GAO REPORT ON NATIONAL MARITIME STRATEGY.

SEC. 3513. GAO REPORT ON NATIONAL MARITIME STRATEGY. (a) Report.—Not later than 12 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall complete a study and submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, a report on— (1) the key challenges, if any, to ensuring that the United States marine transportation system and merchant marine are sufficient to support United States economic and defense needs, as articulated by the Maritime Administration, the Committee on the Marine Transportation System, and other stakeholders; (2) the extent to which a national maritime strategy incorporates desirable characteristics of successful national strategies as identified by the Comptroller General, and any key obstacles (as identified by stakeholders) to successfully implementing such strategies; and (3) the extent to which Federal efforts to establish a national maritime strategy are duplicative or fragmented, and if so, the impact on United States maritime policy for the future. (b) Deadline.—Subsection (a) of section 603 of the Howard Coble Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-281; 128 Stat. 3061) is amended by striking “Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act” and inserting “Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019”.