05.08.13

Sen. Murkowski: Bipartisan Hydropower, Energy Efficiency Legislation Could be First Energy Public Laws this Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today commended her Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee colleagues for working together to advance energy legislation. The committee voted to move five bills out of committee on hydropower and energy efficiency. "It's encouraging to see senators from both sides of the aisle coming together to work on bipartisan energy legislation. Sen. Wyden and I have made it a priority to focus on areas of broad consensus, where we can really ma… Continue Reading

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05.07.13

Murkowski Pushes Interior Department to Repair, Restore Trust Relationship for Contract Support Costs

WASHINGTON, DC - Senator Lisa Murkowski today took the opportunity of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell's first appearance before the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee to press the newly-confirmed Cabinet head for answers on the Obama Administration's proposal which would limit the rights of tribes to make claims for contract support costs from both the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service. During her questioning, she received firm pledges and commitments from both Se… Continue Reading

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05.07.13

Murkowski to Interior: Legacy Well Proposal “Dead On Arrival”

WASHINGTON, D.C. -Senator Lisa Murkowski today criticized the Interior Department's budget proposal for attempting to make Alaska pay for the decades-old broken promises of the federal government. "There are two proposals in this request that are frankly an insult to the people of Alaska," Murkowski said. "I'm speaking particularly of the legislative proposals concerning future funding for the cleanup of 'legacy wells' in the National Petroleum Reserve and the completion of surveys necessary to… Continue Reading

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05.07.13

Sen. Murkowski’s Statement on the Helium Stewardship Act

Sen. Murkowski's Statement on the Helium Stewardship Act WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today gave the following remarks during the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on Helium Stewardship Act of 2013: (click picture for video) "First, as a practical consequence of current law, we only have until October to get this legislation to the President for signature. It is important that we meet that deadline by reporting a bill from this committee, lettin… Continue Reading

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05.06.13

Murkowski Gains Policy Change to Help Disadvantaged Youth

WASHINGTON, D.C. -Senator Lisa Murkowski today received word directly from the Assistant Secretary of Labor that important changes to the Job Corps program requirements have been made that will ensure youth experiencing homelessness will have better access to Job Corps workforce education. Job Corps is a program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor and is the largest workforce development program in the country, offering free education and vocational training to at-risk youth ages 16 to… Continue Reading

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05.06.13

Murkowski Votes Against Federal Tax Mandate for Alaska Businesses

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Lisa Murkowski today cast her vote against the Marketplace Fairness Act that would force Alaska's businesses to begin taxing out-of-state online customers. She explained her vote afterwards: "In Alaska, we don't have a state sales tax. But the Marketplace Fairness Act is trying to have our law of the land take a back seat to other states that see things differently, and I don't believe that is good policy or fair to Alaska businesses - particularly small businesses.… Continue Reading

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05.06.13

Murkowski to Question Interior Secretary in Senate Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Newly-confirmed Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will testify before the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee for the first time tomorrow morning, and Senator Lisa Murkowski will be looking to get answers on Alaska's unique concerns. Senator Murkowski has called the Interior Secretary "Alaska's Landlord" since 60 percent of Alaska's lands are managed by the federal government. Since the Interior Department also has jurisdiction over the Bureau of Indian Affairs, … Continue Reading

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05.02.13

Murkowski Webcasting Today’s Subsistence Public Meeting in Glennallen

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Lisa Murkowski today announced she plans to livestream today's subsistence public meetings in Glennallen to everyone interested in watching the event. The subsistence listening session will provide a forum for Alaskans to be heard on this important cultural and food security issue, and to have their testimony taken back to Congress. For every Alaskan interested in watching the listening session, all that needs to be done is to visit Senator Murkowski's website at http… Continue Reading

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04.30.13

Murkowski Works to Give Veterans Twin-Tracks for Duty, Employment

WASHINGTON, D.C. - With the jobless rate for America's veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan nearly two percentage points higher than the national average, Senator Lisa Murkowski is joining forces with a bipartisan group of her Senate colleagues in co-sponsoring S. 700, the Troop Talent Act of 2013 to empower the nation's men and women in uniform as they return stateside and begin looking for work. "Alaska has more veterans per capita than any other state in the nation - many of whom … Continue Reading

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04.29.13

Murkowski Demands Fix for Veteran Backlogs from President

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Lisa Murkowski joined a bipartisan group of 66 Senators today in urging President Obama to address the massive backlog in Veterans' Administration (VA) disabilities claims. In Alaska, veterans wait an average of 467 days to see the benefits they have earned; nationwide, the average is 300 days for the approximately 600,000 total veterans stuck in the backlog. The bi-partisan letter (attached) calls for a renewed commitment on the part of President Obama and his "admi… Continue Reading

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04.29.13

Murkowski Honors U.S. Army Vietnam Veteran, Alaskan Homesteader

WASHINGTON, DC - Senator Lisa Murkowski is releasing her 11th Veteran Spotlight installment today, featuring Jim VanOss, a U.S. Army Veteran drafted during the Vietnam War who served as a military police officer and an embassy guard in Saigon during the Tet Offensive. During his Veteran Spotlight interview, VanOss recalls being 20-years-old when he was drafted into the Army after failing a college class at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. When he arrived in Vietnam, last minute order cha… Continue Reading

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04.26.13

Murkowski Building Coalition to Support Fishery Disaster Relief

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Lisa Murkowski today continued her campaign on Capitol Hill to secure federal disaster relief funds for Alaskan communities damaged by last summer's low salmon runs, building on the momentum she gained in forming a large and influential bipartisan Senate coalition of sixteen co-sponsors of an amendment that was adopted to the Senate FY2014 budget resolution. Senators from Alaska to New England to the Gulf of Mexico joined Murkowski on a letter to the Chairwoman and V… Continue Reading

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04.26.13

Senator Murkowski Announces Media Schedule for Upcoming State Work Period

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Lisa Murkowski today announced she will be visiting Ketchikan, Anchorage, Fort Greely, Glennallen and Fairbanks over the upcoming state work period and will be available for media opportunities at several events. Following are details of media availabilities: KETCHIKAN WHAT: Senator Murkowski Media Availability WHEN: Monday, April 29, 2013; 1:00 - 1:45 p.m. WHERE: Ketchikan Daily News Office 501 Dock St., Ketchikan, AK WASILLA WHAT: Speech - … Continue Reading

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04.25.13

Murkowski Cosponsors Fix for FAA Control Tower Furloughs

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Lisa Murkowski today continued to work towards common-sense solutions to needless - and possibly politically motivated -- flight delays being imposed upon Alaskans and Americans because of the Federal Aviation Administration's nationwide furloughs due to sequestration cuts, by cosponsoring the Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013 to allow the FAA to reallocate existing funds to avoid further furloughs of air traffic controllers. The bill passed the Senate this evening b… Continue Reading

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04.25.13

Murkowski: Marketplace Fairness Act is not Fair

WASHINGTON, D.C. - With the United States Senate currently considering S. 743, The Marketplace Fairness Act, Senator Lisa Murkowski took to the floor of the Senate to criticize the bill for unfairly infringing upon states' sovereign rights and exposing remote online sellers to other states' sales tax requirements. For states like Alaska who have chosen not to have a statewide sales tax, this bill creates an unlevel playing field among other states with sales taxes. (Senator Murkowski Speaks… Continue Reading

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04.25.13

Alaska Senators Rally Over Thirty Members of Congress to Oppose Frankenfish

WASHINGTON, DC - With the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considering proceeding toward approval of Genetically Engineered (GE) salmon, or "Frankenfish," for human consumption, U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich voiced serious objections to the review process and expressed alarm at a long list of hazards potentially associated with bringing these fake fish to market. The Alaska Senators organized a group of 12 Senators and 20 House members in a letter sent Thursday to FDA Comm… Continue Reading

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04.25.13

Senate Subcommittee Advances Sealaska Lands Bill to Fulfill ANCSA Promises

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Public Lands Subcommittee in support of legislation to complete the aboriginal land claims promised to shareholders of the Sealaska Native Regional Corp. more than 40 years ago under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). (Click to play video) "The primary purpose of the Sealaska legislation is simple: it settles the outstanding aboriginal land claims under the ANC… Continue Reading

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04.25.13

Murkowski: Administration Avoiding Justice for Indian Tribes

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Lisa Murkowski took the opportunity during a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing to express her deep disappointment with the Obama Administration's decision to alter the operation of Indian Self-Determination Act contracts - which she called the "core of the Nation's federal trust relationship" - through the budget and congressional appropriations process. "Must I remind the Obama Administration that self-determination contracts are the core of our nation's fed… Continue Reading

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04.25.13

Murkowski to Hold Second Subsistence Public Meeting in Glennallen

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Lisa Murkowski today announced the second of her subsistence public meetings will be held in Glennallen on May 2nd. The subsistence listening session will provide a forum for Alaskans to be heard on this important cultural and food security issue, and to have their testimony taken back to Congress. The Glennallen event comes one month after a Bethel subsistence listening session on April 2nd. Senator Murkowski made a commitment last fall at the Alaska Federation of… Continue Reading

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04.24.13

Sen. Murkowski Raises Concerns Over Impact of EPA Rulemakings

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Lisa Murkowski today raised concerns with a number of rulemakings the Environmental Protection Administration is working on and the potential impact on the national economy, as well as Alaska. "The sheer number of rulemakings the agency is currently proposing, the cost of compliance with the vast array of regulations already on the books, and what, at times, are the unreasonable consequences of their enforcement is incredibly frustrating to the public," Murkowski told… Continue Reading