Posted on December 17, 2025
Washington, D.C.
Opening remarks, as prepared, of Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Mike Ezell (R-MS) from today’s hearing, entitled “Changes in Maritime Technology: Can the Coast Guard Keep Up?”:
The maritime industry is undergoing a rapid period of transformation, including the adoption of autonomous technology and robotics that could transform the sector, as well as threats from drones and cyber-attacks that require increased vigilance.
Last February, in our hearing on “America Builds: Maritime Infrastructure,” we noted the need for the United States Coast Guard to rapidly develop a regulatory framework to enable these technologies to operate safely. We are here today to discuss both the Coast Guard’s efforts to regulate an industry incorporating these technologies, as well as its own use of these advanced maritime technologies.
To do that, I’d like to welcome our witnesses: Rear Admiral David C. Barata, Deputy Commandant for Operations Policy and Assistant Commandant for Intelligence for the United States Coast Guard; Rear Admiral Jason P. Tama, Commander, Coast Guard Cyber Command; Mr. Andrew Von Ah, Director of Physical Infrastructure for the Government Accountability Office; and Ms. Heidi C. Perry, the Chair of the National Academies of Sciences’ Report on Leveraging Unmanned Systems for Coast Guard Missions. Thank you all for being here.
The One Big Beautiful Bill and the President’s leadership have provided an incredible jump start for the Coast Guard to leverage new technologies to meet its future mission needs, including strengthening its ability to confront terrorist drug gangs that are bringing poison to our shores. Force Design 2028, the Coast Guard’s strategic plan to modernize and transform the service into a technologically advanced and agile force, is leading these efforts.
Today is an opportunity to understand how the Coast Guard will leverage new technologies through its initiatives like the creation of the Robotics and Unmanned Systems Office and the new Robotics Mission Specialist rating to meet future mission needs. We also hope to understand how the Coast Guard is adapting to meet national security needs and promote interoperability with Department of War efforts, like Operation Southern Spear.
However, as federal agencies and our military incorporate innovations, such autonomous surface vessels and robotic aircraft, to achieve maritime domain dominance, the Coast Guard is also charged with ensuring these technologies are safely integrated into the marine transportation system. This requires adapting current regulatory frameworks that balance safety and innovation to account for unmanned barges, spaceport drone ships, and other uses of artificial intelligence in the maritime domain.
The Coast Guard’s collaboration and coordination with the other agencies, as well as with state and local governments and industry stakeholders, will be essential to its ability to meet the known and not yet anticipated threats of the future.
Click here for more information from today’s hearing, including video and witness testimony.
