Communications With Congress

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9. COMMUNICATIONS WITH CONGRESS. Coast Guard communications with Congress must be

clear and consistent, and Coast Guard policies and resource commitments must be made only by

those authorized to make such statements. No Coast Guard member or employee may disclose or

discuss a Coast Guard-sponsored legislative proposal with any member of Congress or

Congressional staff until it has been approved by OMB and transmitted to the House and Senate by

DHS. Any official expression of support for or opposition to any pending legislation must be

cleared through DHS and OMB. See references (a) through (d) for additional guidance.

Additionally, reference (e), 18 U.S.C. 1913, imposes criminal penalties on government officers or

employees who directly or indirectly use appropriated funds in an effort to influence any member of

Congress. This includes use of any government correspondence, telephone, or other

communications media in an effort to encourage private interests to contact Congress to express

support for or opposition to any legislative action.

10. LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS. Enclosure (1) provides an overview of the

legislative process and legislative terms. Enclosure (2) provides the format for an LCP. Enclosure

(3) provides a notional timeline for legislative development.

a. LCP submission and approval.

(1) Submission. Each year, not later than 1 December, G-L will ask the program directors to

submit new LCPs for possible inclusion in the proposed CY+2 Coast Guard Authorization

Act. Program directors shall personally approve and submit any desired LCPs to G-L not

later than 15 February. Program directors should seek assistance from G-LLX in developing

any LCP.

(2) LCP content and format. Each proposed legislative change must satisfy requirements

established by a number of statutes and Executive Orders. These requirements are identified

in enclosure (2). Each LCP shall be submitted in the format provided and include the

information specified in enclosure (2). Program directors shall submit any necessary

additional supporting materials with each LCP.

(3) G-L review and recommendations. G-L will collect LCPs from the program directors, and,

following receipt, provide a copy of each LCP to G-I for review and comment. G-L will

review each LCP to ensure that it contains all required information and to determine if a

change in legislation is needed to accomplish the program director's desired objective. G-L

will forward all LCPs to G-CCS via CG-8 not later than 1 April, and recommend whether or

not to approve each LCP for further development. Following G-CCS approval, G-LLX, in

consultation with the sponsoring program director, shall draft proposed legislation to

implement each approved proposal.

(4) G-I review and recommendations. G-I will review each LCP to determine if it is consistent

with the Coast Guard's overall legislative strategy and identify any potential political

concerns raised by the LCP. G-I will provide any input to G-L not later than 15 March.

(5) CG-8. CG-8, working in concert with G-X, will review each LCP to ensure that program

legislative initiatives are consistent with Coast Guard strategic and performance goals and