Articles & Op-eds
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Murkowski calls for ‘full fleet’ of Coast Guard icebreakers
by Linda F. Hersey
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is proposing to create a U.S. icebreaker fleet and increase military staffing in the Arctic, under a sweeping bipartisan bill to counter China's economic and geo-political interests in the region. The U.S. Coast Guard currently operates two aging icebreakers, including one near the end of its lifespan. "The Arctic is a national asset and should be treated as such. I have long been dedicated to helping our nation invest in the infrastructure and assets critical to suppo… Continue Reading
03.17.21
IRS Get My Payment
Find when and how the IRS sent your 2021 Economic Impact Payment with the Get My Payment tool.… Continue Reading
03.14.21
Feeding our communities, one grant at a time
by U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Mazie Hirono
The residents of America's noncontiguous states and territories - whether we live in the far north or on islands in the Caribbean Sea or Pacific Ocean - have a lot of things in common. Food insecurity should not be one of them. The truth is, too many families face food insecurity, and the ongoing pandemic has exacerbated this painful reality. The supply lines that bring food to our states and the territories are long and fragile. We don't grow enough food locally, food prices are high and one d… Continue Reading
03.13.21
OP-ED: Murkowski: Why I didn’t vote for the COVID-19 relief bill
by Lisa Murkowski
March 11 marked exactly one year since communities across the United States shut down in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19. Those efforts were valiant and significant, but the virus still claimed the lives of hundreds of Alaskans and the economic impacts on our state have been profound. Travel bans and hunker-down orders essentially shut down Alaska's tourism industry overnight. Necessary safety restrictions and public health concerns decimated businesses across the state, including our … Continue Reading
02.28.21
Anchorage Daily News: Former Fairbanks lawmaker Hugh ‘Bud’ Fate dies at 91
by Tess Williams
On Thursday, former Republican Alaska State Representative Hugh "Bud" Fate of Fairbanks died at age 91. Fate, a dentist and U.S. Army veteran, represented the Fairbanks area from 2001-2004 in the state legislature. He also served as president to the University Board of Regents and state Board of Dental Examiners. Fate was an Army Corporal during the Korean War, and was tasked with mapping the Alaska-Canadian Highway during his service. "An outspoken advocate of education, Bud was instrumental … Continue Reading
02.28.21
Ketchikan Daily News: Murkowski talks PVSA, CDC cruise issues
by Danelle Kelly
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska joined a videoconference with representatives from the Alaska Travel Industry Association on Feb. 19 to talk about the challenges and possible solutions to reviving the tourist industry in Alaska in 2021. The largest percentage of tourists who visit Alaska arrive on large cruise ships. The 2021 Alaska cruise ship season continues to face obstacles to resumption of sailing during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Those obstacles include meeting requirements set by t… Continue Reading
02.28.21
Wall Street Journal: Congress Revives Push for Equal Rights Amendment
by Kristina Peterson
Almost 50 years after Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment, the fight is intensifying over whether lawmakers can lift the decades-past deadline for states to ratify it and add it to the Constitution. Last month, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in both chambers introduced a resolution to eliminate the deadline for state ratification of the ERA, which would write into the Constitution that the federal and state governments can't deny or abridge equality of rights based on sex. The ERA has b… Continue Reading
02.26.21
OP-ED: Even during a pandemic, the iconic Iditarod continues
by Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and Don Young
The Iditarod - the Last Great Race - captures the imagination and the hearts of many Alaskans, as well as people around the world. Teams of mushers and their dogs racing roughly 1,000 miles across the state of Alaska toward the finish line in Nome, in some of the harshest conditions and across some of the most difficult and rugged terrain on the planet. It is quintessentially Alaskan. There are other sled dog races around the world and throughout Alaska, but the Iditarod is the most renowned. N… Continue Reading
02.19.21
KHNS: Murkowski pays virtual visit to Haines as Biden approves major disaster declaration for Southeast Alaska
by Claire Stremple
Snow canceled U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski's in-person visit to Haines, but she met virtually with officials and Beach Road evacuees on Wednesday. Murkowski says she typically makes a few regional stops when she's in the state's capitol for the annual legislative address. This year she said there was no doubt Haines would be a destination. "The snow and the ice and the rain are not allowing for an in-person visit. So I'm particularly disappointed that I wasn't able to just be sitting down and l… Continue Reading
02.10.21
Travel Market Report: Canada’s Cruise Ship Ban is ‘Unacceptable,’ Alaska Officials Say
by Daniel McCarthy
After Transport Canada last week announced its decision to ban cruise ship travel in Canadian waters through February 2022 a lot of questions were raised, not the least of which was why the ban was extended a full year from when the last ban was set to end. Now, this week, members of the U.S. Congress from Alaska, which has also been hugely impacted from the order as it essentially kills the Alaska 2021 cruise season should nothing change, are asking for answers. U.S. Senators Lis Murkowski, D… Continue Reading
02.10.21
Alaska Public Media: ‘Pretty damning’: Murkowski says start of 2nd Trump impeachment case is compelling
by Liz Ruskin
