WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today along with over a dozen colleagues introduced a resolution recognizing the U.S. Coast Guard’s response to the border crisis and their ability to adapt and respond to increased maritime threats while continuing to perform humanitarian operations. 

This resolution commends the Coast Guard on safeguarding the American people through promotion of national security and maritime border security, highlighting the Coast Guard’s most recent statistics on drug interdictions, migrant interdictions, and illegal fishing enforcements.

In the resolution, the Sens. commended the 50,000 members of the U.S. Coast Guard for their ability to, “operate a multi-mission, interoperable fleet of 259 cutters, 200 fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, and over 1,600 boats; operate 9 Coast Guard Districts and 37 sectors located at strategic ports throughout the country; exercise operational control of surface and air assets vested in 2 Coast Guard geographical Areas, the Pacific and the Atlantic; provide maritime safety and security along more than 95,000 miles of coastline of the United States, Great Lakes, inland waterways, 4,500,000 square miles of exclusive economic zone of the United States, and on the high seas.”

The Senators also drew attention to the U.S. Coast Guard’s protection of the maritime borders of the United States, which included, “interdicting over 330,000 pounds of cocaine, over 60,000 pounds of marijuana, and over 15,000 pounds of other narcotics; conducting over 6,300 boardings of United States fishing vessels and interdicting approximately 100 foreign fishing incursions; and interdicting approximately 12,500 illegal immigrants, an increase of 150 percent from 2021.”

Original cosponsors included Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), and J.D. Vance (R-Ohio).

Read the full text of the resolution HERE.

Original source can be found here.