I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6257 

To amend title 14, United States Code, to provide for nominations of individuals for appointment as Coast Guard Academy cadets, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 

Mr. HUNTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 14, United States Code, to provide for nominations of individuals for appointment as Coast Guard 

Academy cadets, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coast Guard Academy 

5 Nominations Act of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NOMINATION AND APPOINTMENT OF COAST GUARD 

7 ACADEMY CADETS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 9 of title 14, United 

9 States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in section 182— 

2 (A) by striking the section heading and in3 serting the following: 

4 ‘‘§ 182. Regulations governing cadets’’; 

5 (B) in subsection (a)— 

6 (i) by striking so much as precedes 

7 the second sentence; and 

8 (ii) by striking the last two sentences; 

9 and 

10 (C) by striking subsections (b) through (g); 

11 (2) by inserting after section 182 the following: 

12 ‘‘§ 182a. Corps of Cadets authorized strength 

13 ‘‘The authorized strength of the Corps of Cadets at 

14 the Coast Guard Academy— 

15 ‘‘(1) is 1,000, or a lower number prescribed by 

16 the Secretary, excluding foreign nationals admitted 

17 for instruction pursuant to section 182d; and 

18 ‘‘(2) shall be determined for any academic pro19 gram year as of the first day of such academic pro20 gram year. 

21 ‘‘§ 182b. Nominations 

22 ‘‘(a) Each Senator, each Member of the House of 

23 Representatives, each of the delegates to the House of 

24 Representatives from the District of Columbia, the Virgin 

25 Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and AmerVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Oct 05, 2016 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6257.IH H6257

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1 ican Samoa, and the Resident Commissioner to the United 

2 States from Puerto Rico, may nominate to the Secretary 

3 each year for appointment as cadets in the Corps of Ca4 dets at the Coast Guard Academy up to 10 individuals 

5 who are— 

6 ‘‘(1) citizens or nationals of the United States; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(2) residents of the jurisdiction the nominator 

9 represents in Congress. 

10 ‘‘(b) A nominator under subsection (a) may submit 

11 such nominations— 

12 ‘‘(1) without ranking; or 

13 ‘‘(2) with specification of— 

14 ‘‘(A) a principal nominee; and 

15 ‘‘(B) up to 9 ranked or unranked alter16 nates. 

17 ‘‘(c) A nominee under this section who is not ap18 pointed under section 182c(a) shall, for purposes of sec19 tion 182c(c), be considered an alternate referred to in sec20 tion 182c(c)(1). 

21 ‘‘§ 182c. Appointments 

22 ‘‘(a) The Commandant shall appoint cadets to the 

23 Corps of Cadets at the Coast Guard Academy. 

24 ‘‘(b) The Commandant may only appoint as cadets 

25 individuals who— 


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1 ‘‘(1) are citizens or nationals of the United 

2 States; and 

3 ‘‘(2)(A) are nominated pursuant to section 

4 182b; 

5 ‘‘(B) apply directly for admission; or 

6 ‘‘(C) are enlisted members of the Coast Guard 

7 or the Coast Guard Reserve. 

8 ‘‘(c) To the greatest extent practicable, when making 

9 appointments under subsection (a), the Commandant shall 

10 ensure the Corps of Cadets includes— 

11 ‘‘(1) not fewer than one cadet nominated by 

12 each Senator who nominated a cadet who was other13 wise eligible for appointment and accepted an ap14 pointment; 

15 ‘‘(2) not fewer than one cadet nominated by 

16 each Member of the House of Representatives who 

17 nominated a cadet who was otherwise eligible for ap18 pointment and accepted an appointment; and 

19 ‘‘(3) not fewer than one cadet nominated by 

20 each of the Delegate to the House of Representa21 tives from the District of Columbia, the Delegate in 

22 Congress from the United States Virgin Islands, the 

23 Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, the Dele24 gate in Congress from Guam, the Delegate in Con25 gress from American Samoa, or the Resident RepVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Oct 05, 2016 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6257.IH H6257

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1 resentative from the Commonwealth of the Northern 

2 Mariana Islands who nominated a cadet who was 

3 otherwise eligible for appointment and accepted an 

4 appointment.’’; 

5 (3) by redesignating section 195 as section 

6 182d of such chapter, and transferring such section 

7 so as to appear after section 182c (as added by 

8 paragraph (1) of this subsection); and 

9 (4) by inserting after section 182d (as redesig10 nated and transferred by paragraph (2) of this sub11 section) the following: 

12 ‘‘§ 182e. Conduct 

13 ‘‘(a) The Secretary may summarily dismiss from the 

14 Coast Guard any cadet at the Coast Guard Academy who, 

15 during his or her cadetship, is found unsatisfactory in ei16 ther studies or conduct, or is considered by the Secretary 

17 to be not suitable for a career in the Coast Guard. 

18 ‘‘(b) Cadets shall be subject to rules governing dis19 cipline and conduct that are prescribed by the Com20 mandant. 

