Articles & Op-eds
Travel Market Report: Canada’s Cruise Ship Ban is ‘Unacceptable,’ Alaska Officials Say
by Daniel McCarthy
After Transport Canada last week announced its decision to ban cruise ship travel in Canadian waters through February 2022 a lot of questions were raised, not the least of which was why the ban was extended a full year from when the last ban was set to end. Now, this week, members of the U.S. Congress from Alaska, which has also been hugely impacted from the order as it essentially kills the Alaska 2021 cruise season should nothing change, are asking for answers. U.S. Senators Lis Murkowski, D… Continue Reading
02.10.21
Alaska Public Media: ‘Pretty damning’: Murkowski says start of 2nd Trump impeachment case is compelling
by Liz Ruskin
It was an emotional afternoon Wednesday in the impeachment trial of former President Trump. U.S. Senators looked tense as they watched multiple videos showing the insurrection at the Capitol Jan. 6. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she was disturbed and angry to relive the experience, and to see the violence as it played out elsewhere in the Capitol that day. "I knew what it meant to be running down this hallway with my colleagues. I wasn't fully aware of everything else that was happening in the bui… Continue Reading
02.05.21
Patch: Sens. Smith And Murkowski Introduce Bills To Fund Mental Health Treatment During Pandemic
by Max Nesterak
The percentage of adults reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression has more than tripled from 11% in 2019 to 37.7% in October 2020, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The number of overdose deaths has also accelerated since the start of the pandemic, according to preliminary data by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "During this deeply challenging time, we must ensure people get the health care they need," Smith said in a statement. The Stopping the… Continue Reading
02.04.21
The Northern Miner: US government gives high priority status to Graphite One’s Alaskan project
by Daniel Sekulich
In mid-January Graphite One's (TSX: GPH; US-OTC: GPHOF) Graphite Creek project in Alaska was designated as a High-Priority Infrastructure Project (HPIP) by the U.S. government's Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Committee (FPISC). The approval comes after the project was originally nominated for HPIP designation by Alaskan governor Mike Dunleavy in October, 2019. In his 2019 nomination letter to the FPISC, Governor Dunleavy wrote that designating Graphite Creek as a High-Priority Infrastr… Continue Reading
02.02.21
Anchorage Daily News: Murkowski among group of Republican senators who met with Biden to urge smaller pandemic relief package
by James Brooks
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski met with President Joe Biden on Monday, joining a group of nine other Republican U.S. Senators in asking the president to consider a smaller COVID-19 relief package than his own $1.9 trillion proposal. "None of us walked away saying, 'OK, there's a deal to be had here,'" Murkowski said, "But what I think our group of 10 walked away with and what I hope the President and the Vice President walked away with, was there was a good, honest, open, frank discussion about iss… Continue Reading
02.02.21
KTUU: Murkowski 1 of 10 GOP senators who met with Biden on pandemic relief
by Marlise Irby
In an interview after the meeting, Murkowski said she does not believe the partisan outcome is the best way to start this "new age in Washington." Murkowski said, in the past year, Congress has passed five bipartisan bills totaling an amount in excess of $4 trillion. "We need to push out more when it comes to vaccine procurement, we need to move on that, we need to do more to avoid the unemployment cliff in March, we agree with that," said Murkowski. One topic that Murkowski said she brought … Continue Reading
02.01.21
Associated Press: Biden, Democrats hit gas on push for $15 minimum wage
by Kevin Freking
The Democratic push to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour has emerged as an early flashpoint in the fight for a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, testing President Joe Biden's ability to bridge Washington's partisan divides as he pursues his first major legislative victory. Biden called for a $15 hourly minimum wage during his campaign and has followed through by hitching it to a measure that, among other things, calls for $1,400 stimulus checks and $130 billion to help schools … Continue Reading
02.01.21
Anchorage Daily News: Murkowski among group of Republican senators who met with Biden to urge smaller COVID-19 relief package
by James Brooks
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski met with President Joe Biden on Monday, joining a group of nine other Republican U.S. Senators in asking the president to consider a smaller COVID-19 relief package than his own $1.9 trillion proposal. "None of us walked away saying, 'OK, there's a deal to be had here,'" Murkowski said, "But what I think our group of 10 walked away with and what I hope the President and the Vice President walked away with, was there was a good, honest, open, frank discussion about iss… Continue Reading
01.31.21
Associated Press: Biden to meet with GOP lawmakers to discuss virus relief
by Aamer Madhani
President Joe Biden is set to meet Monday afternoon with a group of 10 Republican senators who have proposed spending about one-third of the $1.9 trillion he is seeking in coronavirus aid, though congressional Democrats are poised to move ahead without Republican support. An invitation to the White House came hours after the lawmakers sent Biden a letter Sunday urging him to negotiate rather than try to ram through his relief package solely on Democratic votes. The House and Senate are on track… Continue Reading
01.29.21
Utility Dive: Lawmakers press DOE head nominee Granholm over potential job, revenue losses in fossil fuel sector
by Robert Walton
Dive Brief: Republican and Democrat Senators on Wednesday pressed former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm for assurance that the clean energy transition will not lead to a segment of Americans being "left behind" by the nascent green economy. Granholm is President Biden's pick to lead the U.S. Department of Energy. At her confirmation hearing, she told the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources that the administration's clean energy plan could lead to the creation of 10 million jobs… Continue Reading
01.28.21
Must Read Alaska: Murkowski politely explains to new Energy Secretary that Alaska is ‘resource anchor’
by Suzanne Downing
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee gavel passed from Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska to Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia Wednesday, just in time for the hearing on the nomination of former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm as the new Energy Secretary for the Biden Administration. Because the Senate was still organizing under Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Murkowski gaveled in the meeting and conducted it as her final day as chair of the committee. During the confirmation hea… Continue Reading
01.25.21
New York Times: Murkowski rules out switching parties to join Democrats, saying, ‘I can’t be somebody that I’m not.’
