Senator Collins Visits Eastport Coast Guard Station on 4th of July
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Eastport, ME — Today, U.S. Senator Susan Collins visited the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Station Eastport to tour the facility and speak with members of the Coast Guard.
“The Coast Guard is an integral part of our national security and performs life-saving rescue missions. When disaster strikes, the Coast Guard provides emergency response and humanitarian relief with extraordinary skill, compassion, and courage,” said Senator Collins. “The potential for danger along our coastline never takes a day off, and neither do the brave men and women of our Coast Guard who work every day to keep us safe. I was delighted to have the opportunity to thank the members of Station Eastport in person for their dedication to protecting our country on Independence Day.”
Station Eastport is the most northeastern Coast Guard search and rescue station in the United States. This station’s coverage spans from Calais to Cutler and also responds to search and rescue missions in Canadian waters. Station Eastport has 3 boats: a 29-foot small response boat, a 45-foot medium response boat, and a 47-foot motor lifeboat.
During this year’s government shutdown, which Senator Collins adamantly opposed, 43,000 members of the Coast Guard went without pay. Nearly 600 active-duty, reserve, and civilian personnel work for the USCG Sector Northern New England, and most of them are stationed in Maine. In December, Senator Collins successfully urged the White House to ensure that Coast Guard members received pay for their pre-shutdown work when an anomaly in the pay system put their paychecks at risk. Senator Collins also co-authored legislation that was signed into law last month guaranteeing federal workers affected by the shutdown would receive backpay, and she is an original cosponsor of the Pay Our Coast Guard Act, which would have ensured all active members, civilians, and contractors of the Coast Guard were paid on time during the shutdown.