It was an emotional afternoon Wednesday in the impeachment trial of former President Trump. U.S. Senators looked tense as they watched multiple videos showing the insurrection at the Capitol Jan. 6. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she was disturbed and angry to relive the experience, and to see the violence as it played out elsewhere in the Capitol that day. "I knew what it meant to be running down this hallway with my colleagues. I wasn't fully aware of everything else that was happening in the bui… Continue Reading
02.05.21
Patch: Sens. Smith And Murkowski Introduce Bills To Fund Mental Health Treatment During Pandemic
by Max Nesterak
The percentage of adults reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression has more than tripled from 11% in 2019 to 37.7% in October 2020, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The number of overdose deaths has also accelerated since the start of the pandemic, according to preliminary data by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "During this deeply challenging time, we must ensure people get the health care they need," Smith said in a statement. The Stopping the… Continue Reading
02.04.21
The Northern Miner: US government gives high priority status to Graphite One’s Alaskan project
by Daniel Sekulich
In mid-January Graphite One's (TSX: GPH; US-OTC: GPHOF) Graphite Creek project in Alaska was designated as a High-Priority Infrastructure Project (HPIP) by the U.S. government's Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Committee (FPISC). The approval comes after the project was originally nominated for HPIP designation by Alaskan governor Mike Dunleavy in October, 2019. In his 2019 nomination letter to the FPISC, Governor Dunleavy wrote that designating Graphite Creek as a High-Priority Infrastr… Continue Reading
02.02.21
Anchorage Daily News: Murkowski among group of Republican senators who met with Biden to urge smaller pandemic relief package
by James Brooks
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski met with President Joe Biden on Monday, joining a group of nine other Republican U.S. Senators in asking the president to consider a smaller COVID-19 relief package than his own $1.9 trillion proposal. "None of us walked away saying, 'OK, there's a deal to be had here,'" Murkowski said, "But what I think our group of 10 walked away with and what I hope the President and the Vice President walked away with, was there was a good, honest, open, frank discussion about iss… Continue Reading
02.02.21
KTUU: Murkowski 1 of 10 GOP senators who met with Biden on pandemic relief
by Marlise Irby
In an interview after the meeting, Murkowski said she does not believe the partisan outcome is the best way to start this "new age in Washington." Murkowski said, in the past year, Congress has passed five bipartisan bills totaling an amount in excess of $4 trillion. "We need to push out more when it comes to vaccine procurement, we need to move on that, we need to do more to avoid the unemployment cliff in March, we agree with that," said Murkowski. One topic that Murkowski said she brought … Continue Reading
02.01.21
Associated Press: Biden, Democrats hit gas on push for $15 minimum wage
by Kevin Freking
The Democratic push to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour has emerged as an early flashpoint in the fight for a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, testing President Joe Biden's ability to bridge Washington's partisan divides as he pursues his first major legislative victory. Biden called for a $15 hourly minimum wage during his campaign and has followed through by hitching it to a measure that, among other things, calls for $1,400 stimulus checks and $130 billion to help schools … Continue Reading
02.01.21
Anchorage Daily News: Murkowski among group of Republican senators who met with Biden to urge smaller COVID-19 relief package
by James Brooks
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski met with President Joe Biden on Monday, joining a group of nine other Republican U.S. Senators in asking the president to consider a smaller COVID-19 relief package than his own $1.9 trillion proposal. "None of us walked away saying, 'OK, there's a deal to be had here,'" Murkowski said, "But what I think our group of 10 walked away with and what I hope the President and the Vice President walked away with, was there was a good, honest, open, frank discussion about iss… Continue Reading
01.31.21
Associated Press: Biden to meet with GOP lawmakers to discuss virus relief
by Aamer Madhani
President Joe Biden is set to meet Monday afternoon with a group of 10 Republican senators who have proposed spending about one-third of the $1.9 trillion he is seeking in coronavirus aid, though congressional Democrats are poised to move ahead without Republican support. An invitation to the White House came hours after the lawmakers sent Biden a letter Sunday urging him to negotiate rather than try to ram through his relief package solely on Democratic votes. The House and Senate are on track… Continue Reading
01.29.21
Utility Dive: Lawmakers press DOE head nominee Granholm over potential job, revenue losses in fossil fuel sector
by Robert Walton
Dive Brief: Republican and Democrat Senators on Wednesday pressed former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm for assurance that the clean energy transition will not lead to a segment of Americans being "left behind" by the nascent green economy. Granholm is President Biden's pick to lead the U.S. Department of Energy. At her confirmation hearing, she told the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources that the administration's clean energy plan could lead to the creation of 10 million jobs… Continue Reading
01.28.21
Must Read Alaska: Murkowski politely explains to new Energy Secretary that Alaska is ‘resource anchor’
by Suzanne Downing
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee gavel passed from Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska to Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia Wednesday, just in time for the hearing on the nomination of former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm as the new Energy Secretary for the Biden Administration. Because the Senate was still organizing under Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Murkowski gaveled in the meeting and conducted it as her final day as chair of the committee. During the confirmation hea… Continue Reading
