When folks think about the Coast Guard, they usually picture a rescue swimmer jumping from a helicopter — something straight out of The Guardian. But the real picture is far bigger and far more urgent.
The Coast Guard might be one of the smallest branches of our military, but it carries a heavyweight mission. Coast Guardsmen are out there every day, stopping drug smugglers, pushing back on threats from China and Russia in the Arctic, and keeping nearly $3 trillion in maritime trade flowing safely to American ports.
As vice chairman of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, I’ve seen how the Coast Guard’s mission doesn’t just protect our coastlines. It affects every single state. It affects families like mine in central North Carolina. Safe waterways and secure shipping routes matter whether you live in a big coastal city such as Wilmington or a small inland town such as Wallburg. And when it comes to stopping fentanyl before it ever hits our streets, the Coast Guard is on the front line.
For me, this fight is personal. In 2016, my family lost my brother Luke to fentanyl. I promised then that I’d do everything I could to make sure no other family goes through what mine did. That starts by stopping these drugs before they even make it to shore. Earlier this year, the Coast Guard seized over 22.5 tons of cocaine in one deployment — more than $500 million in street value — and intercepted over 220 metric tons of narcotics in total.
But Coast Guardsmen are doing all this while being stretched to the breaking point. The Coast Guard has been forced to run what should be a $20 billion operation on less than $14 billion a year. It is short nearly 5,000 service members, about 8% of its total workforce. Its aircraft are aging, some of its cutters are barely seaworthy, and more than 50% of its shore infrastructure is past its service life. Meanwhile, Russia has over 50 operational icebreakers. China is building more every year. And we’ve got just two — one of them over 45 years old.
This is clearly a national security issue. It’s time Congress started treating it like one.
Last year, the House passed the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2024, a bipartisan bill that provided critical funding for new cutters, shoreside repairs, housing upgrades, and expanded recruitment efforts.
But we also need to make sure the Coast Guard has the tools to respond to the threats it is facing right now. That’s why I introduced H.R. 2351. This bill updates the Coast Guard’s authority to stop drug smuggling on maritime vessels, makes naloxone available across the force, and brings the Coast Guard into our national overdose tracking system.
At the same time, we must rebuild our shipbuilding capacity. Our security depends on it. President Donald Trump’s “Make Shipbuilding Great Again” executive order is the right move. It pushes back against Chinese dominance, builds up American shipyards, and ensures the Coast Guard has the fleet it needs for the next generation of threats.
LEGISLATION INTRODUCED TO STRENGTHEN COAST GUARD RETIREMENT PROTECTIONS
The U.S. Coast Guard is the little engine that could — always pushing forward, no matter the mission, no matter the storm. But even the best engine needs maintenance. If we want the Coast Guard to keep doing what it does best — stopping drugs, defending our Arctic frontier, and protecting American waters — then we need to make sure that engine is tuned and those wheels are greased.
Coast Guardsmen show up for us every day. Now it’s time for Congress to show up for them.
Addison McDowell represents North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives and is vice chairman of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee.