Articles & Op-eds
KTOO: Murkowski reintroduces bill to prevent violence against indigenous women and girls
by Zoe Grueskin
On Monday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski and a Democratic colleague, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, reintroduced a bill aimed at preventing violence against Indigenous women and girls. Named for a North Dakota woman killed in 2017, Savanna's Act would improve data collection on missing and murdered Native women. Murkowski said records are so limited, authorities don't even understand the scope of the problem. "And this is where it gets so frustrating," she said. "We don't even know what we don't kno… Continue Reading
01.30.19
Alaska Public Media: ‘Uber for icebreakers’ idea gains traction
by Liz Ruskin
This was the year Congress was finally going to spend some serious money to build an icebreaker. A Senate spending bill has $750 million for a new icebreaker, which would bring the Coast Guard's fleet to three. But that money is caught in a fight over whether to build President Trump's wall at the southern border. Still, there's more than one way to break ice. Some propose to use private and foreign ships to help fill the expected demand for commercial icebreaking. Polar Institute Director Mik… Continue Reading
01.30.19
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Murkowski: Shutdown not a 'winning political strategy'
by Rod Boyce
Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she doesn't believe President Donald Trump will take the federal government into another shutdown when the three-week stopgap funding measure ends Feb. 15. And she also believes Trump is on questionable legal footing with his suggestion he could declare a national emergency to get funding for a wall - however he defines such a barrier - if the result of negotiations in Congress during this three-week period don't provide border security funding that he finds acceptable. … Continue Reading
01.29.19
E&E News: Murkowski weighs life after energy gavel
by Geof Koss
Lisa Murkowski's political career is approaching a crossroads of sorts. Over the past two years with the Trump administration and a GOP-led Congress, the Alaska Republican repeatedly chalked up wins in long-fought battles over resource extraction on federal lands in the Last Frontier, including the decadeslong fight over drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Her chairmanship of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee was no small factor in winning the addition of ANWR drilling in… Continue Reading
01.29.19
CNBC: Lawmakers offer proposals to end government shutdowns for good—while the 'pain is fresh'
by Ylan Mui
The longest government shutdown in U.S. history is finally over. Now lawmakers from both parties are seeking a way to ensure it never happens again. Several proposals are on the table. They go beyond the immediate discussions over border security that will need to be resolved over the next three weeks, when the government could once again run out of money. Instead, these bills would guarantee that the lights stay on even if lawmakers can't reach a spending agreement by Feb. 15, or any future d… Continue Reading
01.29.19
Huffington Post: UPDATED: Lisa Murkowski Revives Bill Targeting Missing And Murdered Native Women
by Jennifer Bendery
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) reintroduced legislation on Monday to help law enforcement respond to a horrifying and largely invisible crisis: Hundreds of Native American women are simply disappearing or being murdered. There is next to no data available on what, exactly, is going on. At least 506 indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been killed in 71 U.S. cities, including more than 330 since 2010, according to a November report by Urban Indian Health Institute. Most cases have bee… Continue Reading
01.29.19
KSRM: Murkowski Works To Incorporate The ERA Into The Constitution
by Jennifer Williams
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has co-sponsored a resolution that would immediately reopen consideration of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Senator Murkowski: "In order for the ERA to be incorporated into the Constitution, we need 38 states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. As of now, we have 37. The bipartisan legislation I'm leading will resolve any ambiguity over whether states can make the ERA effective by ratifying. We cannot and must not put a time limit on the fight for women's… Continue Reading
01.28.19
ABC News: Senators reintroduce bill to protect Native American women, finish work started by defeated colleague
by Ali Rogin
Two senators reintroduced a bill Monday that aims to strengthen protections for Native American women, who face above-average rates of murder, violence and kidnapping. It's an effort that their former colleague Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., began, but which was derailed virtually single-handedly by a retiring House Republican, former House Judiciary Chairman Robert Goodlatte, R-Va. "It got held up in the House literally over one member. That member's gone and I'm still here," Sen. Lisa Murkowsk… Continue Reading
01.28.19
Alaska Public Media: ERA now, Murkowski says
by Liz Ruskin
Sen. Lisa Murkowski is pushing to add the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It was a top liberal goal in the 1970s. Murkowski acknowledged that it feels like a blast from the past. "I think for most people, they think that the Equal Rights Amendment was ratified a long time ago," she said. The ERA says the government can't discriminate on the basis of sex, and it has NOT been added to the Constitution. Back in March 1972, Congress passed it, and then it was up to the state legi… Continue Reading
01.28.19
KTVA: Murkowski joins push to immediately pay furloughed feds
by Chris Klint
Alaska's senior U.S. senator, who has already pushed a measure to prevent future government shutdowns, is among more than two dozen of her colleagues urging that furloughed federal workers immediately be paid following the 35-day partial shutdown which ended over the weekend. Sen. Lisa Murkowski added her name to a Monday letter, signed by 29 senators and sent to the federal Office of Personnel Management. The request, led by Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen, comes after the partial sh… Continue Reading
01.28.19
KTVA: New bill brings national attention to cases of missing, murdered Native women and girls
by Angela Krenzien
Alaska's senior senator has introduced legislation to address the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto reintroduced Savanna's Act, according to a release from Murkowski's office Monday. Savanna's Act aims to increase coordination among law enforcement agencies, including data collection and information sharing, and empower tribal governments with the resources they need to handle cases. Murkowski says she's proud t… Continue Reading
01.27.19
Anchorage Daily News: Murkowski championed bipartisan shutdown deal accepted by president
by Alex DeMarban
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski this week championed the bipartisan deal that President Donald Trump on Friday said he would accept to end the longest federal government shutdown in history, the same day that 800,000 federal workers missed their second straight paycheck. It was a familiar spot for Murkowski, R-Alaska, who has found herself in the middle of other major congressional conflicts - including when she joined moderate Republicans in 2017 refusing to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Speaking … Continue Reading
01.26.19
KTUU: Sen. Murkowski apologizes to federal workers affected by shutdown
by Alexis Fernandez
Alaska's senior senator says the partial government shutdown "served no purpose," and "nobody won." Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) posted a video to her YouTube page apologizing to Alaskans who have been affected by the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. "I offer an apology to them, to those who have been impacted so directly by this shutdown, it should not have happened, and my goal is to make sure it doesn't happen to you again," Sen. Murkowski said. Sen. Murkowski says she is support… Continue Reading
01.25.19
It’s time to finally pass the Equal Rights Amendment
by Lisa Murkowski and Ben Cardin
Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, represents Alaska in the Senate. Ben Cardin, a Democrat, represents Maryland in the Senate. Men and women should be treated equally under the law. It seems pretty basic, right? As we approach the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage, it comes as a shock to so many that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee women the same rights and protections as men. We come from different ends of the political spectrum, but we agree that this needs to change. Women compos… Continue Reading
01.25.19
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: LETTER: Fighting Alzheimer’s
by Cindy Harris
To the editor: The Alzheimer's Association estimates there are more than 5 million Americans and 7,500 Alaskans living with Alzheimer's disease. There are more than 16 million caregivers in America and 33,000 caregivers in our beautiful state of Alaska. As an advocate, it is my honor to represent them. Congress just passed the Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act with a strong bipartisan vote. I want to thank Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Youn… Continue Reading
01.25.19
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Murkowski, Sullivan say they are committed to reopening government
Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted yes Thursday on both bills that aimed to reopen the government agencies that have been closed for more than one month. Alaska GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan voted in favor of the Republican-backed legislation and against the Democrats' bill. Both measures failed to reach the 60-vote threshold required to end debate and advance to a final vote. Murkowski, elected to her third six-year term in 2016, was one of six Republicans to vote in favor of the Democrats' … Continue Reading
01.25.19
Anchorage Daily News: Murkowski to revive bill intended to help Native women
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she plans to reintroduce a bill intended to help solve crimes against Native Americans. The bill received unanimous Senate approval after being introduced by North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp but was blocked by the outgoing chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte said he agreed with the intent of Heitkamp's bill, which sought to expand tribal access to federal crime databases, set standards for law enforcement's response to cases of … Continue Reading
01.25.19
KTUU: Alaska's Senators, Congressman weigh in on end of government shutdown
by Kortnie Horazdovsky
Alaska's Congressional delegation members are weighing in on today's announced deal to reopen the federal government for three weeks. Alaska's Senators, who agreed on one of the Senate's failed Thursday proposals and split on the other, are glad to see the shutdown end, but say the hard work is not over. Rep. Don Young is also glad to see the "destructive" shutdown end, and looks forward to long-term solutions. "While this was not the proposal I voted for yesterday, for the sake of our federal… Continue Reading
01.24.19
Fiscal Times: Earmarks Could Make a Comeback, Under a New Name
by Michael Rainey
Now that they're back in charge of the House, some Democrats are pushing for the return of earmarks, which allow lawmakers to direct money to specific projects, The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports. The revival is driven in part by concerns that Congress has given up too much authority to the president by allowing executive agencies to determine spending priorities. Earmarks also make it easier for lawmakers to make deals and support bipartisan legislation, some experts say. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver… Continue Reading
01.23.19
Indian Country Today: Tribes come together in a challenge Indian Child Welfare decision
by Jourdan Bennett-Begaye
Law was designed to give Native children "equal rights and human rights" A defending argument for the Indian Child Welfare Act was released last week with widespread support from 325 tribes, 57 organizations, 31 child welfare organizations and seven members of Congress. The legal brief asks the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a higher court, to look at the Brackeen v. Zinke decision of a lower court, the Northern District of Texas. U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor said last October that t… Continue Reading
