Science, and Transportation of the Senate, and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report assessing the cost and procurement schedule for new United States icebreakers. (2) Elements The report required in paragraph (1) shall include an analysis of the following: (A) The current status of the efforts of the Coast Guard to acquire new icebreaking capability, including coordination through the Integrated Program Office. (B) Actions being taken by the Coast Guard to incorporate key practices from other nations that procure icebreakers to increase knowledge and reduce costs and risks. (C) The extent by which the cost and schedule for building Coast Guard icebreakers differs from those in other countries, if known. (D) The extent that innovative acquisition practices (such as multiyear funding and block buys) may be applied to icebreaker acquisition to reduce the cost and accelerate the schedule. (E) A capacity replacement plan to mitigate a potential icebreaker capability gap if the Polar Star cannot remain in service. (F) Any other matters the Comptroller General considers appropriate. 5. Authorization to procure Coast Guard icebreakers (a) Authorization Consistent with the plan required by section 3523 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 ( Public Law 114–328 ), the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating may enter into a contract to procure up to three Coast Guard heavy icebreakers to defend United States interests in the Arctic Region, beginning in fiscal year 2018. (b) Liability subject to appropriations Any contract entered into under subsection (a) shall provide that— (1) any obligation of the United States to make a payment under the contract is subject to the availability of appropriations for that purpose