Articles & Op-eds
SitNews: Bills Introduced to Improve the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
Last week a total of 15 bills were introduced to improve the 46 year-old Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) and ensure that it continues to serve Alaska Native residents, tribes, and corporations. "ANCSA was intended to be a living measure that would change as the needs of Alaska Natives changed," U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said. "Over the years, Congress has amended the Act more than 40 times, and this package contains the latest series of common-sense solutions to real issues… Continue Reading
06.22.17
The Hill: Op-ed: Supporting the role of subnational governments and the value they add to our interests in the Arctic
by Senator Lisa Murkowski
Justice Louis Brandeis coined the phrase "laboratories of democracy" to describe how states, as subnational governments, could try social and economic experiments that might later become a model for the entire nation. Today a new, but similar laboratory is emerging in the Arctic, as regional and local leaders are connecting to share experiences and best practices. As the United States transitions away from its chairmanship of the Arctic Council, we would do well to look at what is taking place i… Continue Reading
06.12.17
APRN: Cordova hosts U.S. Senate field hearing on microgrids
by Rachel Waldholz
When it comes to emerging energy technologies, many remote Alaska communities are on the cutting edge. That was the message from Cordova this weekend, where U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski held a field hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which she chairs. The focus of the hearing was microgrids: self-contained electrical grids, which can operate unconnected to any larger transmission system. They're a necessity for just about every Alaska community off the road system. Mos… Continue Reading
06.06.17
Alaska Dispatch News: OPINION: Investment in national parks pays rich return for Alaska
by Sarah Leonard
New Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's recent visit to Alaska made him one of what is likely to be a record number of visitors to Alaska's public lands this year. Public lands, including national parks and forest lands in Alaska, are a crucial part of our state's thriving tourism industry. Alaska has 15 national parklands comprising 60 percent of the entire national park system. People made more than 2.7 million visits to national parks in Alaska in 2016, infusing our economy… Continue Reading
06.01.17
Alaska Dispatch News: Interior secretary vows to reinvigorate Alaska oil industry
by Nathaniel Herz
President Donald Trump's interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, drew cheers from some industrial-minded Alaskans on Wednesday when he pledged to pave the way for new development on the North Slope and reinvigorate the state's oil industry. "The only path for energy dominance is a path through the great state of Alaska," Zinke told the audience at an Anchorage conference hosted by the state's major oil industry group, the Alaska Oil and Gas Association. Flanked by politicians and hard-… Continue Reading
05.29.17
KTVA: Interior Secretary Zinke focuses on energy, parks during Alaska visit
by Heather Hintze
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is in Alaska for his first visit to the state since his confirmation to the position in March. His first public appearance included a ride to the Alaska Veteran's Memorial on the George Parks Highway with the Alaska Vets Motorcycle Club for their 29th annual Memorial Run. "I think it's important on Memorial Day to recognize why we fight," Zinke said. "There's a kindred spirit among brothers and sisters who have fought and it's great to be in Alaska with them." He… Continue Reading
05.06.17
Ketchikan Daily News: EDITORIAL: Checked off
It's a checkmark in the "done" column. The U.S. Senate passed a 2017 appropriations bill this week, removing the all-too-frequent worry of whether the government will shut down. Instead of dragging out the question of whether it will, the bill covers federal expenses through the end of September. Federal agencies have their answer in what will be paid for. In Ketchikan, the answer is particularly welcome. An item included in the bill will eliminate the possibility of timber harvest on a porti… Continue Reading
05.03.17
Gray TV: Sen. Murkowski secures funding for Alaska in spending bill
by Ted Fioraliso
Lawmakers in Washington are a step closer to avoiding a government shutdown. On Wednesday, the House passed a $1 trillion spending bill to fund the federal government through September 30th. The Senate is expected to vote on the package on Thursday. As chair of Senate Appropriations Committee's Interior Subcommittee, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) says she's in a position to ensure Alaska's interests are protected and represented. This omnibus spending bill includes funding to fight wildfires, EPA a… Continue Reading
04.27.17
Washington Post: Op-ed: No, Republicans didn't just strip away your Internet privacy rights
by Ahit Pai and Maureen Ohlhausen
April Fools' Day came early last week, as professional lobbyists lit a wildfire of misinformation about Congress's action - signed into law Monday by President Trump - to nullify the Federal Communications Commission's broadband privacy rules. So as the nation's chief communications regulator and the nation's chief privacy enforcer, we want to let the American people know what's really going on and how we will ensure that consumers' online privacy is protected. Let's set the record straight: Fi… Continue Reading
03.22.17
ELLE Magazine: Meet ELLE'S 2017 Women In Washington
by Rachael Combe
JUDY WOODRUFF | Anchor and managing editor, PBS Newshour Woodruff wears: Dress, Bottega Veneta, $5,750. Her own watch and Arminia Rubinacci earrings. MAX VADUKUL Watching Judy Woodruff lead NewsHour is like being able to take a deep breath after the information waterboarding that is media consumption, circa 2017. Woodruff's steady mien, substantive interviews, and impeccably nonpartisan reporting take you outside whatever bubble you're in-left or right-and leave you feeling that, even if you d… Continue Reading
03.22.17
Alaska Dispatch News: Murkowski wins award for supporting the arts
