Transportation Infrastructure Committee favorably reports Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025, 60-0

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure voted to favorably report H.R. 4275, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025, adopting an amendment in the nature of a substitute and related changes before a recorded vote showed 60 yeas and 0 nays. The committee agreed to send the bill to the full House for further consideration.

The bill would authorize Coast Guard funding for fiscal years 2025 through 2029 and includes provisions the committee said are intended to recapitalize cutters, upgrade shore facilities and information technology, and strengthen response capacity for maritime disasters and spills. Chairman Garret Graves said the measure “provides the men and women of the Coast Guard with the authorities and resources that they need to carry out their missions.”

Committee members described several substantive additions and changes adopted during markup. Lawmakers added language to establish a Coast Guard service secretary position; provisions aimed at modernizing the mariner credentialing and testing system to address merchant mariner shortages; and oversight measures tied to the service’s response to sexual assault and harassment, which members referenced as arising from the Operation Fouled Anchor accountability work.

The manager’s amendment, adopted as part of the package, included technical edits and member-requested provisions: reports on Coast Guard assets in the Pacific and on navigational hazards in East Rockaway Inlet, changes to allow use of vessel construction managers in procurement, and authorization for expanded expertise on the new national advisory committee on autonomous maritime systems. Representative Elaine Luria (member comment in transcript) and others supported adding longshore-worker representation on that advisory committee; a committee member said including those perspectives will give “a more complete understanding of how automation is affecting and can affect ports and port operations.”

Members also secured targeted reporting or planning requirements in areas of regional concern. The bill requires the Coast Guard to produce a strategy and timeline for design and construction of a Great Lakes icebreaker at least as capable as the Mackinac cutter, a change highlighted by Representative Pete Staubert (transcript). Representative Suzanne Gillum won a requirement for the Commandant to report on hazards and recommendations for the East Rockaway Inlet off Long Island, noting shoaling and reportedly misplaced buoys that risk grounding vessels.

Other provisions discussed or offered during markup included a feasibility study on additional Coast Guard port visits and potential home-porting of fast response cutters in the Northern Mariana Islands, and amendments directing updates on heavy-weather vessels and their deployment timelines for the Pacific Northwest. Several members described local search-and-rescue staffing and buoy-aid concerns and secured language directing briefings and reports rather than immediate operational changes.

Some amendments were offered and then withdrawn after discussion. Representative Hillary Scholten withdrew an amendment intended to guarantee Coast Guard pay during federal funding lapses and said she would continue to pursue the issue. Representative Don Begich withdrew proposals that would have expanded a Vessels of Opportunity exemption across all Alaska waters and that would have directed interest from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to federally recognized tribes; he said he would work with committee leaders to refine the language. Representative Mike Ryan withdrew an amendment to incorporate the Hudson River Protection Act text and indicated he would continue to pursue that policy.

A notable point of contention involved Representative John Garamendi, who criticized the removal of a separate provision he and others had championed to require U.S. manning and U.S.-built vessels for offshore wind and petroleum-industry support vessels. Garamendi said the provision had “broad support” and complained it had been removed during negotiations; he characterized its removal as a significant step away from prior committee efforts to prioritize U.S. shipbuilding and mariner jobs. The transcript shows Garamendi indicated he may attempt to reintroduce the language as an amendment but expressed skepticism it would pass at this markup.

The committee also included several acquisition reforms, a raise in the minor construction limit for the Coast Guard to act more quickly on certain projects, and measures aimed at improving marine firefighting, salvage capacity, and cross-border response with Canada. Members repeatedly framed many changes as bipartisan and the result of negotiations among the committee’s leadership.

After concluding debate and voice votes on several amendments, the committee chair opened an electronic roll-call for the recorded vote on reporting H.R. 4275. Committee staff later announced the result as 60 yays, 0 nays; the committee’s clerk recorded that the bill as amended was agreed to and favorably reported to the House. The chair directed staff to make technical and conforming changes before floor consideration and noted members would have two calendar days to file supplemental or dissenting views.

The bill will now move to the House floor where further amendments, debate, and votes may occur. The authorization in the committee bill does not itself appropriate funds; appropriations actions and any Senate action will determine final funding levels and implementation timing.