander and allows us to deploy assets, change tactics, uh reach out to agencies in some cases or uh even call assets off if we if we can determine that hey um you know for instance we get a lot of false reports about things you know hey maybe there's a kayak floating out in the middle of the the bay uh in instead of let launching a helicopter we might be able to launch uh something like
▶ 0:49:52a drone look and see that it's something that's just a piece of flatsom that's not really has somebody on it and kind of discount that as a a sarcase.
▶ 0:50:03So, how would a the development of a robust UAS program um allow the Coast Guard to better accomplish its mission um multi-art mission actually?
▶ 0:50:18Congressman, it's going to reap us untold benefits. I I think uh we we've talked about the the far reaches of the Pacific. Um we've talked about uh vessels trying to track those things. We we've we we are using our autonomous systems in any number of ways. You know, um one of our programs called Coastal Sentinel, which [clears throat] is going to be a an array of radars uh and ISR systems. It's going to have uh you know, unmanned uh waterborne systems, air systems.
▶ 0:50:48that's going to allow us to have uh you know pervasive maritime domain awareness and understand the threats that are on the border uh conduct search and rescue uh sea pollution spills all of these things. And so for us uh that is the future and what we want to do is allow the those systems to do some of the work where we might not need a human being and allow free up the Coast Guard experts to do just what only they can do. That's that's our goal.
▶ 0:51:21Director Ma reported it concludes that while there's kind of a intended to be a short duration, the Coast Guard has sort of surge uh surged operations to counter maritime immigr uh migration and surges for three years. to do this.
▶ 0:51:46Um, they've reallocated vessels and Uh, what's the long-term solution?
▶ 0:52:04Please answer quickly and uh
▶ 0:52:07Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, I didn't mean to say Mr. We were at a Go ahead and answer.
▶ 0:52:15Okay. Okay. I think if I if I heard you properly, you were talking about the um the the surges and the Coast Guard efforts related to that. Um, you know, I think each of the Coast Guard efforts in times of surge, whether it's a migrant surge or a response to um, drug flow, um, just recognizing that there are trade-offs among these missions and as the Coast Guard uh, turns its efforts to one uh, something is happening
▶ 0:52:45in the other area and being able to understand the impact of those efforts on the other missions um, is a is an important effort for the Coast Guard. Thank you.
▶ 0:52:56Thank you. Now recognize ranking member of the subcommittee, Mr. Carbajal, for five minutes.
▶ 0:53:04Thank you, Mr. Chair. Admiral Barata, prior to the invasion of Venezuela, we saw confirmed reports that US military forces carried out strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific that the Department of Defense said were involved in drug trafficking.
▶ 0:53:22Given that maritime drug interdiction and law enforcement are a core mission of the United States Coast Guard, can you explain to this committee how the Coast Guard and the Department of Defense coordinated on these actions, especially in terms of legal authorities and ensuring compliance with international and United States law or not? ranking member.
▶ 0:53:45Um, in regards to the kinetic strikes on the on the drug smuggling vessels down there, I'd have to refer that to the Department of War, uh, the Coast Guard was not part of those actions, uh, at all.
▶ 0:53:59Thank you. Uh, Admiral Bara, we have received reports that the Coast Guard has experienced a degradation in information sharing from traditionally reliable international part partners. How important are our allies in the success of drug interdiction in the long
▶ 0:54:19They are vital to our success. Um and I think uh many people on the subcommittee uh members of the subcommittee are familiar with giant of south uh the work that's done out of Key West. uh the the joint inter agency task force down there led by the military and coordinated 60% of uh the work that's done in Jedaf is assisted by partners whether that's bilateral agreements uh joint boardings or assisted boardings you know for us the coast guard title 14 is the key for a lot of this
▶ 0:54:49drug enforcement that takes place as a potential violation of US law and so um you know as as Miss Mloud has highlighted you know sometimes we do not have the cutters in place to do that, but we can do some of these boardings with a tactical law enforcement team and so we get a lot of assistance from our partners in doing this type of work.
▶ 0:55:08Thank you. I've had the opportunity to visit the Giat South and have witnessed firsthand all the work that is being done down there. Miss Mloud, your statement mentions 20 open recommendations since 2023 pertaining to maritime law enforcement operations. Which recommendations are the most urgent to improving the Coast Guard's ability to interdict drugs, interdict migrants, and thwart illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing?
▶ 0:55:39All of our recommendations are important and I'll just note that the Coast Guard has agreed with the vast majority of recommendations that we have been making in these areas. I think a couple of areas that it comes down to and I'll highlight just one is uh data and information.
▶ 0:55:58Um so the Coast Guard needs uh better data to be able to make these decision make these decisions about mission tradeoffs and by having such information it could improve their performance as you mentioned where the cutters are where the people are doing these workforce analyses to understand um the priorities amongst its uh limited workforce and could assist in the in
▶ 0:56:29the surge operations when they do come.
▶ 0:56:32Thank you. I know that's like asking a parent, pick your favorite child. Um, Admiral Barata, would vessel safe safety, economic security, and national security improve if the flags of convenience system were abolished?
