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.
Murkowski, Manchin, Sinema Reintroduce Legislation to Help Children, Youth, Families Faced with Homelessness
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to exacerbate impacts of homelessness, U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) reintroduced S. 220, the Emergency Family Stabilization Act. Their bill creates a new grant program to provide flexible funding for community-based organizations working to meet the unique and challenging needs of children, youth, and families experiencing homelessness. Specifically, the bill aims to provide emergency funding to underserved p… Continue Reading
02.05.21
Murkowski Joins Bipartisan Group Calling On Biden Administration to Distribute Funding to Help Rural Communities During COVID-19 Pandemic
U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jon Tester (D-MT), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Angus King (I-ME) called on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to prioritize and quickly distribute the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund to rural and underserved communities hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, funded in the recent year-end spending package, is inte… Continue Reading
02.05.21
Alaska Congressional Delegation: Canada Decision to Ban Cruise Ships in Canadian Waters is Unacceptable
The Canadian Minister of Transport, the Honorable Omar Alghabra, announced two new Interim Orders which ban pleasure craft in Canadian Arctic waters and cruise vessels in all Canadian waters until February 28, 2022. The effect of these combined bans will prevent Alaska sailings out of Seattle via Canada. Following the announcement, U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young, all R-Alaska, released the following statement: "As the state with the most extensive shared b… Continue Reading
02.04.21
Murkowski Joins Bipartisan Group Calling On Biden Administration to Distribute Funding to Help Rural Communities During COVID-19 Pandemic
U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Jon Tester (D-MT), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Angus King (I-ME) called on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to prioritize and quickly distribute the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund to rural and underserved communities hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, funded in the recent year-end spending package, is inte… Continue Reading
02.03.21
Murkowski: America Must Maintain Position of Power in O&G, LNG Production
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) took part in a U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to examine global climate trends and progress in addressing climate change. During the hearing, Senator Murkowski questioned the United States' and the world's leading authorities on the future of America's oil and gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) markets. The hearing consisted of one panel of five witnesses: Dr. Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency; Dr. … Continue Reading
02.03.21
Klobuchar, Murkowski Introduce Legislation to Protect Consumers’ Private Health Data
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) reintroduced legislation to protect consumers' private health data. Home DNA testing kits and health data tracking apps have given companies access to unprecedented amounts of consumer health data, but current law does not adequately address the emerging privacy concerns presented by these new technologies. The Protecting Personal Health Data Act addresses these health privacy concerns by requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Ser… Continue Reading
02.02.21
U.S. Senators Smith, Murkowski Introduce Two Bipartisan Bills to Expand Mental Health Services
Today, U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-MN) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced two bipartisan bills to address behavioral health needs and substance use disorders during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Stopping the Mental Health Pandemic Act would authorize federal grant funding for States, Tribes, Tribal organizations, and community-based entities to address behavioral health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) would … Continue Reading
02.01.21
Group of 10 Republican Senators Issues Statement on Meeting with President Biden to Discuss COVID-19 Relief
Following their more than two-hour meeting with President Biden and Vice President Harris to discuss their recently released COVID-19 relief proposal, a group of 10 Republican Senators released this statement: "It was an excellent meeting, and we are very appreciative that in his first official meeting in the Oval Office, President Biden chose to spend so much time with us discussing the response to the COVID crisis. We presented our proposal to the President, and we had a very productive excha… Continue Reading
02.01.21
Whitehouse-Murkowski Bill Would Advance Understanding of Oceans, Great Lakes, and Coasts
U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate Oceans Caucus, have introduced legislation to advance data collection of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts. The Bolstering Long-Term Understanding and Exploration of the Great Lakes, Oceans, Bays, and Estuaries Act, or BLUE GLOBE Act, would accelerate technology innovation, plan for a stronger maritime workforce, and develop a better understanding of the Blue Economy. "There'… Continue Reading
02.01.21
Group of 10 Republican Senators Announces Sixth Bipartisan Covid-19 Relief Proposal
Click HERE for details on the proposal U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joined a group of 9 Republican Senators in unveiling the details of their Covid-19 relief proposal this morning. At the President's invitation, the group will meet with President Biden this afternoon at the White House to discuss the proposal in further detail. "Mr. President, we recognize your calls for unity and want to work in good faith with your Administration to meet the health, economic, and societal challenges of… Continue Reading
01.30.21
Murkowski Joins Bipartisan, Bicameral Push to Permanently Repeal the Global Gag Rule
