US Coast Guard urged to step up requirements

Defense News: Washington -- If one California congressman has his way, the US Coast Guard will begin asking for what it needs to grow into a more effective force and begin building a fleet of six Arctic icebreakers.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House subcommittee on the Coast Guard, is asking the service for a list of its unfunded priorities. In conversation, Hunter also is hoping the service adds in all six icebreakers it has identified as necessary to carry out duties in the Arctic.

“It is my sincere hope,” Hunter wrote in a Feb. 10 letter to Coast Guard commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft, “that the Coast Guard will utilize this opportunity to provide an expansive itemization of priorities, and not withhold any potential unfunded requirement that, in the absence of funding, could serve to the detriment of the Coast Guard.”

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