Sec. 6. Feasibility study on increasing the presence of the Coast Guard in Africa
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The Commandant of the Coast Guard and the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and in coordination with the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall conduct a feasibility study to assess the potential for, and challenges to, increasing the number of personnel of the Coast Guard and other Federal departments or agencies with counter-IUU fishing technical capacities and mandates at United States diplomatic and consular posts in Africa. For the purposes of the feasibility study required by subsection
(a)Congress recommends that the following assumptions be made: The Coast Guard personnel deployed must be in the role of a Coast Guard Attaché, Coast Guard Liaison Officer, Coast Guard Maritime Advisor, or Coast Guard Security Cooperation Officer. The deployed Coast Guard personnel shall remain in the Coast Guard Priority Country for a tour of duty no shorter than 2 years. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commandant of the Coast Guard and the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall identify certain African countries, to be known under this Act as Coast Guard Priority Countries that would benefit the most from an increased Coast Guard presence. Such countries shall be selected pursuant to the following: Coast Guard Priority Countries shall be selected on the basis of the criteria laid out in section 5(c)(1) for identifying Priority Countries and shall also take into account the likelihood that the deployment of Coast Guard personnel to the United States Embassy in the country would measurably increase the effectiveness of counter-IUU fishing efforts. Prior to finalization of the selection of the Coast Guard Priority Countries, representatives from the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the Coast Guard and other relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall consult the appropriate congressional committees on the countries being considered and shall consider congressional input on such prioritization. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a written justification for the priority countries selected that includes— the results of the feasibility study undertaken pursuant to subsection (a); justification as to why the Coast Guard Priority Countries were chosen; how the Coast Guard personnel deployed on an ongoing basis to embassies in Coast Guard Priority Countries will benefit counter-IUU fishing efforts in these countries; the expected timeline it would take for the Coast Guard personnel to arrive in each of the Coast Guard Priority Countries selected; the current capacity of the host nation government, to include the number of maritime assets in the host country navy or coast guard, and the willingness and ability of the host country government to implement reforms to facilitate successful counter-IUU fishing; and an assessment of challenges or impediments to Coast Guard deployment to Coast Guard Priority Country.