▶ 0:56:50Ranking member, I I think it's a difficult question like in the cases of the the vessels that we're dealing with right now, these these dark these dark vessels, the there's a difference between say an an open registry and a false flag. Um, in these cases, what we have found is four of the five vessels um just were under uh a false flag. they they had either were not registered at all or they had not notified the country that they claimed to be flagged under that they were there.
▶ 0:57:18And so when we worked through the the maritime operational threat response process when we went back to the department of state they reached back to that country and just you know tried to validate the status. The country was completely unaware that they had or the country had no had no registry that was open to to other uh vessels. So I I think what we're seeing here in this case of these these there's about 300 at least that are mainly tankers that are operating in this dark shadow fleet.
▶ 0:57:48I don't think that would get after that problem. I think um you know there there are some ways to get after that issue. But if if the vessels are not going to be held accountable uh then the registry itself won't because we we are upholding you know for us for instance the coast guard uh does a lot of work with as a port state uh we validate these vessels are inspected that they have their documentation and these things these other the the vessels that we're going aboard right now have nothing they don't they have all false documents sir
▶ 0:58:16thank you I'm out of time so I'm just going to read my last question to the record if you could answer it later uh Admiral Brad it's been reported that the Coast Guard is hiring vessel inspectors to assess and repair seized tankers. We know that the service is already short 150 vessel inspectors, which has meant a a less than ideal vessel inspection schedule for small passenger vessels.
▶ 0:58:38If you could for the record later submit an answer to how will the shortage coupled with the new priority of inspecting seas tankers affect the frequency of inspections of small passenger vessels. If you could answer that later, that'd be great. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I yield
▶ 0:58:54I now recognize the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Mass, for five minutes.
▶ 0:58:59Thank you, Chairman. Appreciate it, Ambassador. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being here, ma'am. I want to stick with uh the ghost ships and maybe extend a little bit of the conversation that we were just having, understand a little bit more of the risk profile about these ghost ships that are, you know, legally moving Iranian oil.
▶ 0:59:14So just number one when we talk about that risk profile compare contrast it to a traditional ship that you might board check out their certifications things like that uh in terms of spill probability hull integrity c crew competency things like that give me a brief compare and contrast to something uh that's a legal operating vessel.
▶ 0:59:34Well again we we haven't seen many of these these these these vessels we're seeing right now are probably the first couple that we've gotten aboard. But I will tell you they are very
▶ 0:59:44again first couple you've gotten aboard.
▶ 0:59:46Is that what you said? Yeah.
▶ 0:59:47Yes. We typically the shadow fleet operates between China, Iran, Russia, uh Venezuela, Cuba. We we don't we don't access that. We don't the Coast Guard doesn't norm the US Coast Guard doesn't normally see them because they're not allowed to enter US ports. Um but the one you know one in particular that we boarded um the skipper was extremely substandard. Uh it was extremely overloaded. the the cargo systems were not functioning properly.
▶ 1:00:13Overloaded. How substandard?
▶ 1:00:15Um extremely extremely. Yeah. Very substandard. They they had loaded uh um cargo into areas where they shouldn't. They're not normally allowed to load cargo. They they press those up, but the cargo systems themselves were not working. The firefighting system was not was not operating properly. Just basic uh firefighting life-saving issues.
▶ 1:00:33It's fair to say these are not the newest, latest, and greatest. No, the these are old. These are old ships. Uh the the the value on the on these tankers is is the cargo. The vessels themselves are um you know, not in good
▶ 1:00:47Okay. Tell me about insurance uh carried on these if uh they're moving oil and one of these ghost fleet vessels uh goes out there and has a spill versus something that is otherwise a normal operating vessel.
▶ 1:01:00We, you know, as we've gotten aboard, uh all the documentation has been false. And so, you know, everything that we would normally require on a a tanker to even operate in the United States, you know, insurance, PNI club, Kofur, all of those things, um, you know, we presume that they don't have it, and so we are treating it as if they don't.
▶ 1:01:18So, you're saying these Ghost Fleet vessels, maybe they carry fraudulent documents, but they're nothing more than fraudulent in your experience. Is that
▶ 1:01:26what we've seen so far is that these are the they're all the documents they've had are not in compliance with international standards. Now, my understanding is, and please correct me or or educate me on this, it might be an we might label it for our purposes an Iranian ghost fleet vessel, but that doesn't mean this is an Iranian flag shipped. Where are these what's the difference between where they're flagged and where their actual beneficial ownership is? Where do you find that coming into play?
▶ 1:01:54We what we have found is that um they're making multiple claims of ownership, multiple uh claims of flag. So we we do
▶ 1:02:02where are those claims of ownership
▶ 1:02:04Um and it's it's been varied. You know, the the flags that they've been claiming have been in West African countries uh that that don't have the ability to validate those things on the international level. Uh those type of things. The owners themselves are obscured to us. Um you know, the the ones the vessels that have been seized by the Department of Justice, I'd have to refer you to those if if they have access to the owners.
▶ 1:02:27Distinguish between uh these terms if you can. again, help educate me on this. Uh, a a vessel's registered owner versus the beneficial owner versus the operator versus the charterer. Um, walk me through those different terms and why they matter.
▶ 1:02:42I I'd have to get back to you on that, sir. We we normally, you know, in the Coast Guard deal with the owner operator, the the primary uh representative of the vessel in order when we're taking official action. Um, the the nuance of some of those we can I can get back to you on, sir. So, uh, would you categorize this as, uh, certainly an environmental issue that these ghost ships are operating, an environmental issue, uh, for the Gulf?
▶ 1:03:08Well, we we are working to mitigate it. I think, um, you know, the amount of cargo that's aboard some of the vessels. These these are thousand foot very large crude carriers, VLCC's as we call them, that are that are too large to enter into US port. And so what we're doing is we're putting our marine inspectors aboard uh in order to mitigate that. We're working um you know to put uh salvage experts aboard. We have tugs tugs aboard. We have folks trying to work to fix the equipment aboard.
▶ 1:03:36So to summarize it and if I missed something, let me know. Uh but you said crews are typically have a level of incompetence or untrained or or just not don't have the experience on these ghost fleets. That's fair to say. the the crews themselves. I I I wouldn't want to categorize um you know how they've been operating the vessels. I I would say the vessels themselves are substandard. We we have not evaluated the crews.
▶ 1:04:00Okay. Thank you for your time. My time is expired. Thank you for your answers and uh all the best. Seratus.
▶ 1:04:08Gentleman yields.
▶ 1:04:09Miss Strickland.
▶ 1:04:13Mr. Strickland.
▶ 1:04:15Oh, you're back. Thank you, Chairman Eel and Ranking Member Carvajal for holding this hearing. I first want to focus on force layown and the Coast Guard's commitment to maintaining capabilities in the Indoacific. A December 2025 Coast Guard report confirms that the Hawaii homeported cutter Harriet Lane, which has been central to conducting maritime law enforcement and expanding maritime domain awareness in the Indoacific, will likely be relocated due to homeport limitations.
▶ 1:04:44Rear Admiral Barata, can the Coast Guard commit to ensuring that critical Coast Guard assets remain in the Pacific?
▶ 1:04:52Congresswoman, uh, good morning. So, the Harriet Lane obviously is um, you know, they are located out there been doing tremendous work. We we've been very happy with them and we're trying to push as many cutters as we can into the Indo Pacific and so we're still working on that. Um, the Harriet Lane will not leave the Pacific that we we guarantee that. Uh we're just looking for a place that that suits uh the operations and the families that can accommodate her.
▶ 1:05:17Great. Thank you. And we must maintain a credible US posture in the Indoacific to deter CCP coercion and honor our commitments to those nations. I'm going to pivot a bit now and I want to talk about the bigger picture of the Department of Homeland Security's actions. The Coast Guard operates under the jurisdiction of DHS. First of all, the American people deserve to feel safe wherever they are, at home, in their neighborhoods, and the work that you do is integral to that. This administration was voted in on the promise that it would deliver safety for all Americans.
▶ 1:05:48DHS broke that promise the moment they started marching into American cities and turning their guns on innocent citizens under the pretense of protecting communities. When people want to be part of the Coast Guard, there are strict recruiting standards. You have to pass a background check. You have to be qualified. The training is extensive. From what we're seeing with the latest recruiting efforts, that's not the case with ICE agents.
▶ 1:06:12At every turn, they are choosing the most reckless response possible and then refusing to be held accountable for it. They took no accountability when a SWAT team dropped down from a Blackhawk and stormed Chicago in an apartment building raid that led to no criminal charges. No accountability when agents shot two people during a traffic stop in Portland. and no accountability whatsoever when a masked ICE agent shot a 37y old woman in Minneapolis in the face.
▶ 1:06:41No accountability when the administration then stonewalled state and local law enforcement trying to conduct a fair factf finding Americans, regardless of political affiliation, Democrats, independents, and Republicans are outraged at this administration's complete overreach and assault on the rights of the American people. But this was never about immigration for them.
▶ 1:07:06This is domestic American lives have become an afterthought to this administration's ultimate goal of scaring people, declaring martial law, and using ICE as the president's personal police force. They're going around Congress. They're disrespecting the rule of law. They are disrespecting our role as a checkin balance and the American people deserve so much better. I yield back, Mr. Chair. Gentle lady yields. Mr.
▶ 1:07:35Beggar, you're recognized for five minutes.
▶ 1:07:38Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh my my questions are going to be directed uh to Rear Admiral Barata. Um, how often are you seeing foreign vessels operate in ways designed to avoid uh enforcement um against IU and how are they how are they doing this,
▶ 1:07:59Congressman? Um, quite often it's it's kind of ubiquitous. Uh, they're doing it in a number of ways to kind of offiscate where they're at. they they don't identify themselves or they we we found um that the technology to kind of project your your location uh is very pervasive.
▶ 1:08:17Uh in other spots and sometime in some cases they're clumping in together and other in other cases what they do is um they'll take illegal catch to a mother ship and they'll put it into a trans shshipment so that we don't know which vessel was loading it in those things. And so um in a lot of ways and then they're then they're landing it in countries that are friendly to them that need the money or need the need the catch and uh so they'll bring it in there. But those are uh we we see it all the time.
▶ 1:08:44Uh what would you say is the single biggest enforcement gap that you face in stopping illegal fishing in US waters or near US interests
▶ 1:08:54in in US waters? Um, you know, I I think and and it's the same problem I think that we have in the rest of the world is that you need to know where they're at. You know, you need you need awareness of of where those things are. And so, um, you know, in the far reaches of the Pacific, one some of the things that we're going to need are we're going to need some satellite assistance in order to compare the location of those vessels against their actual location.
