Articles & Op-eds
Becker's Hospital Review: Senators release plan to end surprise medical bills with arbitration: 8 things to know
by Kelly Gooch
A bipartisan group of senators has unveiled legislation to end surprise medical bills. Eight things to know: 1. Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Bill Cassidy, R-La., and a bipartisan group of senators introduced the STOP Surprise Medical Bills Act May 16. Ms. Hassan and Mr. Cassidy, along with Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Todd Young, R-Ind., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Tom Carper, D-Del., announced the introduction of the bill. 2. The legislation would prohibit surprise billing for emergency … Continue Reading
05.17.19
KITV4: Schatz introduces legislature to help Defense Dept. take on child pornography
U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) re-introduced bipartisan legislation that would help the Pentagon stop the use of the Defense Department's network to possess, procure and even produce child pornography. The measure, End National Defense (END) Network Abuse Act is said to give military leaders tools needed to get rid of child pornography on DoD's network, go after offenders and protect children. "The widespread abuse of the Department of Defense's network to … Continue Reading
05.17.19
KTUU: Air Force plan will permanently station six more F-22 fighter jets at JBER
by Laura Holman
The Air Force has released a plan to permanently station six additional F-22 fighter jets at Joint Base Elemendorf-Richardson. The jets were previously based at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, but moved to JBER after Tyndall was severely damaged during hurricane Michael. Today, U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young, all R-Alaska, applauded the Air Force on the potential plan. "We have long advocated for our military in Alaska, including the importance of our … Continue Reading
05.17.19
Arctic Today: Will the Arctic Council begin addressing national security?
by Melody Schreiber
This year's Arctic Council ministerial meeting showcased increasingly complicated issues in the region - from national security to climate change and more - and the subsequently complex discussions around them. In its aftermath, attendees and observers are debating where the organization will go from here, and whether its mandates - particularly the exclusion of national security issues - will change. Although it's unlikely the council will take on defense issues, observers say, conversations a… Continue Reading
05.15.19
E&E News: Murkowski hopes it's 'finally the year' for minerals bill
by Dylan Brown
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski refuses to give up on passing legislation to encourage the domestic extraction of minerals for electric vehicles and other technologies. The Alaska Republican held a seventh hearing on her "American Mineral Security Act," S. 1317, making the case once again that reliance on foreign minerals is the nation's "Achilles' heel" as the Trump administration levies more tariffs on China. "I hope that this is finally the year that Congress w… Continue Reading
05.14.19
Indian Country Today: Deb Haaland announces U.S. House version of Savanna’s Act and addresses efforts for MMIW
by Vincent Schilling
Haaland: 'Congress has never had a voice like mine, a Native American woman who sees the blind spots that have existed for far too long' On a media conference call Tuesday morning, Rep. Deb Haaland (NM-01) announced the U.S. House version of Savanna's Act 2019, a bill that will supplement the Senate bill introduced by Lisa Murkowski in January of this year. As previously reported on by Indian Country Today, Savanna's Act will combat the epidemic of murdered and missing Native women and girls b… Continue Reading
05.14.19
KTUU: Lawmakers re-introducing legislation that calls for DOJ review of Indian Country probes
Federal lawmakers are re-introducing legislation that calls for the Justice Department to review how law enforcement agencies respond to cases of missing and murdered Native Americans. The legislation is named Savanna's Act for 22-year-old Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, whose body was found in a North Dakota river in 2017. U.S. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, introduced the legislation in the Senate earlier this year. It was re-introduced Tuesday in the U.S. House. It also seeks to expand tribes' acce… Continue Reading
05.14.19
Reuters: U.S. faces hurdles in push to build electric vehicle supply chain
by Ernest Scheyder
The United States faces stiff challenges as it moves to create its own electric vehicle supply chain, industry analysts say, with the extent of the country's metal reserves largely unknown and only a few facilities to process minerals and produce batteries. Legislation making its way through the U.S. Congress aims to help offset those gaps, but China remains the global EV sector leader, a dominance seen by some as difficult to supplant. "China has a huge head start," said Gavin Montgomery, a b… Continue Reading
05.14.19
Engine: Looking Back on National Small Business Week 2019
by Edward Graham
Last week, communities all across the country celebrated the 56th annual National Small Business Week (NSBW). With 30.2 million startups and small businesses across the United States employing 47.5 percent of the country's private workforce, entrepreneurial endeavors represent the economic backbone of our country. That's why policymakers from across the aisle strongly support small business innovation and growth across their districts and states. House and Senate lawmakers shared a total of 887… Continue Reading
05.13.19
Freight Waves: Alaska LNG exports proposed to fund Arctic icebreakers and ports
by John Gallagher
Revenues generated from Alaskan energy exports could be the key to closing a wide infrastructure gap that some assert has left the U.S. a decade behind its competition. Testifying on Capitol Hill on May 8, Mead Treadwell, an Arctic policy expert from the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., predicted liquefied natural gas (LNG) the "next big wave" of economic activity in the region that could help fund ice-breaking ships and deep-water ports. "[The Russians] are bringing 16.5 million ton… Continue Reading