21 ‘‘§ 182f. Agreement 

22 ‘‘(a) As a condition for appointment as a cadet at 

23 the Coast Guard Academy, the Secretary shall require 

24 that each cadet shall sign an agreement with respect to 

25 the cadet’s length of service in the Coast Guard. The 


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1 agreement shall provide that the cadet agrees to the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(1) The cadet will complete the course of in4 struction at the Academy. 

5 ‘‘(2) Upon graduation from the Academy the 

6 cadet— 

7 ‘‘(A) will accept an appointment, if ten8 dered, as a commissioned officer of the Coast 

9 Guard; and 

10 ‘‘(B) will serve on active duty for at least 

11 five years immediately after such appointment. 

12 ‘‘(3) If an appointment described in paragraph 

13 (2) is not tendered or if the cadet is permitted to 

14 resign as a regular officer before the completion of 

15 the commissioned service obligation of the cadet, the 

16 cadet— 

17 ‘‘(A) will accept an appointment as a com18 missioned officer in the Coast Guard Reserve; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(B) will remain in that reserve component 

21 until completion of the commissioned service ob22 ligation of the cadet. 

23 ‘‘(b)(1) The Secretary may transfer to the Coast 

24 Guard Reserve, and may order to active duty for such pe25 riod of time as the Secretary prescribes (but not to exceed 


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1 four years), a cadet who breaches an agreement under 

2 subsection (a). The period of time for which a cadet is 

3 ordered to active duty under this paragraph may be deter4 mined without regard to section 651(a) of title 10. 

5 ‘‘(2) A cadet who is transferred to the Coast Guard 

6 Reserve under paragraph (1) shall be transferred in an 

7 appropriate enlisted grade or rating, as determined by the 

8 Secretary. 

9 ‘‘(3) For purposes of paragraph (1), a cadet shall be 

10 considered to have breached an agreement under sub11 section (a) if the cadet is separated from the Academy 

12 under circumstances that the Secretary determines con13 stitute a breach by the cadet of the cadet’s agreement to 

14 complete the course of instruction at the Academy and ac15 cept an appointment as a commissioned officer upon grad16 uation from the Academy. 

17 ‘‘(c) The Secretary shall prescribe regulations to 

18 carry out this section. The regulations shall include— 

19 ‘‘(1) standards for determining what con20 stitutes, for the purpose of subsection (b), a breach 

21 of an agreement under subsection (a); 

22 ‘‘(2) procedures for determining whether such a 

23 breach has occurred; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) standards for determining the period of 

2 time for which a person may be ordered to serve on 

3 active duty under subsection (b). 

4 ‘‘(d) In this section, the term ‘commissioned service 

5 obligation’, with respect to an officer who is a graduate 

6 of the Academy, means the period beginning on the date 

7 of the officer’s appointment as a commissioned officer and 

8 ending on the sixth anniversary of such appointment or, 

9 at the discretion of the Secretary, any later date up to 

10 the eighth anniversary of such appointment. 

11 ‘‘(e)(1) This section does not apply to a foreign na12 tional receiving instruction at the Academy under section 

13 182d. 

14 ‘‘(2) In the case of a cadet who is a minor and who 

15 has parents or a guardian, the cadet may sign the agree16 ment required by subsection (a) only with the consent of 

17 the parent or guardian. 

18 ‘‘(f) For purposes of section 303a(e) of title 37, fail19 ure by a cadet or former cadet to fulfill the terms of the 

20 obligation to serve as specified under subsection (a), or 

21 an alternative obligation imposed under subsection (b), 

22 shall be treated as failure to fulfill an eligibility require23 ment.’’. 

24 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis at the be25 ginning of such chapter is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking the item relating to section 182 

2 and inserting the following: 

‘‘182. Regulations governing cadets. 

‘‘182a. Corps of Cadets authorized strength. 

‘‘182b. Nominations. 

‘‘182c. Appointments. 

‘‘182d. Admission of foreign nationals for instruction; restrictions; conditions. 

‘‘182e. Conduct. 

‘‘182f. Agreement.’’; 

3 and 

4 (2) by striking the item relating to section 195. 

5 (c) TRANSITION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Sections 182b and 182c of 

7 title 14, United States Code, as amended by this 

8 section, shall apply only with respect to individuals 

9 who will begin at the Coast Guard Academy in aca10 demic program year 2017 or any such year there11 after, except that— 

12 (A) for academic program year 2017, no 

13 less than 18 percent of the individuals ap14 pointed to begin at the Academy in such year 

15 shall be appointed from individuals nominated 

16 in accordance with section 182b of such title; 

17 (B) for academic program year 2018, no 

18 less than 36 percent of the individuals ap19 pointed to begin at the Academy in such year 

20 shall be appointed from individuals nominated 

21 in accordance with such section; and 


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1 (C) for academic program year 2019, no 

2 less than 54 percent of the individuals ap3 pointed to begin at the Academy in such year 

4 shall be appointed from individuals nominated 

5 in accordance with such section. 

6 (2) ADDITIONAL ACTIONS.—The Secretary of 

7 the department in which the Coast Guard is oper8 ating may take any additional action the Secretary 

9 considers necessary and appropriate to provide for 

10 the transition to the nomination, selection, and ap11 pointment process provided under the amendments 

12 made by this section. 

Æ 


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