Secretary Mayorkas Delivers Remarks at ICE Pact Signing Ceremony

Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas delivered the following remarks at a ceremony to sign the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort Pact in Washington, DC.

Good morning.

One week ago today, Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over the launch ceremony for his country’s newest icebreaker, the Chukotka. The ship is Russia's fourth new icebreaker to be launched in recent years, and two more are already under construction. During the ceremony, Putin told assembled shipbuilders that, quote, “strengthening the nation’s icebreaker fleet is crucial to our plans for Arctic development and boosting cargo traffic.”  Those plans undoubtedly include ensuring Russian access to the untapped gas, oil, mineral, and rare earth element reserves that abound across the Arctic. 

These Arctic resources are vital to the economic, national, and homeland security of the United States and our allies.  Ceding these reserves – and the batteries, semiconductors, magnets, and energy resources that are derived from them – to our adversaries in Russia, or to our rivals in the People’s Republic of China, could soon lead to higher prices at our gas pumps and on our heating bills.  It could jeopardize the readiness of our armed forces.  It could compromise the security of our computers, cars, and cell phones.  And, in a crisis, it could subject us to Russian or Chinese largesse in order to access essential goods like food and medical supplies, among many other risks. 

Simply put: Russia and China are strengthening their capabilities in the Arctic, and we cannot afford to allow our own United States Coast Guard and United States Navy to fall behind.

That is why, this past summer, President Biden, Prime Minister Trudeau, and President Stubb formed the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort, or ICE Pact – a trilateral agreement among the United States, Canada, and Finland to partner on the design, production, and maintenance of icebreakers, enabling each of our countries and our allies across the world to acquire and utilize best-in-class icebreaking vessels, on an accelerated timeline, and at a lower cost to taxpayers.

Today, I am proud to welcome Minister Jean-Yves Duclos of Canada, Minister Wille Rydman of Finland, and their respective delegations to the United States Department of Homeland Security, and to the Headquarters of the United States Coast Guard, to sign the Pact’s formal Memorandum of Understanding and to begin this critical work.

The benefits of this new, transformative partnership will extend far beyond our polar footprint. 

The ICE Pact will be a catalyst for industrial capacity; in the United States, that means more jobs at American shipyards. 

It will also further President Biden’s core strategic objective of making critical supply chains less susceptible to intentional and unintentional disruption in the decades to come.  To meet this imperative, the Department of Homeland Security’s Supply Chain Resilience Center – which we established last year as a dedicated, central coordinating hub for our government, our allies, industry, labor organizations, and emerging sectors to together identify priority supply chains, assess their risks, and coordinate the filling of resilience gaps – will serve as America’s ICE Pact National Coordinating body.

Finally, our signatures today send a clear message to our allies, adversaries, and rivals alike: we are committed to keeping the polar regions peaceful, prosperous, and open for all.

No country can realize this ideal alone. Alliances – based on trust, respect, and shared values – provide the only foundation upon which sustained progress, security, and stability can be built.

Minister Duclos, Minister Rydman: thank you for all that you have done to foster and maintain such a partnership between your countries and the United States; for your work to make the ICE Pact a reality; and for demonstrating the enduring commitment of your nations here in Washington today.

I am now very pleased to welcome to the podium, on behalf of President Biden, his Senior Advisor, Amos Hochstein.