05.12.19
Op-Ed: A new era in nuclear energy
by Senator Mike Crapo
A new chapter in U.S. nuclear energy started with the enactment of two pieces of legislation that further nuclear innovation-S. 97, the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act (NEICA) and S. 512, the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA). These laws help ensure the research conducted at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) continues to contribute to our diverse domestic energy resources and keeps our nation at the forefront of nuclear innovation. Empowering the long-term developm… Continue Reading
05.11.19
Alaska Public Media: As the ice goes, Arctic nations find their bonds are tested
by Liz Ruskin
In the end, the eight nations of the Arctic Council signed a short statement, affirming their commitment to peace and cooperation. But two major issues loomed over the Arctic Council meeting in Finland this week, and they pull at the seams of Arctic unity. Arctic Council meetings have always ended with a long declaration. The one signed in Fairbanks in 2017 had 46 points, acknowledging shared values, goals and concerns. But this year the countries couldn't reach a unanimous agreement on a d… Continue Reading
05.10.19
E&E News: EV 'arms race' revs up Murkowski's old minerals bill
An old proposal to jump-start American mining has been recharged by a newfound focus on electric vehicles and the elements needed to power them. Congress has bandied about ideas for mining more "critical minerals" for as long as the United States has been losing ground to other nations, namely China, in supplying elements used in military, energy and emerging technologies. But a different narrative took center stage when Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced her latest critical minerals bi… Continue Reading
05.10.19
E&E News: Murkowski pressed Pompeo on climate language
by Kellie Lunney
The Arctic presents opportunities for greater resource extraction and trade, but leaders must also account for the impacts of climate change and food insecurity on the region's residents, Alaska's senior senator said yesterday. "We cannot forget that there are people who live and work and raise their families in the Arctic," Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska told reporters on Capitol Hill during a briefing on her recent trip to Rovaniemi, Finland, for the 11th Arctic Council Ministerial … Continue Reading
05.10.19
KTVA: Murkowski co-sponsors bill to clarify prescription drug price increases
Sen. Lisa Murkowski and three of her colleagues have introduced a bill which would require prescription-drug makers to be more transparent when increasing the prices of their products. Murkowski said in a statement that Sens. Mike Braun, R-Indiana, Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin and Tina Smith, D-Minnesota, have joined her in co-sponsoring the Fair Accountability and Innovative Research Drug Pricing Act. The senators' measure would require drugmakers to notify the U.S. Department of Health and Hum… Continue Reading
05.08.19
KTVA: Murkowski pushes feds for study on missing, murdered indigenous women
by Chris Klint
More than a dozen federal lawmakers, among them Alaska's senior U.S. senator, are seeking federal help in examining the nation's wave of kidnapped and murdered Alaska Native and Native American women. Sen. Lisa Murkowski's office said in a Tuesday statement that she was one of 11 senators and six representatives in a bipartisan group asking the Government Accountability Office, the government's top watchdog group, to conduct a study on "the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis." … Continue Reading
05.07.19
Mining.com: US senate introduces new bill to boost domestic battery minerals supply
Republican senators led by Lisa Murkowski has introduced bipartisan legislation to secure mineral resources and supply chains, reducing reliance on foreign sources. The new legislation - the American Minerals Security Act - listed lithium, graphite, cobalt and nickel as "critical minerals" to the auto and energy industries. "Our nation's mineral security is a significant, urgent, and often ignored challenge. Our reliance on China and other nations for critical minerals costs us jobs, weakens ou… Continue Reading
05.01.19
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Navy Plans to Extend Its Reach in the Arctic
by Ben Kesling
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are deepening their commitments to Arctic security and to operations in Alaska, top Pentagon officials told Congress on Wednesday. Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said the service would undertake extensive Arctic operations this summer and fall, while the Marine Corps commandant said that Marines are committed to training in Alaska to an extent not seen in decades. The actions are part of a broader U.S. commitment to step up its presence in a region taking on expa… Continue Reading
05.01.19
RTO Insider: Senate Nuke Development Bill May Hinge on Waste Issue
by Michael Brooks
A bipartisan U.S. Senate bill intended to speed development of the next generation of nuclear reactors appears to have broad support, but passage may hinge on the fate of several other bills in the chamber that would address the long lingering issue of building a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel. The Nuclear Energy Leadership Act (NELA) (S.903), reintroduced by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on March 27, is co-sponsored by 17 senators - nine Republican, eight Democratic - including p… Continue Reading
05.01.19
The Guardian: A Native American woman's brutal murder could lead to a life-saving law
by Jenni Monet
There was heartbreak across Indian Country in August 2017 when the body of 22-year-old Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind was found duct-taped in plastic in the Red River. The ribbon of water demarcates North Dakota from Minnesota, a tributary flowing northward across the Canadian border. It's where, a few years earlier, an Indigenous girl, 15-year-old Tina Fontaine, was discovered wrapped in a duvet cover and weighted down by rocks. The tales of these two tragedies and the river itself are emblemati… Continue Reading