by Erica Martinson
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski accepted an award Tuesday for her service in supporting the arts in a ceremony where advocates touted the value of federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. The program came in the week following President Donald Trump's budget request to slash arts funding, cutting the budgets of the NEA and the National Endowment for Humanities to zero. It is not a suggestion without precedent: President Ronald Reagan suggested cutting the programs in 1981, though it … Continue Reading
03.08.17
Alaska Dispatch News: 10 things Alaska's senators discussed in meeting with Trump and Zinke
by Erica Martinson
Alaska's senior senator, Lisa Murkowski, as she is wont to do, brought her maps with her to a meeting in the Oval Office on Wednesday. Sen. Dan Sullivan brought the numbers. Together, they aimed to show President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke what the new administration can do for Alaska as the state battles budget struggles and an unemployment rate among the highest in the nation. The issues they laid out for the president could very well act as a roadmap for the administrati… Continue Reading
02.27.17
Ketchikan Daily News: Op-Ed: Credit Due
When Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski spoke with anti-Trump protesters in Ketchikan on Presidents Day, she was fulfilling an important part of the job: Meeting with the people that elected her to represent them. It's not always pretty, it's not always organized and by no means will everyone agree, but it's important for elected officials to seek feedback from their constituents, and Murkowski deserves credit for going out to a public place - in this case, the mall - to do so. With just about e… Continue Reading
02.12.17
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Iranian researcher's journey back to Fairbanks complicated by Trump travel ban
by Kevin Baird
FAIRBANKS - Relief washed over Zeinab "Bahareh" Barati as she arrived at Fairbanks International Airport on Feb. 3. The Iranian-born biology researcher, who works at the Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, had been in her hometown of Tehran, along with her daughter, Shler Ahmadi, visiting her ill mother since October. "I heard my mom was diagnosed with cancer and I decided to come and visit her," Barati said. "I heard from my siblings she was so weak and… Continue Reading
02.08.17
Your Alaska Link: U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski: "Change Can Be An Extraordinary Opportunity For Us"
by Maria Athens
In an exclusive interview at the U.S. Senate, our Senior Senator offered her stance regarding the new Presidential Administration. U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski stated, "People have been viewing 2017 and this new incoming administration as one of change, and change can be disruptive; change can be unsettling. But change can also be an extraordinary opportunity for us. I think we need to recognize that, and to embrace the opportunities that will present themselves when you have new leadership c… Continue Reading
02.03.17
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: High time for King Cove road: Congress should act to clear path for lifesaving route
Common sense. You'd think it always would prevail. It doesn't, of course, and government routinely offers plenty of examples to prove it. The continual battle to obtain a much, much needed - and potentially life-saving - road out near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula is one such example of how some government officials on the far side of the nation can't understand Alaska and don't recognize a common sense solution to a problem. The issue of the King Cove road might not seem to be one o… Continue Reading
01.26.17
KRBD Radio: Bills to benefit Ketchikan moving forward
by Leila Kheiry
Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan are moving forward with bills that could benefit the Ketchikan area. A Thursday announcement from the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which Murkowski chairs, states that the just-introduced Senate Bill 215 would authorize a 10-year continuation of a hydroelectric license for the Mahoney Lake Hydro Project. That project first was identified in the 1990s. It has had a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license for a while, but developers are waitin… Continue Reading
01.11.17
Murkowski, Sullivan Keep Up the Fight for King Cove Road
U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both R-Alaska, today introduced legislation to authorize a short, one-lane, gravel, non-commercial road for the isolated community of King Cove, Alaska. The road is needed to link King Cove to the all-weather airport in nearby Cold Bay and will provide local residents with reliable access to emergency medical transportation. "A life-saving road remains the best and only real option to help the people of King Cove," Murkowski said. "People have died wi… Continue Reading
09.22.16
Juneau Empire: Murkowski uses final energy committee meeting to oppose Aleutian monument
by James Brooks
Sen. Lisa Murkowski used the final pre-election meeting of the U.S. Senate's energy committee to send a message to President Barack Obama and his administration. Murkowski, head of the committee, arranged for testimony on 21 bills, including six of her own. None are likely to become law, but she said that's OK. Introducing them and hearing them in committee says exactly what her priorities are. "Do I think that all six of these bills are going to be passed this year? No, I don't," she told rep… Continue Reading
09.15.16
Reveal News: Veterans Choice didn’t ease health care woes, especially in Alaska
by Lee Romney
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Tina Cramer Showers keeps one vomit bucket on the narrow stairway of her Anchorage townhouse, another at her bedside. It was there, during a grueling course of cancer treatment last year, that the Air Force veteran settled in for marathon phone sessions with "Health Choice." That's what Cramer Showers calls Veterans Choice, Congress' hastily crafted response to the scandal of veterans dying while awaiting appointments at Veterans Affairs medical facilities. The goal: to farm… Continue Reading
