A bill introduced in Congress to allow the Coast Guard to purchase housing for its crews with a focus on coastal areas such as Grays Harbor, Port Angeles and Cape Disappointment, unanimously passed the Senate this week.
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., introduced the bipartisan bill after touring the station at Cape Disappointment, where she saw Coast Guard families facing a difficult time accessing affordable, quality housing due to competition with seasonal rentals and other challenges associated with remote units.
This bill also expands the Coast Guard’s ability to enter into long-term leases for medical facilities, child development centers, and training facilities to expand access to services for Coast Guard families while reducing administrative overhead expenses and allowing for additional improvements to these facilities.
The bill now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration.
As previously reported in The Daily World, Cantwell, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, introduced the bipartisan Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025 that would reauthorize $30.45 billion for the U.S. Coast Guard for Fiscal Years 2025 and 2026.
“This legislation prioritizes the Coast Guard’s most important asset — the men and women of the Coast Guard, and their families,” said Sen. Cantwell. “The bill drives much needed reforms that will help prevent sexual assault and sexual harassment throughout the Coast Guard, including establishing confidential reporting, strengthening protective orders, expanding access to care for victims, and stronger accountability for leadership.”
The bill also establishes a new Vice Admiral dedicated to improving recruitment, health care and child care for members. The bill also increases funding for core Coast Guard missions such as shipbuilding and cracking down on illegal fishing and drug smuggling.
Among many important provisions, the legislation includes historic protections for sexual assault and harassment, boosts workforce development programs and availability of affordable housing, increases funding to help U.S. Coast Guard deliver on critical priorities such as icebreakers and 52-foot heavy-weather lifeboats, raises penalties for abandoned and derelict vessels, and encourages more collaboration with Tribes.
The bill also increases federal funding to deliver on icebreakers and heavy weather lifeboats. The legislation increases authorized funding by 30% compared to 2024 appropriated funding levels, which will help the Coast Guard deliver on critical priorities such as polar icebreakers, 52-foot heavy-weather lifeboats, and other priority acquisition programs.
Cantwell recently toured U.S. Coast Guard Station Disappointment, where the future fleet of heavy-weather lifeboats will be homeported to support search and rescue missions, which is critical to safety of people working in the fishing and maritime sector in Pacific and Grays Harbor counties.
The bill also creates a first-ever senior position within the Coast Guard to advise the Commandant and other Coast Guard leaders on how the Coast Guard can work more closely with Tribes, ensuring that Tribes have a voice on Coast Guard programs that impact tribes including oil spill preparedness and response, fisheries oversight, and the protection of natural resources.
Another provision in the bill extends the Whale Desk at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound by two years, which gives vessel operators and mariners near real-time data about the location of whales to reduce encounters that disturb whales, including noise pollution and ship strikes.
The bill continues to authorize the use of a satellite tracking system to mark fishing gear locations, which ensures gear is not lost and avoids potential damage by derelict gear.