▶ 1:09:18And then we're going to use we're going to need data and uh artificial intelligence to kind of help us sus out which vessels are are operating illegally
▶ 1:09:27when you're trying to measure whether you're whether you've been successful at uh at inhibiting IU activities. What are the metrics that you use uh to capture that? Is it boarding, seizures, disruption, deter how do you how do you sort of characterize that?
▶ 1:09:44We we look at it in a couple different ways. MET metrics are hard. Uh but I I think it depends on the fishing fleet. You know, for instance, in the Gulf of America, you know, where we're doing the launcher boardings down there near the Mexican border, and we've had uh luck, you know, prosecuting some of those uh those operators under the LAIC just in the last year alone. We we're measuring the deterrent effect there.
▶ 1:10:07And and what we have seen is that, you know, prosecuting and having some of these uh these these mariners plead guilty has had a deterrent effect in other locations out in the in the Pacific. Um the number of boardings we do, you know, can we spring upon them? Can we kind of shoe them out of other countries EEZs, those are more those are better metrics for us and and those bigger fleets and the far reaches.
▶ 1:10:31Now, uh as you may know, I'm from the state of Alaska. We have more coastline than the rest of the United States combined uh in Alaska. A difficult area to uh patrol and monitor, but up in the Arctic, what would you uh what would you think a credible deterrent deterrence presence uh would require?
▶ 1:10:52As you say, sir, we love Alaska. Uh just it's beautiful up there, but some of the most challenging conditions that we um that we operate in for a number of reasons. The weather is one, but uh time, speed, distance is another one. And so in answer to your question, I think we would need a couple things. We would need we need cutters up there. Presence, presence matters, especially when our adversaries are up there. Aircraft, uh uh ISR, the ability to do that. U we need some some land-based stations and those things.
▶ 1:11:22And so the ability to be there when we when we need to be there, uh which I I would think is year round. Uh you at least we're getting there. uh but at least when vessels are there and when our adversaries are there to know what they're doing and then to do something about it.
▶ 1:11:35Well, and and I appreciate you saying that. As we've discussed already uh this morning, the the budget reconciliation bill that passed last year has significant uh historic really investments in uh Coast Guard uh both in terms of uh new vessels and in programmatic funding and uh hopefully we'll be able to get uh some of that deployed in uh Alaska on a permanent basis to help you in your mission for deterring IU
▶ 1:12:05fishing activities off of Alaska. Alaska's coast. At the end of the day, Alaska provides 60% of the nation's uh seafood catch, and we want to make sure that uh that our fishing families and those uh who rely on them are uh are well protected, and they have a strong econom economic interest to to continue uh to harvest that food off of Alaska's coast. So, we appreciate uh your support in that mission. We love our Coast Guard and we thank you for your service. And with that, I yield
▶ 1:12:35Gentleman yields. Chair recognizes Mr. Garundy for five minutes questioning.
▶ 1:12:41Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I think I want to go in a different direction here. I was reading uh Mr. Mcloy your uh document and it raises in my mind the very serious issue of maintaining the various vessels that the Coast Guard has. Noting the falloff in availability that you so clearly put uh in your report, I want to move to the issue of where will these vessels be maintained.
▶ 1:13:12We've got a problem in California. The Mar Island uh facility is the oldest Nate Vase on the West Coast and there are four dry docks there. Unfortunately, the Coast Guard made a decision to not bring the icebreaker Healey to Mayor Island even though it's was the low bid by over a million dollars.
▶ 1:13:35They used a process called uh best value to jimmy up some sort of um expenses that put the Mare Island dry dock at a disadvantage. Now, there needs to be a serious discussion, some of which I've already done with the comedat and with the Coast Guard, about just what is this best value game that is being played.
▶ 1:14:00Going forward, it isn't going to do us any good to go back and debate the Healey and whether it should or should not be at Mir Island, but Mir Island is a critical national asset for the Coast Guard as well as for the US Navy. And I don't like the game that has been played.
▶ 1:14:18And I want to make sure that the Coast Guard is open and honest about future opportunities for Mir Island to successfully bid for Coast Guard work. Quality and price are the key issue here. So apparently Mir Island dry dock company had the low price except for this best value game.
▶ 1:14:44So going forward, I want to be sure that the Coast Guard understands the critical nature of work being brought to Mir Island. Oh, by the way, the Alamita stations about 10 miles away. And so there's a nexus there. I'm not asking you for this issue to be discussed today at this hearing, but I want to make it very clear that I do not like the way the Coast Guard has operated.
▶ 1:15:12There will be other bids uh and opportunities for Mar Island as well as other um facilities on the West Coast, but the Coast Guard and the Navy must recognize that the Pacific is one very very big ocean and that the Coast Guard needs to make sure that all of the facilities uh available on the West Coast, whether it's San Diego or the Northwest or California in the San Francisco Bay area, have an opportunity to bid.
▶ 1:15:42Now, with that, I want to go to one of the questions that has been on my mind forever, and that is the maintenance of the vessels. This does tie back to Mayor Island and to other opportunities for maintenance uh programs. M.
▶ 1:15:59Mcloid, in your evaluation of the decline of availability of Coast Guard vessels, did you spend time looking at the maintenance issues, how the maintenance programs operate or don't operate?
▶ 1:16:16Could you please discuss Yes, we did um in some ways and we examined the um issues around maintenance in terms of the workforce and um obsolescence of parts I would say were two of our biggest areas that that we found.
▶ 1:16:36Um some of the cutters that are due for maintenance are being pushed um to operate out in in a surge operation due to the limited capacity of the assets. um and and uh workforce shortages. And secondly, in terms of uh parts obsolescence, some of these cutters can't operate because of um malfunctioning parts and then they are taking the part from a different cutter.
▶ 1:17:04Excuse me for interrupting. Is there a system within the Coast Guard to identify all of those issues cutter by cutter, class by class? And in other words, is there a maintenance reporting system set up so that the Coast Guard knows what the problems are and what they need, what they then can do to solve the problem.
▶ 1:17:27We have a recommendation in that area. We found various systems um including, you know, from the local level all the way up um within the Coast Guard. Could you please provide me with detailed information on your evaluation and the system or lack of systems that the Coast Guard has and it's vessel class by vessel class. Thank you so very much. I yield back. [clears throat] Gentleman yields. I recognize myself now for five minutes.
▶ 1:17:54I want to thank you all for being here today and and uh providing us with this valuable information. Admiral, last fall during Operation Pacific Viper, the Coast Guard seized more than 150,000 pounds of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. This is more than 50 million 57 million potentially lethal doses.
▶ 1:18:18In November, Coast Guard Cutter Stone broke the record for the most cocaine seized by a single cutter in a single patrol in Coast Guard history, offloading 49,000 over 49,000 pounds of illicit narcotics worth 362 million. Uh what do you give the credit to for these record-breaking numbers?
▶ 1:18:42Chairman, uh good morning. Good to see you, sir. Um I think you know this is a result of um one that um we put some capacity down there and uh you know as as a result of the the president uh declaring that national emergency on the southern border and with a focus on elicit drugs and fentanyl.
▶ 1:19:02Um the other one is um that we've we've gotten quite good at this, you know, and I I think with what we've shown is that when we have the assets in place, an asset like the national security cutter um that has an armed helicopter on the back of it that has a law uh a law enforcement trained tactical team, the right small boats, communications, overhead satellites, ISR coordination with Giant of South uh and our partners um that we can really get after this this problem set.
▶ 1:19:29Good. What other law enforcement success has the Coast Guard seen uh specifically in the Antarctic? In the Arctic?
▶ 1:19:38In the Arctic. Um you know, we we just talked with Mr. Beich about the importance of that that area. I think um you know one one example that comes to to mind is um last summer there were five Chinese research vessels that were operating on our extended continental shelf and a combination of the Healey the Wayi and the newly commissioned stories uh were able to uh challenge them uh under the rules-based order uh and then have them uh evacuate
▶ 1:20:08that
▶ 1:20:09Very good. uh Chinese vessels uh tend to be the largest offenders in the of IU fishing. How does the United States Coast Guard confront these vessels given the aggressive Chinese Coast Guard and what does the Coast Guard do uh to counter Chinese IU fishing efforts?
▶ 1:20:31We we undertake a a number of uh a number of ways. One is the the first and foremost is our presence out there. You know, we we have 11 cutters out there. We have two more fast response cutters that are making their way out to the Pacific. Um they're they're highly capable.
▶ 1:20:46We've also found that the Coast Guard is the right size uh to go to these small island nations and uh familiarity with with those those folks uh training them, bringing their shipw writers aboard, selling them equipment in some cases so that they can operate themselves, but equipping them so that when the Coast Guard is not there that they can uh do uh take action on those Chinese fishing fleets as uh as they see fit in their own their own backyards.
▶ 1:21:12Very good, Miss McCloud. The GA The GAO has completed its report examining the Coast Guard's ability to meet mission goals in drug and migrant uh how migration surges impacts other missions, and Coast Guard coordination with federal partners. Can you walk us through these findings?
▶ 1:21:36Yes, in our report that was issued today, we provided a 10-year uh trends in drug and migrant interdiction along with other Coast Guard missions. I think how it bears out is um you know, when the Coast Guard is focusing on one mission, it's it's taking away from the other missions. And so, um the balance of missions is a a tricky position for the Coast Guard.
▶ 1:22:02when we found that they were not meeting their own performance metrics um in the drug and migrant interdiction mission, that has to be looked at within the context of when they're shifting things to other missions.
▶ 1:22:16um without having the the data um to support where those metrics um should be set or the context, it's difficult to um understand exactly how they're laying out um their assets and workforce to meet the performance metrics that they've established.
▶ 1:22:36Thank you. [clears throat] What are the biggest takeaways on how the Coast Guard can improve mission performance in these areas, Miss McCloud? Yeah, I think our um our information comes down to um being able to measure your performance in these areas and um that comes from the data that underlies uh the information that the Coast Guard is examining.
▶ 1:23:08Thank you. And I yield back to Miss Gillan. Uh thank you, chairman. Thank you to our witnesses for your service to our country and for appearing here today. So I am proud to represent the extraordinary men and women of Coast Guard uh station Jones Beach in the fourth congressional district of New York uh where they conduct essential law enforcement missions along our southshore and are a critical part of Coast Guard sector Long Island Sound.
