WEBVTT

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(dramatic music)

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(clock ticking)

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^- [Man] The very first public cellphone call.

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^- [Man] Glass design, incredible camera.

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(clock ticking)

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^- The office of President of the United States.

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^- The office of President of the United States.

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(clock ticking)

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- Coast Guard doesn't need to build an icebreaker.

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The Coast Guard needs to build a Coast Guard Cutter

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that can break ice.

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^Well, Polar Star was my first tour of duty.

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^I was a fresh, innocent, brand-new,

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^right out of the Coast Guard Academy.

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Being my first tour of duty,

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the experience is etched indelibly in my memory.

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I remember the sound of the ice

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scraping down the sides of the hull.

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(ice scraping)

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It was like fingernails scraping against a chalkboard.

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One of the reasons I asked

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to be assigned to Polar Star

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was I knew that they would experience

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tough engineering challenges,

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and I knew that, based upon the environment

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that Mother Nature had threw at them

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and the extremes of temperature,

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that anything that could break would break.

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The difference now is that back when I was assigned on there

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the ships were relatively new.

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Now, they are far older,

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and the systems are tired and worn out.

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So, one might ask, "What is the Coast Guard doing

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"about this aging icebreaker?"

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And the answer is, "A lot."

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We made great progress on our journey.

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What's really exciting about it

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is it's not just the Coast Guard.

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We have phenomenal support from the administration

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at Capitol Hill, the department, and the U.S. Navy.

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In fact, we just released a formal request for proposals

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for a brand-new icebreaker.

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^- The first installment that will recapitalize

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our nation's fleet of icebreakers.

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- This is a huge milestone.

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It's an indication that our nation's resolve is firm,

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and we're on track to build a new ice breaker.