Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Modernization: Background and Issues for Congress

• Main Author: O'Rourke, Ronald
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. 2016
• Subjects: Arctic regions; Coast guard > U.S; Environmental protection; Science policy; Ships; Transportation; Arctic
• Online Access: http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc855901/

This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the sustainment and modernization of the Coast Guard's polar icebreaker fleet. The Coast Guard's proposed FY2017 budget requests $150 million in acquisition funding for a new polar icebreaker that the Coast Guard wants to begin building in FY2020. The issue for Congress is whether to approve, reject, or modify the Administration's FY2017 acquisition funding request for a new polar icebreaker, and, more generally, whether to approve, reject, or modify the Coast Guard's overall plan for sustaining and modernizing the polar icebreaking fleet.