Review – HR 7659 Introduced – CG Authorization

Back in March, Rep Graves introduced HR 7659, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2024. On March 20^th, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a markup hearing that included HR 7659. Graves proposed substitute language for the bill in that hearing, which the Committee adopted by a vote of 53 to 3. On May 8^th, 2024 the Committee published their report (not yet available from the GPO) on the bill. The House is scheduled to take up HR 7659 tomorrow under the suspension of the rules process.

Bill Overview

This review will use the reported version of the bill for simplicities sake.

Sections of potential interest here:

§ 207 Report on establishment of unmanned systems capabilities office.

§ 401 Vessel response plans.

§ 404 Online incident reporting system.

Moving Forward

As mentioned above, the House is scheduled to take up the bill tomorrow. With 14 bills on the calendar, it is very likely that a final vote will not be held until sometime Wednesday. The leadership expects bipartisan support for the legislation, with sufficient support to receive the super majority required for passage under the suspension of the rules process.

 

For more details about the sections of interest, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-7659-introduced - subscription required.