[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 48 (Thursday, April 11, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E425]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       RE-INTRODUCTION OF THE COAST GUARD ACADEMY OPPORTUNITY ACT

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                                 ______
                                 

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 11, 2013

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to re-introduce 
the ``Coast Guard Academy Opportunity Act,'' legislation to create new 
opportunities for careers in the U.S. Coast Guard with a geographically 
and politically diverse group of colleagues. They are: Representative 
Elijah Cummings of Maryland, Representative John Duncan of Tennessee, 
Delegate Madeleine Bordallo of Guam, Representative Corrine Brown of 
Florida, Representative Yvette Clarke of New York, Delegate Pedro 
Pierluisi of Puerto Rico, Representative Michael Michaud of Maine, 
Representative Betty McCollum of Minnesota, Representative Janice Hahn 
of California, Delegate Gregorio Sablan of the Northern Mariana 
Islands, Representative Jack Kingston of Georgia, and Representative 
Keith Ellison of Minnesota.
  Currently, Members of Congress are allowed to nominate a limited 
number of candidates to the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval 
Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and the U.S. Merchant Marine 
Academy. However, the smallest of the five federal service academies--
the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (USCGA)--does not accept congressional 
nominations.
  Instead, the USCGA admits candidates through a process that resembles 
the admissions processes of civilian colleges and universities. Without 
a congressional nominations process, the applicant pool of candidates 
to the USCGA is predictably less geographically diverse than at the 
other military service academies. The inevitable result of a less 
geographically diverse applicant pool is a less geographically diverse 
class. The statistics bear this out; in fact, the incoming Class of 
2016 does not have a single cadet from: Arkansas, the District of 
Columbia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, 
North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, American Samoa, Northern 
Mariana Islands, or Guam.
  Under the ``Coast Guard Academy Opportunity Act,'' starting in 
academic year 2014, each Member of Congress could nominate up to three 
qualified candidates to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. In turn, the 
Coast Guard would be required to fill a quarter of slots for the 
incoming class from this pool of congressional nominations comprised of 
qualified, geographically diverse applicants. Then, in each subsequent 
academic year, half of the slots in each incoming class would have to 
be filled through the congressional nominations process.
  This legislation would not require the Coast Guard to lower its 
student selection criteria or increase the size of the student 
population. To the contrary, it anticipates that the Coast Guard will 
continue to use its criteria to select the best candidates from the 
pool of Member-nominated candidates for half of the slots in the 
incoming class, just as it will do to fill the slots in the other half 
of the incoming class. The ``Coast Guard Academy Opportunity Act'' 
simply seeks to make Congress a partner in helping to put talented 
young people--from every corner of the country--on the path to a 
rewarding career in the U.S. Coast Guard.
  I urge support of this commonsense, bipartisan legislation.

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