Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.) took to the House floor on Wednesday to call for the swift passage of a pair of bills that would ensure the Coast Guard gets paid.
Both Coast Guardsmen and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees would see their next paychecks if Congress approves HR 350 and HR 419, and if signed into law by President Trump.
Coast Guard personnel, who Van Drew said are “suffering without pay,” missed their first paycheck on Tuesday. Van Drew’s Pay Our Coast Guard Act of 2019— which he introduced on Jan. 8—has just two other co-sponsors, Reps. Ed Case (D-Hawaii) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.).
"Whether Democrat or Republican, our duty as Americans to treat these men and women who serve our great nation with decency and with honor and respect,” he said on the House floor. “And may God bless them.”
The Coast Guard is the only military branch under the Department of Homeland Security, one of the several government agencies impacted by ongoing partial government shutdown—the longest in the nation’s history.
Active-duty Coasties received their most recent paycheck on Dec. 31, following an announcement the service had “identified a way to pay our military workforce.”
On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said on Twitter that she is working with both the White House and Congress to pass legislation to fund the Coast Guard.