Press Releases
Media Requests: Members of the media can contact the press office by emailing Joseph_Plesha@murkowski.senate.gov or by calling 206-302-8317 and asking for the press office.
HIGHER EDUCATION BILL THAT CLEARS CONGRESS INCLUDES MURKOWSKI PROVISION TO HELP MILITARY FAMILIES
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07.23.08
MURKOWSKI SAYS RATIFICATION OF LAW OF THE SEA TREATY IS BEST WAY TO PROTECT AMERICA’S ARCTIC INTERESTS
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07.22.08
CONGRESS PASSES MURKOWSKI BILL FOR A MORATORIUM ON DISCHARGE PERMITS FOR COMMERCIAL FISHING VESSELS
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congress today passed and sent to the White House legislation authored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski and co-sponsored by Sen. Ted Stevens, that would provide commercial fishing boats and other small commercial vessels a two-year moratorium from permits for discharges under the Clean Water Act. The bill also directs the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a study to determine the types, volumes and effects of discharges from commercial vessels of different sizes and categor… Continue Reading
07.16.08
MURKOWSKI: GLOBAL AIDS BILL INCLUDES FUNDING FOR ALASKA NATIVE ORGANIZATIONS
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07.15.08
SENATOR MURKOWSKI LAUDS VETO OVERRIDE OF MEDICARE BILL
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today voted to override President Bush's veto of the Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act. The legislation, which became law after the Senate's override, blocks a 10.6 percent cut in Medicare provider reimbursement rates and provides a permanent 35 percent increase in Medicare reimbursement rates for Alaska's physicians. "Senator Stevens and I worked hard to get the Alaska reimbursement fix included in the legislation, … Continue Reading
07.14.08
MURKOWSKI APPLAUDS LIFTING OF EXECUTIVE BAN ON OFFSHORE DRILLING
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07.11.08
SENATOR MURKOWSKI DECRIES MISINFORMATION ON lEASING IN NATIONAL PETROLEUM RESERVE, ALASKA
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07.09.08
SENATOR MURKOWSKI VOTES FOR PERMANENT MEDICARE REIMBURSEMENT FIX FOR ALASKA
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06.26.08
SENATOR MURKOWSKI LEADS RECOGNITION OF ALASKA STATEHOOD 50TH ANNIVERSARY ON U.S. SENATE FLOOR
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Sen. Lisa Murkowski today spearheaded an Alaska birthday celebration in the United States Senate, complete with a white and royal blue "Alaska's 50th" cake and floor speeches commemorating the debate leading up to Senate passage of the Alaska Statehood Act 50 years ago. "I rise to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Senate passage of the Alaska Statehood Act, the act which eventually conferred Statehood upon our great State after a fight for equal rights and representati… Continue Reading
06.26.08
SENATOR MURKOWSKI APPLAUDS SUPREME COURT DECISION TO OVERTURN D.C. GUN BAN
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today applauded the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the District of Columbia's handgun ban. The decision was 5-4 and marked the first time the Supreme Court has ruled on Second Amendment rights since 1939. "I am pleased that the Supreme Court has upheld every individual's constitutional right to bear arms," said Senator Murkowski. "In Alaska we enjoy the right to own guns, and I believe that right should be available to all Ameri… Continue Reading
06.26.08
SENATOR MURKOWSKI INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO HELP COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN WITH EXCESSIVE FUEL COSTS
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today introduced legislation that would provide commercial fishermen a temporary income tax credit to help them offset the high cost of fuel. "My office has received a petition signed by more than 1,700 Alaskans asking Congress to help provide commercial fishermen with emergency relief from high fuel prices," Murkowski said. "The Fisheries Fuel Tax Relief Act of 2008, which I introduced today along with Sen. Ted Stevens as an original co-spo… Continue Reading
06.25.08
SENATORS MURKOWSKI AND STEVENS AND REP. YOUNG CRITICIZE SUPREME COURT EXXON VALDEZ DECISION
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, made the following statement today following release of the Supreme Court's Exxon Valdez decision: "We are extremely disappointed that the Supreme Court has chosen to reduce the punitive damages amount from $2.5 billion to $507.5 million. Three times previously, lower courts have ruled on the amount of damages and the Supreme Court, in our opinion, should have allowed the $2.5 billion judgment to stand… Continue Reading
06.18.08
SENATOR MURKOWSKI JOINS PRESIDENT BUSH IN CALLING FOR OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION IN ANWR