by Emily Cochrane
Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, said on Friday that she was committed to remaining a Republican, calling liberal aspirations that she might switch parties and hand Democrats an edge in the evenly divided Senate "a dream by some that will not materialize." Ms. Murkowski, a vocal critic of former President Donald J. Trump who has indicated she is open to convicting him at his impeachment trial for his role in egging on the violent mob that stormed the Capitol, had raised questions a… Continue Reading
01.24.21
Peninsula Clarion: Murkowski co-sponsors bipartisan bill to affirm ratification of Equal Rights Amendment
by Michael S. Lockett
Sen. Lisa Murkowski announced Friday she would co-sponsor a bipartisan bill with a Maryland senator to remove the ratification deadline for the long-floated Equal Rights Amendment. Murkowski, R-Alaska, along with Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., submitted the bipartisan bill as their first bipartisan legislation of the 117th Congress. "The required 38 states have ratified the ERA," Murkowski said in the news release. "Congress must not stand in the way of finally enshrining equality for women into our … Continue Reading
01.19.21
Must Read Alaska: Murkowski to chair ‘Fire Services Caucus’
by Suzanne Downing
She may no longer be chair of the powerful Energy and Natural Resources Committee as of Jan. 20, but Sen. Lisa Murkowski is landing on her feet. Alaska's senior senator has been named the chair of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus. The caucus works to support the nation's firefighters. It's likely the first of many such appointments that the Murkowski will announce in coming days as the new Senate and House organizations take shape. "I will continue to advocate for the health & safety… Continue Reading
01.15.21
Juneau Empire: Murkowski on impeachment: ‘I will listen carefully’ to both sides
by Peter Segall
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said in a news release Thursday that she had not decided how she would vote when President Trump's impeachment trial reaches the Senate. "When the Article of Impeachment comes to the Senate, I will follow the oath I made when sworn as a U.S. Senator. I will listen carefully and consider the arguments of both sides, and will then announce how I will vote," Murkowski said in the statement. Murkowski became the first Republican senator to call for Trump to r… Continue Reading
01.15.21
Delta Discovery: Senators Murkowski and Sullivan Advance Clean Energy Policies – More Work to Come In The New Congress
by Stephanie Haydn
This year, Republicans in Congress led the charge to pass pro-growth clean energy policies that support a more sustainable environment and competitive economy. As more leaders join in to collaborate on sensible climate solutions, policies out of Washington are becoming increasingly bipartisan. For example, the introduction of the Trillion Trees Act in the Senate was a notable effort by Senator Mike Braun (R-IN) and Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) to reduce carbon emissions and build an effective fore… Continue Reading
01.13.21
KTUU: Sen. Lisa Murkowski: Trump committed an impeachable offense; it would be ‘appropriate’ to bar him from holding office again
by Sean Maguire
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski believes that President Donald Trump has committed an impeachable offense by inciting an attack against the U.S. Capitol and said that it would be "appropriate" to bar him from holding office again. As Murkowski spoke from Washington D.C., the U.S. House of Representatives was debating and preparing to vote on an article of impeachment that charged the president with "inciting violence against the government" on Jan. 6. Comparing this impeachment process to Trump's fir… Continue Reading
01.13.21
KTUU: would be ‘appropriate’ to bar him from holding office again
by Sean Maguire
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski believes that President Donald Trump has committed an impeachable offense by inciting an attack against the U.S. Capitol and said that it would be "appropriate" to bar him from holding office again. As Murkowski spoke from Washington D.C., the U.S. House of Representatives was debating and preparing to vote on an article of impeachment that charged the president with "inciting violence against the government" on Jan. 6. Comparing this impeachment process to Trump's fir… Continue Reading
01.13.21
Alaska Journal of Commerce: Congress pays for another icebreaker, authorizes more
by Elwood Brehmer
Congress paid for a second new heavy icebreaker among its year-end spending flurry and also helped Nome move one step closer to having a place to moor it. Inside the federal budget portion omnibus spending package that also included the second round of COVID-19 aid money and Sen. Lisa Murkowski's energy reform bill is $555 million for the U.S. Coast Guard to spend on another icebreaker, or a polar security cutter in Coast Guard parlance. Sen. Dan Sullivan said in a press briefing following the… Continue Reading
01.06.21
Alaska Journal of Commerce: Murkowski energy bill crosses finish line
by Elwood Brehmer
Tucked amongst the 5,500-some pages of legislation with more than $2 trillion in spending and COVID-19 aid that President Donald Trump signed last month was one of Sen. Lisa Murkowski's biggest policy accomplishments, but according to Murkowski, that's sort of how she wanted it. The 532 pages of the year-end omnibus spending bill that comprise the Energy Act of 2020 culminate almost six years of work, procedural hang-ups and near-victories for Murkowski, who credited her staff for their continu… Continue Reading
