Rockefeller announces Coast Guard Act
September 24, 2012 ·
In Washington DC today, the Senate passed the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2012 to help secure the military branch’s future in West Virginia.
In a press release,
Senator Rockefeller cited that the Coast Guard supports more than 1,000
personnel in the state.
The Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Huntington operation is
responsible for securing the Port of Huntington, our nation’s largest Inland Waterways Port, as well as the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers and in the Eastern
Panhandle, the Coast Guard’s Operations Systems Center, National Vessel Documentation Center, and National Maritime Center provide information
technology and services that support Coast Guard missions.
Among many details, the
new act would authorize funding and personnel levels for the U.S. Coast Guard
for fiscal years 2013 and 2014 and make a number of needed refinements to the
statutory authorities of the Coast Guard.
The bill would also enable the Coast Guard to
enter into a multi-year contract, securing additional National Security Cutters—the
flagship of the Coast Guard’s recapitalized surface fleet. The bill still has to
pass the House
of Representatives.