[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 207 (Tuesday, December 8, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7261-S7262]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   National Defense Authorization Act

  Madam President, I also wanted to take a couple of minutes to discuss 
action that all of us have been working on on a bipartisan and 
bicameral basis, and that is the action that has now resulted in the 
National Defense Authorization Act which we will be taking up

[[Page S7262]]

but which is certainly being considered in the House of Representatives 
today.
  The reason this is so important to emphasize today is that in this 
legislation will be the Coast Guard bill and recognition of the fact 
that we truly are an Arctic nation.
  Well, some of you may have said: Well, I think we already got 
geography; we knew we were an Arctic nation. But this is the first time 
that we will be authorizing a fleet of six icebreakers for the United 
States of America.
  Some people think: Well, why is that important? What is so important 
about icebreakers? Well, certainly to the Northwest Passage and the 
ability to move cargo and to move people and to new transportation 
routes, it is very important.
  When you look at where we are in the United States of America with an 
icebreaking fleet, we don't compete with other nations that have been 
able to access and transverse those waterways because they have 
somebody who can clean the waterway and make it safe and secure. That 
is why we need, in the United States, to have an icebreaking fleet 
beyond the capacity we have today, which is two vessels but basically 
not the full capacity of those two vessels.
  This is why it is so important for us to put the money and investment 
into a program to get us icebreakers so that we, too, can look at this 
northern waterway and passage and say to the United States of America 
and to the world community: Yes, we will be in the Arctic as well.
  My colleagues on both sides of the aisle realize that this is a very 
bipartisan issue, that it is a national security issue, and that it is 
an environmental issue. It is about us and making sure that we 
communicate.
  I have also supported additional language about an Arctic shipping 
Federal advisory committee. A committee made up of representatives from 
Federal agencies, including the Coast Guard and the Department of 
Defense, the Secretary of Transportation, and others would be part of a 
process to ensure that our Arctic efforts are better coordinated and 
impactful.
  So I hope that my colleagues will look favorably on this legislation.
  We all know how important the Coast Guard is to our Nation and an 
example of that icebreaking capacity, but there are other aspects of 
this Coast Guard bill that we are also proud of--making sure that it 
works more robustly with fishermen on fishing safety; doing more to 
examine the impacts of tar sands; making sure that our orca population 
is saved from noise impact and further reducing that impact on our orca 
population; and instituting new reforms within the Coast Guard to 
really help empower women, to make significant investment in the 40 
percent of the workforce of the Coast Guard that are women and to make 
sure they have what they need--vital childcare opportunities for Coast 
Guard families--and to make sure there is zero tolerance in the 
approach for any kind of sexual assault or sexual harassment.
  So with these improvements over all, I would like to thank Chairman 
Wicker, Senator Sullivan, and Senator Markey for working on all of 
these issues. I want to thank Senator Murkowski, as I said, for the 
Arctic Shipping Federal Advisory Committee and many people who are 
helping us get to this point, to say not only do we recognize 
geographically we are an Arctic nation, but we are going to do 
something about it by making sure we have the capacity on this waterway 
to be heard and seen and to help the commerce that is going to emerge 
from the new developments in the Arctic.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.