02.11.21

SCHATZ, MURKOWSKI ELECTED CHAIRMAN, VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS

Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i) and U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) were both elected unanimously as Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively, of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs for the 117th Congress. Schatz emphasized his intent to continue the committee's bipartisan tradition in addressing issues important to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians: "This Committee is unlike any other. On a bipartisan basis, it has always committed itself to the so… Continue Reading

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01.12.21

ICYMI: U.S. Supreme Court Grants Review in Alaska Native Corporations CARES Act Cases

The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to petitions from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and several Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) challenging the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision that determined ANCs are not eligible for the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) tribal set-aside within Title V of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act. The motion from the Alaska Delegation to participate was also granted. In November, 2019, U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Da… Continue Reading

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12.28.20

Year-End Omnibus Appropriations Package Signed Into Law

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) applauded a year-end omnibus bill being signed into law, which includes a 12-bill appropriations package to fund the government through the end of Fiscal Year 2021, including Senator Murkowski's Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill. This historic funding package also provides nearly $900 billion for COVID-19 relief; Senator Murkowski's bipartisan, bicameral Energy Act of 2020; a bipartisan compromise to address the issue of Surprise M… Continue Reading

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12.22.20

Murkowski Applauds Senate Passage of Interior Appropriations Bill

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) applauded Senate passage of an Appropriations Package for Fiscal Year 2021, which included the Interior-Environment Appropriations bill. As chairman of the Interior Subcommittee, Murkowski crafted a bill which invests in health and wellness, reduces regulatory burdens, increases economic opportunity, improves Alaskans' abilities to respond to natural disasters, support for the arts and humanities, and more. "Building on my long-standing efforts to address issu… Continue Reading

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11.23.20

ICYMI: Murkowski, Cortez Masto Op-Ed on Fight Against MMIW Crisis

In case you missed it, U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) wrote an Op-Ed for Indian Country Today to share their collaborative efforts to help respond to the inordinate violence that Native American women and girls face. In October, President Trump signed into law Savanna's Act and Not Invisible Act, two bills led by U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) to address the crisis of missing, murdered, and trafficked Indigenous women… Continue Reading

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11.19.20

Alaska Congressional Delegation Files Amicus Brief in Support of Alaska Native Corporations

U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and U.S. Congressman Don Young, all R-Alaska, filed an amicus curiae brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant the petition for a writ of certiorari in support of Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) eligibility for tribal assistance appropriated by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The amicus brief states that the indigenous peoples of Alaska will suffer severe negative consequences as a result of the D.C. Circuit Court… Continue Reading

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11.18.20

Murkowski Highlights Need for University Land Grant, ANCSA Fulfillment Act at Legislative Hearing

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today highlighted two bills important to Alaska at an Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining (PLFM) legislative hearing. Murkowski spoke about the need to provide long-term fiscal stability for the University of Alaska (University) and to resolve a set of outstanding issues from the almost 50-year-old Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA). Murkowski's first bill, S. 4696, the University of Alaska Fiscal F… Continue Reading

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11.17.20

Murkowski, Hassan Push Legislation to Extend Deadline For Communities to Spend CARES Act Funding through September 2021

- U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) introduced legislation that extends the period during which States, Indian Tribes, territories, and local governments may use Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) payments, allocated under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. If enacted, this bipartisan legislation will allow the relief funds to be used until September 30, 2021, rather than the original deadline of the end of this year, December 30, 2020. The CAR… Continue Reading

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11.10.20

Delegation’s Landless Legislation Rectifies 50-Year Injustice

U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and Rep. Don Young, all R-Alaska, today issued statements on new legislation they introduced to allow the Alaska Native communities of Haines, Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, and Tenakee to form urban corporations and receive land entitlements under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA). The five Southeast communities were not included in ANCSA, which divided 44 million acres of land among more than 200 regional, village, and urban cor… Continue Reading

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11.10.20

Murkowski Unveils Interior-Environment Bill

Today U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) released her Fiscal Year 2021 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act bill. The Committee is responsible for funding agencies that are tasked with ensuring clean water and clean air, managing public lands, meeting federal trust responsibilities for Native peoples, and funding cultural agencies and museums. As chairman of the Interior Subcommittee, Murkowski crafted a bill with funding to strengthen local economies and create safer … Continue Reading

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10.10.20

Murkowski’s Bipartisan Legislation Addressing Crisis of Missing, Murdered, and Trafficked Indigenous Women Signed into Law