▶ 1:23:37So, Long Island is home to some of the busiest and most congested waterways in the country. And unfortunately, when voters are unlicensed or they break the law, accidents can happen and tragedies happen. In 2005, 11year-old Briana Linneck was killed and her family was sever severely injured off the coast of Long Island when a boater without a license crashed into their vessel.
▶ 1:24:02According to 2023 Coast Guard data, 75% of boating deaths occur on vessels operated by individuals who have not received voting safety training or voters who are unlicensed. Uh, I am a co co-sponsor of bipartisan legislation named in Briana's memory to require the Coast Guard to study and report to Congress on recreational vessel operator education and training.
▶ 1:24:30Rear Admiral, what are the steps that the Coast Guard is currently taking to reduce accidental boating deaths and to to deter individuals from operating vessels without required licenses and trainings? And how can we in Congress help you serve that mission further and reduce
▶ 1:24:48Congresswoman, good [clears throat] morning. Um, and thank you for uh recognizing uh our men and women at Station Jones Beach and and uh Sector Long Island Sound. really really beautiful part of the country, part of the the birthplace of the Coast Guard up there in in the the Northeast District. Um very complex problem set. There's there's so many recreational boers that are out there.
▶ 1:25:11Um we take a lot of steps working with uh not only our own Coastg Guard Auxiliary volunteer force, but also all the boating law administrators at the local level to administer grant funds uh to educate as many u as many boers as possible. for for us that is life-saving work. We call that preventative SAR. If if we can get somebody out there, if we can educate a boater, have the right equipment aboard the vessel, um we we think they have a chance to get home.
▶ 1:25:39If they know how to do a voyage plan, uh nine times out of 10, um we can we can go find them with the equipment that we have. Uh and if if we add in start adding in, you know, personal locate later beacons, we can we can put a helicopter right on top of your head. And that's that is our goal. um from the from the equipment standpoint, from the education standpoint, we work closely with the states. Um and and obviously we are a maritime country. People love their boats.
▶ 1:26:03Uh to require uh licenses is always been a very very complex question, but educating as many people as we can is uh as part of our mission.
▶ 1:26:12Thank you. Thank you. Um, and just before last year, federal law limited the Coast Guard's ability to go after bad actors by requiring that drug smugglers be on board a vessel while the crime was committed. This hindered the Coast Guard's ability to go after operators of unmanned or autonomous vessels or criminals who stow drugs on ships without the knowledge of the crew.
▶ 1:26:36I was proud to join my Republican colleague, Congressman Addison McDow, to co-lead and help pass bipartisan legislation into law last year to clarify that the focus should be on the location of the crime regardless of the location of the criminal. The bill also requires the Coast Guard to make uh uh nlloxx nlloxxone available on all Coast Guard installations, including station Jones Beach. Um again, Rear Admiral, this question is for you.
▶ 1:27:04Can you explain how these common sense changes will strengthen the Coast Guard's ability to go after bad actors, fight drug trafficking, and save lives?
▶ 1:27:14Congresswoman, um you know, for us, any opportunity, any authority that allows us to continue to prosecute these cases um is is welcome and is is useful to our effort. that um you know from the standpoint of the the drug smugglers themselves, you know, to get after the transnational criminal organizations at their very heart, um you know, they in many cases some of the crew members aboard are the poorest.
▶ 1:27:44They they are the the the least complicit uh uh part of the of the of the crime. and and so I think you know for us to put that in place so that we can go after the real masterminds of of these crimes and um that'll give us an opportunity to really impact their revenue funds uh their funds revenues and and as well as them putting them in jail at some point.
▶ 1:28:04Thank you. Um I don't have much time mloud I just wanted to ask you thank you for your very thorough report. It seemed like a theme of it was that you need more staffing. You're you have a real shortfall. Um, would you be able I'll put my question in the record. If you could just give us some advice on how Congress can support you to increase staffing levels and support the Coast Guard, I'd love to have that from you. Thank you. Thank you. I yield back.
▶ 1:28:27Gentle lady yields. Chair recognized Mr. Vandrew for his round of questions.
▶ 1:28:32Thank you, Chairman. I I love the title of this uh hearing, drugs, thugs, and fish. who would put that if you weren't involved in the Coast Guard uh or this one of these industries, you wouldn't know um exactly how that all comes together, but it's good to see both of you again. Appreciate you being here. Um just to go over a few things they've been touched on. We know the Coast Guard does what nobody else can do.
▶ 1:28:58Enforces the law at sea, defends our maritime border, defends our legitimate commerce, defends the fishing industry. uh people don't realize very often that are not involved in this process how important that piece of it is too. Um we've had a record number of drug interdictions as you know and the Coast Guard is being asked to do more than any ever was asked uh in this area. And by the way I wanted to emphasize it was important I heard some other members mention some concerns they had.
▶ 1:29:29Um, you know, once the drugs are in our children's bodies, we've already lost. We've got a problem. Forgetting the financial aspect of what it does to America, the billions upon billions of dollars in treatment, in social work, in medical care, in lost hours of work in a job, of destroying people's lives.
