Articles & Op-eds
Bustle: What Is The EMPOWER Act? This Workplace Harassment Bill Could Make NDAs A Thing Of The Past
by Lauren Holter
Proposed legislation designed for the #MeToo era has made it to Congress. Members of the House plan to introduce the bipartisan EMPOWER Act on Wednesday, aimed at combatting workplace harassment and making it less dangerous for employees to come forward about inappropriate behavior. "Ultimately, there is a monopoly of power in workplace harassment - those who control a paycheck, or a reputation, or a promotion have the power to perpetrate harassment, to protect harassers, and to silence vic… Continue Reading
07.14.18
KTUU: U.S. Congress passes firefighter cancer registry
by Sean Maguire
The United States Congress has passed legislation creating a national registry for firefighters diagnosed with cancer, aiming to gather data and pinpoint common links for cancers in firefighters at a national level. The bipartisan legislation became law July 7, co-sponsored by legislators across the aisle, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R - Alaska. "My decision to be the lead Republican on this bill in the Senate was inspired by Anchorage firefighter Andy Mullen, a strong advocate for firefigh… Continue Reading
07.13.18
Cordova Times: Agriculture act includes micro-grants to support local foods
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, which passed the U.S. Senate recently, includes the Micro-Grants for Food Security program to support Alaskans' ability to grow their own food. That provision, authored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is co-sponsored by Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, both D- Hawaii. "Alaska imports over 90 percent of our food," Murkowski said. "This results in high prices, especially in rural areas, and puts Alaskans at risk when transportation systems break … Continue Reading
07.11.18
KRBD: Perdue, Murkowski hear from POW Landscape Assessment Team
by Leila Kheiry
During their stop in Southeast Alaska last week, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski met with the Prince of Wales Island Landscape Assessment Team. That approximately one-hour meeting in Klawock gave a taste of what the POW group worked through to find consensus and provide recommendations about land management. More than two years ago, a group of Prince of Wales Island residents gathered to talk about the future. They were recruited to help the U.S. Forest … Continue Reading
07.10.18
CNN: Lisa Murkowski says she needs more information on Supreme Court nominee
by Lauren Fox
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, one of the most watched Republicans in the Trump administration's fight to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court justice, told CNN Tuesday that her vetting of the nominee will take weeks, not days, and says all senators need to do their "due diligence" before deciding how to vote. The senior senator from Alaska -- who has differed with her party in the past on the issue of abortion rights, among others -- told CNN that she will meet with Kavanaugh and pore over his… Continue Reading
07.10.18
ADN: Murkowski, Sullivan promise rigorous review of Kavanaugh nomination
by Erica Martinson
Alaska's U.S. senators plan to give a close look to President Donald Trump's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, they said Monday night. Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh, a justice on the federal appeals court for the D.C. Circuit, to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has been the target of early lobbying over her future vote as a Republican who favors abortion rights. The addition of a new, Republicannominated Supreme Court ju… Continue Reading
07.08.18
Cordova Times: Payment will help offset community service costs
Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) for the Valdez/Cordova census area for 2018, based on the tax value of 14,940,458 non-taxable federal acres within the census area, total $1,252,886, with that allocation to be split based on populations. Distribution at the federal level is anticipated in late July. The annual payment from the U.S. Department of the Interior is part of the $32.3 million being distributed to eligible local governments across Alaska. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, s… Continue Reading
07.06.18
KRBD: Sec. Perdue, Sen. Murkowski tour Prince of Wales Island
by Leila Kheiry
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue made his first visit to Southeast Alaska on Thursday. Perdue spent Thursday morning in Ketchikan, and met with U.S. Forest Service officials, but spent most of the day on Prince of Wales Island. Perdue was joined by Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski a little after noon on POW. They first met with the Prince of Wales Landscape Assessment Team. That group includes diverse stakeholders who provided recommendations for managing Prince of Wales Island forests … Continue Reading
07.06.18
Juneau Empire: USDA Sec. Perdue: Logging, other Southeast industries not ‘mutually-exclusive'
by Kevin Gullufsen
After visiting timber industry sites in Southeast Alaska on Thursday, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said he'd like to alter federal law to allow more logging in the Tongass National Forest. Perdue, the highest ranking official at the agency overseeing the U.S. Forest Service, toured logging companies and two timber stands on Thursday at the invitation of U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski. He told reporters afterward he hopes to develop an "Alaskaspecific" version of the 2001… Continue Reading
07.05.18
Anchorage Press: On Food Stamps and Alaska's Senators
by Kokayi Nosakhere
Invisible. That's the word which comes into my mind when I think of America's strange relationship to all public policy surrounding hunger. Common sense leads one to believe this issue is a no-brainer. Since birth, the constant companion to the human experience is hunger. The need for food is so basic, it cuts across all lines of social construction. Unlike the other two basic needs - shelter and clothing - hunger is not visibly apparent during the experience. We can see the physical result… Continue Reading
07.03.18
Thanks to so many…
by Congressman Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan
Now that the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act has passed Congress, I want to give my public thanks and acknowledgement to the many who helped make this possible. In Congress it was always-and had to be-a bipartisan effort. Senate Leaders McConnell and Schumer, Chairmen Murkowski and Grassley, my Democratic colleagues Senators Cantwell, Feinstein, Heinrich, Hirono, Menendez, Sanders, and Wyden were all involved. On the House side, I worked especially with Majority Leader … Continue Reading
07.02.18
New micro-grants to support locally grown food
As part of the 2018 Farm Bill passed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday, a new grant program is available to support locally grown food, according to U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz. Schatz says the provision was authored by him and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (RAlaska). "This new federal money will give people the resources to start a garden or build a business that promotes locally grown food," said Schatz in a news release. "The farm bill also invests in Native Hawaiian education and creates more o… Continue Reading
07.02.18
KTVA: 'This is worrisome,' Murkowski on Chinese sanctions to Alaska seafood
by Liz Raines
China is slated to impose a 25 percent tariff on U.S. seafood -- including Alaska's -- by the end of this week, as part of increasingly heated trade negotiations between the two nations. According to a recent report by the McDowell Group, seafood is Alaska's second largest employer -- with 41,200 jobs created by the $2.1 billion industry. China is the state's largest trading partner. "This is worrisome, we'll work this through with the administration," Sen. Lisa Murkowski said of the s… Continue Reading
06.29.18
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski Serves As Keynote Speaker, World Gas Conference
by Maria Athens
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski delivered the opening remarks today, during a panel discussion on "Access to Sustainable Energy in Developing Economies" at the 27th World Gas Conference, held in Washington, D.C. Our Senior Senator offered the following comments via social media: "The U.S. is now the world's largest producer of natural gas. Our mindset has changed from a deep-seated fear of scarcity, to the incredible possibilities of abundance, which has opened new doors for us and for the… Continue Reading
06.26.18
ADN: Sen. Lisa Murkowski on politics, #MeToo and her first conversation with Presidentelect Donald Trump
by Caroline Biscotti
The following are excerpts from a May 31 meeting between Sen. Lisa Murkowski and the Anchorage Daily News editorial board. On her first interaction with President-elect Donald Trump after his election: He had not been sworn in, it was right after Thanksgiving. I wanted to weigh in on who the Secretary of the Interior should be. And so I was kind of like, "What adviser should I talk with?" And he didn't have any advisers. And so I thought, "Well, maybe I'll just call him myself." And so I got a… Continue Reading
06.22.18
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Murkowski introduces Alaska specific farm bill
by Erin Granger
Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski has introduced an Arctic specific farming bill to address issues of food security, conservation and trade in Alaska. The Food Security, Housing and Sanitation Improvements in Rural, Remote and Frontier Areas Act of 2018 includes a series of Alaska and Arctic-specific initiatives compiled based on the input of farmers and stakeholders across Alaska, Murkowski said. This bill is meant to accompany the nation's farm bill, which is updated every five years, … Continue Reading
06.21.18
Alaska Journal of Commerce: Poison pill’-free Interior Dept. spending bill moves ahead
by Elwood Brehmer
Sen. Lisa Murkowski is touting her Interior and environment budget bill as much for the process behind it as what's in it. Alaska's senior senator emphasized in a June 14 call with reporters that the $35.8 billion fiscal year 2019 discretionary spending bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier that day, which she said is a sign that Congress might finally be returning to regular order when it comes to funding the government. 13 Murkowski chairs the Appro… Continue Reading
06.21.18
ADN: Murkowski, Sullivan support plans to end separation of families at the border
by Erica Martinson
Alaska's U.S. senators say they favor keeping families together at the U.S.-Mexico border and crafting federal legislation to manage an influx of immigrant families seeking asylum. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order that would stop the separation of children from their parents at the border, a process that escalated with a recently instituted "zero tolerance" policy for asylum seekers who enter the United States at unsanctioned places along the southern border. … Continue Reading
06.19.18
The Hill: Supreme court to rehear Alaska moose hunter, hovercraft case
by Miranda Green
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to rehear the case of an Alaskan man who sued the National Park Service (NPS) after being removed from a river while using a hovercraft to hunt moose. The case, brought by John Sturgeon against the NPS in 2011 after he was removed from Alaska's Nation River in the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, will come before the Supreme Court for a second time after the court rejected a lower court's reasoning against him and sent it back for reconsideration i… Continue Reading
06.18.18
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Sullivan joins Murkowski is support of marijuana states' rights bill
by Erin Granger
Alaska's two Republican U.S. senators have announced their support of a bipartisan bill to ensure the ability of states to regulate legal marijuana industries. The Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States Act was originally co-authored by Sens. Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts. The bill looks into a number of areas in which state and federal marijuana laws conflict while also containing a number of safeguards to ensure states, territories and t… Continue Reading