Yesterday, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and U.S. Representatives Barbara Lee (CA-13), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) and Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-07), led a bipartisan, bicameral reintroduction of the Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights (HER) Act in both the Senate and House of Representatives. The legislation would permanently repeal the harmful Global Gag Rule. The Senate legislation has 46 total cosponsors and the House companion legislation has 173 c… Continue Reading
01.29.21
Delegation Urges Administration to Swiftly Provide Seafood Processors COVID-19 Relief
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, joined by U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan and Congressman Don Young, all R-AK, called on the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kevin Shea, to expeditiously develop and robustly fund a program to provide grants and forgivable loan support to seafood processing facilities and processing vessels for COVID response measures, in fulfillment of language Senator Murkowski included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. "Given the complexity of U.S.… Continue Reading
01.29.21
Murkowski Questions DOE Secretary Nominee on Arctic Energy, Resource Jobs, Cybersecurity, Critical Minerals
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, took part in a U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to consider the nomination of Jennifer M. Granholm, the former Governor of Michigan, to be the Secretary of Energy. Murkowski opened the hearing by asking Governor Granholm for a commitment to advance energy security in the Arctic. Last year, Senator Murkowski secured funding to revive the Arctic Energy Office, which plays an essential role in supporting research and development for mic… Continue Reading
01.29.21
26 Senators Request Meeting with President Biden Following Actions Targeting Energy Workers
U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) led a letter with 25 of his Senate colleagues to President Joe Biden voicing their concerns about the new administration's recent executive orders and regulatory actions targeting the domestic energy sector and the thousands of good-paying American jobs it supports, and requesting a meeting with the president. The letter is also signed by Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Co… Continue Reading
01.28.21
Delegation Denounces Executive Order to Stop Oil and Gas Leasing on Federal Lands
U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and U.S. Congressman Don Young, all R-Alaska, issued the following statements after President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order directing the Secretary of the Interior to not issue any new oil or natural gas leases on public lands and offshore waters, as well as requiring the Department to evaluate all existing leasing and permitting practices. In Fiscal Year 2019, the oil and gas industry supported $3.1 billion in state and local revenue, 77,600 di… Continue Reading
01.26.21
Murkowski Statement on Constitutional Point of Order
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) released the following statement after voting in favor of a motion to table a constitutional point of order raised by U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY). The motion to table was sustained in a 55-45 vote. "The question as to whether or not a president may be tried and convicted by the Senate after he has left office is of significant institutional matter-one that has been debated by constitutional law scholars throughout our history, and continues to be debated tod… Continue Reading
01.22.21
Alaska Delegation Welcomes $40 Million DOT Grant to the Native Village of Eyak for the Construction of an Oil Spill Response Facility
Today, U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan, Lisa Murkowski, and Congressman Don Young (all R-Alaska) welcomed a $40,199,275 grant awarded to the Native Village of Eyak from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). This funding, made available under the Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects Program, will be used for the construction of a dock and small port that will serve as the proposed Shepard Point Marine Tribal Transportation (MTT) & Oil Spill Response (OSR) Facility. This … Continue Reading
01.22.21
Cardin, Murkowski, Speier, Reed Announce Bipartisan Resolution to Affirm Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment
U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) announced that the first bipartisan legislation they will introduce for the 117th Congress is their joint resolution to remove the deadline to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Ratification of the ERA would expressly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in the U.S. Constitution. In the House of Representatives, the resolution is being introduced by Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) and Congressman Tom Reed (R-NY). Almost exactly… Continue Reading
01.20.21
Delegation Rebukes Biden Administration Effort to Block Development in ANWR
U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and U.S. Congressman Don Young, all R-Alaska, issued the following statement after President Joe Biden announced a temporary moratorium on oil and gas leasing in the non-wilderness Coastal Plain (1002 Area) of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). "Today, President Biden announced that he will pick up where the Obama administration left off by conducting a review of multiple rulemakings that are critical to Alaska and by placing a temporary mora… Continue Reading
01.20.21
Murkowski Congratulates President Biden, VP Harris
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today issued the following statement after President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn into office: "Today, President Biden and Vice President Harris were sworn into office. President Biden's message to the country was filled with hope for a more unified nation and a commitment to work for all Americans. Vice President Harris being sworn in as the first female to hold the nation's second-highest office is an inspiration to women around the … Continue Reading