PRESS RELEASE
Recently, U.S. Congressman Tony Wied (R-WI-08) introduced legislation to protect American citizens’ Second Amendment rights by banning federal, state, and local laws targeting magazine capacity.
The Freedom from Improper Regulation and Enforcement (FIRE) Act prohibits any federal agency from restricting firearm magazines based on capacity and prohibits states and localities from enacting or enforcing capacity restrictions on any firearm magazines.
Congressman Wied (WI-08), Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI-08), and Congressman Max Miller (OH-07) successfully passed the Great Lakes Icebreaker Act of 2025 through the U.S. House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure. The bipartisan legislation instructs the U.S. Coast Guard to develop a plan to design and build a new icebreaker for the Great Lakes and analyze the effectiveness of the current icebreaking fleet.
Heavy icebreakers, such as the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, are vital tools to help commercial vessels navigate frozen waters. This bill requires the Coast Guard to provide Congress with a plan to design and build a new Great Lakes Icebreaker, including a cost estimate and timeline. The bill also authorizes a five-year pilot program for the Coast Guard to test whether its icebreaking fleet in the Great Lakes can keep the priority waterways open during ice season.
Operation End Sweep
Congressman Wied and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced a bipartisan bill to honor veterans who participated in Operation End Sweep with the Vietnam Service Medal. Currently, participants in Operation End Sweep, a mission to clear dangerous mines from Haiphong harbor and surrounding waters in North Vietnam after the war concluded, are ineligible for this service medal because their service took place after the United States had officially withdrawn from Vietnam in January 1973. The Honoring Operation End Sweep Veterans Act is inspired by Retired Navy Commander Michael Cosgrove of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, who served in Operation End Sweep but was not properly honored for his service.
The Honoring Operation End Sweep Veterans Act would direct the Department of Defense to award veterans who participated in Operation End Sweep with the Vietnam Service Medal to recognize their service and sacrifice.
“Operation End Sweep marked the end of the Vietnam War and serves as a powerful example of the dedication and bravery of our Vietnam veterans, like Retired Navy Commander Michael Cosgrove of Sturgeon Bay, who risked their lives to clean up naval mines left behind in the war’s aftermath,” said Wied.
“I am a retired commander in the Navy. As a lieutenant, I was Executive Officer of an ocean-going minesweeper. In 1973, we sailed from Hawaii to Haiphong Harbor as part of Operation End Sweep, sweeping the mines we had placed in Haiphong Harbor,” said Retired Navy Commander Michael Cosgrove of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. “We spent five months in and out of North Vietnamese waters after Congress had declared the war ended. We received virtually no credit for our efforts. Most have no idea the operation even occurred. I would like to see this bill passed so that those of us who participated in End Sweep receive some recognition for our service.”