Coast Guard can build ships in allied countries if cheaper.
S. 1577 — A bill to amend section 1151 of title 14, United States Code, to modify the restriction on construction of Coast Guard vessels in foreign shipyards. · Filed by Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) · Introduced May 1, 2025 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
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What it does
The bill lets the President approve building Coast Guard ships in foreign shipyards. These shipyards must be in NATO countries or Indo-Pacific treaty allies. The President can approve this if it costs less money or takes less time. The President can also approve it if the foreign shipyard has proven capacity. The President must tell Congress and wait 30 days before starting. The bill also lets the Secretary buy finished ships from allied foreign shipyards.
Who it affects
Coast Guard sailors and the public may get ships faster or cheaper. Shipyard workers in the United States may have fewer jobs. Companies that build ships in allied countries may get more business.
One thing to notice
Congress gets told about the decision but cannot stop it. The bill does not require foreign shipyards to match U.S. prices or help U.S. shipyards compete.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- May 1, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- May 1, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- NATO — A group of countries, mostly in Europe and North America, that work together on defense.
- Indo-Pacific treaty allies — Countries in Asia and the Pacific Ocean that have signed defense agreements with the United States.
- shipyard — A place where ships are built or fixed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,680 characters) on Jun 3, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,206 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-17.
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