▶ 1:29:53So, it is up to us to ensure that before that gets into America that we stop it. Whether it's on land, whether it's on sea, whether it's drug cartels, whether it's corrupt I applaud what's happening when we're working hard to prevent this from coming over. I do not see how anybody can ever drug cartels or those that would poison, especially the young people of this great nation.
▶ 1:30:22So the work that you do in that area is important. All of it's important. It's all important, but that's particularly at this time. It's good to see you all again. Like I said, uh there are some asset gaps still and we're doing better and record amounts of money are coming into the Coast Guard and that's good. Finally, for God's sake, finally, how many years we've been in this very committee room talking about this? Um, what could we do, if anything, to even increase success in drug interdiction?
▶ 1:30:52What is there some areas that you think we're still not addressing as well as we could? Uh, you both free to answer that question. Admiral, why don't we start with you, Congressman? Um, so, you know, for for us, I [clears throat] think it comes down to um the assets and the people, you know, and I I think the big beautiful bill is a great start to that.
▶ 1:31:17Um, you know, the Coast Guard's got to come through on our obligation to deliver these um to to deliver these assets and to build out the shore infrastructure like Kate May so that we can bring more recruits through and and uh and man these man. If I could just jump in for a second because I've always got to say this. What is it? 85% of all the recruits are trained in Kate May, New Jersey. Happens to be in my district and we're going to do amazing things there as you know. Thank you.
▶ 1:31:44We may have to recalculate the number based on the number of people we're moving through there right now, Congressman. So,
▶ 1:31:49Um, but I I I think that's one of the the other thing I would say is for us, uh, the big beautiful bill is [clears throat] a start. You know, it's there's a lot of acquisitions money that's in there. There is some depot level maintenance to to uh avoid going into the same cycle that Miss Mloud helps us highlight um of maintenance.
▶ 1:32:10We need uh we need a lift in our annual budget in order to maintain pay for the for the personnel, the sustainment, the maintenance and the re-equipping as as software goes obsolete, as parts goes goes go obsolete. We need that continued support from the Congress as well. So that chairman, that's something we might keep in mind um and work all of us together on that issue. And you know, we always hear all these terrible things about the big beautiful bill. I don't agree, and I'm trying not to be partisan here.
▶ 1:32:38Record amounts of money going into the Coast Guard and many other areas as well, including our airports, FAA, etc. So, I think that there's a lot of good there as well. when you say real quickly you might need to recalculate with the numbers going through uh as far as training, could you just give me a brief So, um last year we put about 5600 uh people through when our annual throughput is normally about 4,200 and we had been historically low the
▶ 1:33:08last several years before that. So, you know, as we build out Kate May, we put new gyms, new barracks and more things.
▶ 1:33:15Again, let me thank you so much, chairman. Just so we know under this administration the work that we've all done where we had basically folks were demoralized they weren't you know joining and now we have people coming back to the Coast Guard and our military branches proud to be part of it and joining up and there's record numbers of increases all across the board including in the Coast Guard and that's why I wanted you to just articulate that and finally and then I know I have to stop I have no time left the CVC policy letter
▶ 1:33:45to how it impacts our fishing industry history. Please do not forget about that. I'm like a dog on a bone. It matters to our fishermen.
▶ 1:33:53Congressman, we'll give you an update on that. I think we have some good news for
▶ 1:33:57Good. I'd appreciate that. Will you contact my office?
▶ 1:34:00Thank you. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:34:03Gentleman yields. Chair recognized Miss Shelton. Five minutes of questioning.
▶ 1:34:07Thank you, Chair Isel and Ranking Member Gillan Carvajal. Uh and welcome to our witnesses. Uh, the Coast Guard serves as an integral role in enforcing maritime law, including detecting and intercepting elicit activities and substances. Notably, I would like to commend the Coast Guard for recently intercepting a Russian vessel linked to Hezbollah's elicit financing network.
▶ 1:34:31This is exactly the kind of topnotch work we expect from our fearless coasties, and you made us proud in that mission. It's no surprise that I think the Coast Guard is the best at what it does. Just last year, the service broke its drug interdiction record, seizing over half a million pounds of narcotics. Simply put, the Coast Guard carries out its law enforcement duties well and intercepts these harmful drugs better than any other entity.
▶ 1:34:59While fulfilling this mission, the Coast Guard also takes the suspected drug smugglers into custody. Typically, the federal prosecutors at the Department of Justice then leverage these cases to dig up intelligence about the larger drug operation. ultimately limiting the flow of drugs into our community. As a former DOJ attorney myself, I'm deeply concerned about the fact that Attorney General Bondi has directed prosecutors to stop bringing charges against low-level offenders.
▶ 1:35:27Now, we're seeing individuals captured by the Coast Guard being repatriated. Rear Admiral Barata, can you speak to how important these federal investigations are for information gathering? Additionally, please uh touch on how does the Coast Guard approach uh taking suspected smugglers into custody um their approach to doing that? How does that better serve our national security interests rather than killing the traffickers in the water as we have unfortunately seen the Department of Defense do?
▶ 1:35:57so the the counterdrug mission, that part of it, once we're doing the prosecution, um we follow that normal process, you know, through the maritime operational uh uh sorry, the motor process,
▶ 1:36:12the I'm sorry, the threat response.
