Coast Guard commandant to address Headliners Luncheon Thursday

Admiral Karl L. Schultz, the 26th Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, will discuss America's presence in the Arctic as a matter of national security at a National Press Club Headliners Luncheon on Thursday, Dec. 6, at 12:30 p.m. in the Holeman Lounge.

Tickets cost $25 for Club members, who may purchase two at this rate, and $39 for all other non-member tickets and can be purchased online.

For years, the U.S. Coast Guard sought funding for a new heavy polar ship and an expanded America's polar icebreaker fleet to expand opportunities in scientific exploration and trade in the Northwest Passage. The U.S. currently has two aging icebreaker vessels compared with Russia's fleet of 41 ships.

Schultz, who assumed the top role on June 1, 2018, will speak to this issue and others during the luncheon. The Coast Guard is the principal federal agency responsible for maritime safety, security, and environmental stewardship in U.S. ports and waterways. In this capacity the Coast Guard protects and defends more than 100,000 miles of U.S. coastline and inland waterways, and safeguards an Exclusive Economic Zone encompassing 4.5 million square miles from north of the Arctic Circle to South of the equator, from Puerto Rico to Guam..