NORWICH —Today, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Representative Joe Courtney (CT-02), and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and made the following statements after Admiral Paul F. Zukunft, Commandant of the Coast Guard, announced that the U.S. Coast Guard Band will remain in New London:
“The U.S. Coast Guard band has called New London home since day one, and I worked hard on the Senate Appropriations Committee to make sure it stayed there,” said Murphy. “For over a century, the band and its members have educated our students about the Coast Guard and performed for audiences worldwide. I’m thrilled that the band is staying here in New London. Their decision is an important reminder of the unmatched partnership New London shares with the U.S. Coast Guard.”
“This development will resolve once and for all the home port for the U.S. Coast Guard Band while allowing it to move forward with its goal of increasing the band’s national visibility to better promote the Coast Guard’s service to our country,” said Courtney. “This announcement is also good news for band members and their families who are longtime residents of southeastern Connecticut and would have been faced with the difficult choice of uprooting or retiring from the Coast Guard altogether. I want to thank Admiral Zukunft and his staff for their thoughtful deliberations, and for regularly making themselves available throughout this process. I was able to meet personally with the Admiral on several occasions to discuss why I believe it is so important for the band to remain here in eastern Connecticut near the Coast Guard Academy. I am very pleased that the band will continue to call our region home for generations to come.”
“What a wonderful win for Connecticut and the Coasties—keeping our beloved band where it belongs,” said Blumenthal. “The Coast Guard Band is an iconic civic and cultural gem that has resided in our state for nearly a century. Our state has been a key partner to the Coast Guard since its founding days 225 years ago—the home of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy as well as the U.S. Coast Guard Band since its inception 90 years ago. I am delighted they have heeded our call to keep the Coast Guard Band at its rightful home for generations to come.”
The Coast Guard Band will celebrate its 226th anniversary on Sunday, July 31. Along with the decision to keep the band located in New London, the Coast Guard has announced that it will continue to look for new opportunities for the band to travel to Washington, D.C. and other key venues across the country in order to elevate its visibility nationally.