▶ 1:36:14Um you know, we go back to the Department of Justice uh and and in some cases when if this policy changes as it has recently, um you know, there is still intrinsic value in us. um you know getting these drugs off the street as as have been highlighted here.
▶ 1:36:29Um and then conducting those interviews uh with them, you know, going through the materials that they have available to them, um you know, the the cell phones that they have aboard and using that to to help disrupt um the the the flow of of of drugs as they come in. um you know, we also take biometrics off these off the smugglers. And so, you know, whether or not um they are u put back into the system or they're prosecuted, those drugs are not making their way to the to the street.
▶ 1:36:59Um as far as um you know that that there is a deterrent effect to to some of the kinetics uh strikes that are going on in some of the drug smugglers that we've seen. Whether that's going to be short-term or long term uh remains to be seen. But but the kinetic strikes, the the killings, uh I mean, let's let's be uh clear here. You're not connecting biome collecting biometrics uh from those individuals or getting additional detailed information about, you know, their plans as you would when you're arresting other
▶ 1:37:28We are not.
▶ 1:37:30My next question. While drug and migrant interdiction are clearly critical parts of the Coast Guard's mission, I also want to ensure that Congress's unprecedented investment in the services also supports its other functionalities. Back home in Moskegan and Grand Haven, uh also known as Coastg Guard City USA, the Coast Guard search and rescue operations are always top of mind for families who come to enjoy the beach or even when they're not supposed to climb Lake Michigan's beautiful ice formations.
▶ 1:37:58Rear Admiral Barata, uh, with a reinvigorated push towards its law enforcement efforts, how will the Coast Guard ensure there isn't, uh, disinvestment in other mission critical areas, particularly um, as the service is about 8% short of enlisted personnel needs right now? Um, additionally, can you assure that stations like those in my district will not be closed with the current administration's emphasis on drug seizures?
▶ 1:38:26Congresswoman, uh, good news on the recruiting front. I I think our our, um, you know, our ranks are continuing to swell as we bring people through through Gate May. So, I I think that's for us, you know, how we restaff some of the stations that we had to destaff. U, we're making uh we're making decisions on that right now. But obviously, the Great Lakes, our life-saving mission will not go away. You know, the the the comedant has been very clear that that's our our touchstone.
▶ 1:38:53That's our north star and we will we are committed to that mission and to the people of the Great Lakes
▶ 1:38:57and and and our our stations in Grand Haven and Moskegan are safe.
▶ 1:39:01Yes, absolutely.
▶ 1:39:02Fantastic. [snorts]
▶ 1:39:03Uh okay, West Michiganers and citizens Oh, I'm I I recognize I'm running out of time. We are having too much fun here. So Oh, thank you. Thank you. Okay, great. Uh I will get to my last question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh West Michiganers and citizens across the nation rely on federal agents and service members to thoughtfully and carefully fulfill their law enforcement duties. um a responsibility I know uh coasties do not take lightly. Um I I I wonder you know last week we watched in horror as Renee Good, a mother of a US citizen who was shot and killed by an ICE agent.
▶ 1:39:34Um a thorough federal investigation is absolutely necessary to provide Renee Good's three children and her community with the answers that they need as they grieve this tragedy. Rear Admiral Barata, while I'd never ask you to speak on behalf of another federal agency, can you please reassure American citizens that the Coast Guard has a clear use of force policy? We know that oftent times the Coast Guard is called in uh to situations such as this as well.
▶ 1:40:02And and further, can you please touch on how the Coast Guard trains its service members to best protect themselves and civilians while carrying out law enforcement activities? Congresswoman, um thanks for the opportunity to kind of highlight uh how we some of our law enforcement specialists and I I think what we saw um over the last month or so on some of these V Venezuelan tankers where we've had some of our high-end operators um going aboard and we've also seen our our tactical law enforcement teams, but all the way down to our maritime
▶ 1:40:32law enforcement specialists throughout around the country. They are trained in a standardized way. uh they are trained in our use of force policy and um you know to uh for us we're very proud of the work that they do and uh and our interactions with the public.
▶ 1:40:49Thank you. Thank you for the extra time. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
▶ 1:40:52Gentle lady yields. Uh Admiral and Mr. Mloud, I want to thank you for being here today. Admiral, I want to encourage you to use the appropriated funds that have been given to the Coast Guard. and the next time I see you, I'm going to ask you. So, uh, make sure that, uh, you go after that money. And the other one other thing I'd like to say is is, uh, you know, I was very much responsible for the, uh, getting rid of the low bid.
▶ 1:41:18And, uh, I would encourage the Coast Guard to continue to use the best opportunities for all their work getting done because so many times we've seen over the years low bid is not the best bid. So, uh, continue to get the best job done so we can have the best ships and everything fixed in a timely manner.
▶ 1:41:37Yes, chairman. And, uh, and we look forward to seeing you at the commissioning of the Olivia Hooker later this month.
▶ 1:41:43Yes, sir. I want to thank you all again for being here today. Uh, are there any further questions by any other members? Sure, Miss Shelton. Okay. Seeing none, that concludes our hearing today. I'd like to thank each one of our witnesses for your testimony. This subcommittee stands adjourned.