The Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act is an important authorization for our country and for our citizens, as we have seen so vividly in the last few weeks.

From protecting our natural resources to providing maritime security and national defense, the Coast Guard's duties are broad in scope, and the performance of those duties has never been more important.

Water keepers patrol local waterways and prosecute polluters. Essentially, they act as the community's coast guard.

The hunt is still a few weeks away, but the coast guard said the ice thickness is somewhat thinner this year.

The Coast Guard has long been known as the armed service that gets more done for less.

We'll never be able to thank those guys enough, ... We're just so grateful... Those Coast Guard guys had been out there in Biloxi, in Mobile, in New Orleans and they just happened to be flying low and there were sunny skies.