b'Conversations with LeadersOn Securing a Stable and Safe Westernand Canadian Rangers, and conducted engagements to Hemispherepromote cooperation with our Western Hemisphere allies.As nations confront maritime challenges, they increasingly look to the U.S. Coast Guard as the leader in maritimeWith the planned delivery of polar security cutters, the governance. It is a privilege to share our Coast GuardCoast Guard is taking the necessary steps to ensure experience with like-minded navies and coast guards incontinued effective presence in the Arctic. Within the advancing maritime safety, security, and environmentalnext decade, the U.S. Coast Guard will complete our fleet stewardship. The Coast Guard continues to advance andcomprised of 100-plus modern cutters operating both operationalize the Tri-Service Maritime Strategy (promulgatedoffshore and in the navigable inland waterways. in December 2020) with our U.S. Navy and Marine Corps teammates. Today, the Coast Guard supports everyPolar security cutters, national security cutters, offshore geographic combatant command and numbered fleet.patrol cutters, fast response cutters, and waterways commerce cutters now in development will enable us to Prosperity of the U.S. depends on a secure, stable, andmeet Americas current and future demands. Construction safe Western Hemisphere. Although the Services uniqueof the first polar security cutternamed the CGC Polar authorities and capabilities take us to every region in theSentinelis projected to begin this year. It will be the world, significant Coast Guard operations are focusedfirst heavy polar icebreaker built in the U.S. in over four on addressing threats and challenges within the Westerndecades. Once operational, this unique asset will be Hemisphere. Our increased capability with partner nations,instrumental in protecting U.S. economic, environmental, for example, greatly enhances persistent presence inand national security interests in the polar or highthe Eastern Pacific and Caribbean to challenge criminallatitude regions. activities. The Coast Guard is committed to expanding the scope of our existing sixty multilateral and bilateral agreements to eliminate jurisdictional gaps for illicit maritime activities around the world.This year, CGC James participated in the largest off-load of drugs from the decks of a Coast Guard cutter. CGC James crew off-loaded over 60,000 pounds of illegal drugs with an estimated street value of $1.06 billion. The drugs on board were the result of twenty-seven interdictions by ten separate units, including multiple cutter crews and Law Enforcement Detachment Teams deployed with U.S., Canadian, and Netherlands naval vessels.On Maintaining a Safe, Prosperous, and Cooperative Arctic Region The Coast Guard is a strategic leader in forums such as the Arctic Councils Working Group on Emergency Prevention, Preparedness, and Response, the Arctic Coast Guard Forum, and the International Maritime Organization, where we partner with other nations to maintain the region as safe, prosperous, and cooperative.CGC Healy completed a historic deployment circumnavigating North America via the Northwest Passage and the Panama Canal. CGC Healy spent fifty-one days north of the Arctic Circle. The crew mapped 12,000 square kilometers of previously uncharted seafloor, completed a search and rescue exercise with the Canadian Coast Guard 2022 IBM Center for The Business of Government 25'