Today President Trump signed into law Savanna's Act and Not Invisible Act, two bills led by U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) to address the crisis of missing, murdered, and trafficked Indigenous women. Specifically, the bills work to improve the federal government's response through increased coordination, development of best practices, and creation of a joint commission on violent crime, ensuring Alaska Natives and survivors have a voice in developing method… Continue Reading

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09.25.20

Alaska Delegation Criticizes Circuit Court Ruling Against Native Corporations

U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young (all R-Alaska) today commented on a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit determining Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) are ineligible for tribal assistance appropriated by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The ruling overturns an earlier June 26 ruling by a U.S. District Court that concluded ANCs are eligible for the aid. "We strongly disagree with the D.C. Circuit Court'… Continue Reading

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09.22.20

Murkowski’s Legislation Addressing Crisis of Missing, Murdered, and Trafficked Indigenous People Advance

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) applauded the unanimous House passage of two of her bills to address the crisis of missing, murdered, and trafficked Indigenous people. The bills, Savanna's Act and Not Invisible Act, are both led by U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and aim to combat the epidemic by improving the federal government's response through increased coordination, development of best practices, and creation of an advisory committee on violent crime. Both … Continue Reading

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09.22.20

Murkowski, Cortez Masto Legislation Addressing Crisis of Missing, Murdered, and Trafficked Indigenous People Advances

U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) applauded the unanimous House passage of two bills to address the crisis of missing, murdered, and trafficked Indigenous people (MMIP). The bills, Savanna's Act and Not Invisible Act, are both led by Senators Murkowski and Cortez Masto and aim to combat the MMIP epidemic by improving the federal government's response through increased coordination, development of best practices, and creation of an advisory committee on violent… Continue Reading

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09.11.20

U.S. Senators Smith, Murkowski Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Help Tribes Combat COVID-19, Other Public Health Crises

Today U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced bipartisan legislation to help Tribes access public health data and address health disparities that hit American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities especially hard. The Tribal Health Data Improvement Act would strengthen data sharing between Tribes, Tribal Epidemiology Centers and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) so Tribes can more effectively address public health challenges. Tribes … Continue Reading

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09.01.20

Alaska Delegation Urges Alaskans to Participate in the Census

As the deadline to participate in the 2020 Census rapidly approaches, U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young, all (R-AK), are calling on Alaskans to do their part and participate. New data released by the Census Bureau shows Alaska's self-response rate remains ranked among the lowest in the nation, with only Puerto Rico at a lower self-response rate than Alaska. The deadline to participate in the 2020 Census questionnaire is September 30, 2020. "While we've all pu… Continue Reading

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08.28.20

Alaska Delegation Applauds Opening of Cold Case Office in Anchorage

The Alaska Congressional Delegation, alongside other federal, state, tribal, and local leaders, helped kick off the opening of the Operation Lady Justice Task Force Cold Case Office in Anchorage. The office will be dedicated to solving cold cases involving missing and murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives. The Anchorage office is one of seven of its kind being established across the nation to handle such cold cases and will be staffed by law enforcement, tribal law enforcement, special ag… Continue Reading

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08.28.20

Schatz, Murkowski, Spanberger, Wagner To Defense Secretary: Fight Online Child Sexual Exploitation, Protect Vulnerable Children, Punish Offenders

U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i) and Lisa Murkowsi (R-Alaska) and U.S. Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Anne Wagner (R-Mo.) this week called for Defense Secretary Mark Esper to provide updates on how the Defense Department (DoD) is preventing and combating child sexual exploitation. Their call comes eight months after Senators Schatz and Murkowski's legislation to fight online child exploitation on the DoD's network was signed into law as Section 550D of the National Defense… Continue Reading

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08.14.20

Alaska Congressional Delegation Introduces Legislation to Support Economic Development for Alaska Native Communities

The Alaska Congressional Delegation introduced landmark legislation to make tax-exempt financing more accessible for the economic development projects of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Such financing, known as Tribal Economic Development, or TED Bonds, is currently available only on a limited basis that benefits only a limited number of tribal entities. The legislation evens the playing field by changing the rules for TED Bonds in several critical ways to make this tax-exempt financing muc… Continue Reading

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08.05.20

Senators Stabenow, Murkowski Team Up to Reintroduce Bipartisan Food Supply Protection Act

U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) reintroduced the Food Supply Protection Act to help protect the food supply after the COVID-19 crisis has put an unprecedented strain on farmers, workers, food banks, and families. "The COVID-19 crisis has continued to disrupt our nation's food supply chain, creating a ripple effect that's harming our families, farmers, and workers," said Senator Stabenow. "Our bipartisan bill will help strengthen our food supply by redirecti… Continue Reading