A Year on Capitol Hill
A Sea Grant Knauss fellow from Alaska recaps her time in D.C.
As the 2018 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow from Alaska, Maggie Chan has been working for the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation in the U.S. House of Representatives. She handles a wide variety of issues, including Coast Guard, shipping, vessel safety, mariner licensing, marine pollution prevention and response, and activities in the Arctic. This past year, she was active in the subcommittee’s oversight of the Coast Guard, Maritime Administration, and Federal Maritime Commission, as well as the overall safety and operation of the U.S. maritime industry.
Maggie was instrumental in the planning and execution of eight congressional hearings during her time with the subcommittee. The hearing on “Blue Technologies” which she organized for May 2018 provided Congress with new insights into how technology could be used to enhance Coast Guard operations, and which resulted in the direction for the Coast Guard to establish a Blue Technology Center of Expertise to facilitate relationships with industry and academia on this crucial topic.
As committee staff, she contributed to the enactment of several laws, including:
- The Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-282), which was signed into law on Dec. 4, 2018 with bipartisan and bicameral support;
- The Save Our Seas Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-265), including The Hamm Alert Maritime Safety Act of 2018, which passed the Senate by unanimous consent and the House of Representatives without objection, and was signed into law on Oct. 11, 2019.
Maggie graduated in August 2018, finishing her PhD in fisheries at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. After her fellowship concludes next month, she plans to return to Juneau.