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today joined President Bush in calling for Congress to open part of the Arctic coastal plain to oil and gas production to help drive down record gasoline and diesel prices. In a speech prepared for delivery on the Senate floor, Murkowski noted that the average price for gasoline nationwide has passed $4.08 a gallon and that Americans are now paying $1.6 billion a day for energy. "American consumers don't need me to tell them about th… Continue Reading
06.17.08
SENATORS MURKOWSKI AND STEVENS FIGHT FOR EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL TAX LEGISLATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens today made the following statement following their vote against a procedural motion to move to a Democratic bill that would extend or revise dozens of tax incentives. "Time is of the essence. The United States Supreme Court likely will be releasing an opinion in a matter of days on whether Exxon Mobil must pay out $2.5 billion in punitive damages to fishermen and other Alaskans impacted by the crude oil spill in Prince William Soun… Continue Reading
06.03.08
MURKOWSKI NOTES ENVIRONMENTAL PETITIONS SEEKING SUPPORT FOR CLIMATE CHANGE LEGISLATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski's Anchorage office staff today received petitions from a group of Alaskans urging her to vote for the Boxer substitute of a global climate change bill that is currently being debated on the Senate floor. Murkowski's staff accepted the petitions and said the Senator will continue her efforts to fully understand how the complex bill will affect Alaskans. Senator Murkowski said she has yet to decide how she will vote on the measure, but said she stil… Continue Reading
06.03.08
MURKOWSKI URGES COOK INLET GAS PRODUCERS TO PROVIDE REASONABLY PRICED GAS FOR SOUTHCENTRAL UTILITIES
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski today urged Cook Inlet natural gas producers to now redouble their efforts to find more natural gas in Alaska and to reach agreements at reasonable contract prices for sales of new natural gas supplies to Southcentral utilities, now that the U.S. Department of Energy has granted their request for a two-year extension of their natural gas export permit needed to keep the Kenai LNG gas export facility in operation. Murkowski said she understands th… Continue Reading
05.22.08
SENATOR MURKOWSKI SUPPORTS GI BILL ENHANCEMENTS AND FUNDING FOR SOUTHEAST ALASKA SCHOOLS
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Lisa Murkowski voted today to support an Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill that substantially improves GI Bill benefits for military veterans who have served since September 11, 2001 and appropriates $400 million to extend the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act, which provides about $9 million of federal funding to Southeast Alaska schools and communities in the Tongass National Forest through the end of Fiscal Year 2008. The Senate … Continue Reading
05.16.08
SENATOR MURKOWSKI WELCOMES BLM NPRA DESCISION
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski today welcomed the issuance of the final rule by the Bureau of Land Management covering oil and gas leasing in the northeast planning area of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The ruling should open the area south of the lake to early oil and gas leasing. "I support the plan because it is balanced and fair. It will fully protect subsistence activities, while also permitting early leasing of areas south of the lake, areas likely to hold hu… Continue Reading
05.16.08
SENATORS MURKOWSKI AND STEVENS URGE ANWR’S OPENING AT ENERGY FORUM
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senators Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens today renewed their calls for opening the Arctic coastal plan to oil and gas development as one means to increase domestic fuel production to help drive down energy prices. Murkowski, who chaired a Republican Senate Conference Energy Forum on high fuel prices and their effects on American consumers, and Stevens, who testified at the forum, both argued that opening part of ANWR's coastal plain is a vital part of any balanced energy pl… Continue Reading
05.15.08
SENATOR MURKOWSKI OPPOSES FARM BILL, SAYS MEASURE PROVIDES TOO MUCH AID FOR CORN-BASED ETHANOL
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Lisa Murkowski today voted against final passage of a five-year $307 billion farm bill reauthorization saying the measure spent too much in tax and financial assistance for corn-based ethanol, not enough on cellulosic biofuel research, and spent too much money on priorities that differed markedly with her own. "There are a lot of good things in the bill, including some that I proposed or supported. But on balance I agreed with the Administration that the bill is som… Continue Reading
