Articles & Op-eds
Alaska Journal of Commerce: Senators toughen stances against Pebble project
by Elwood Brehmer
After years of stressing process over policy, Alaska's U.S. senators have both announced their opposition to development of the Pebble mine. Sen. Lisa Murkowski made her most definitive statement to-date against the massive Southwest Alaska mine plan Oct. 15 during an address to the Alaska Federation of Natives virtual annual convention, saying there is a need for new economic development in Southwest Alaska and that she plans on working to ensure "longer term protections for the region that ca… Continue Reading
10.20.20
Independent Women's Forum: The Trump Administration Just Paved The Way For The Next Generation Of Clean Energy
by Kelsey Bolar
The Trump administration took a major step towards clean, reliable energy last week, awarding two U.S. nuclear energy companies $160 million in initial funding to develop the next generation of advanced nuclear energy. Advanced nuclear energy systems hold enormous potential to lower emissions, create new jobs, and build an even stronger economy. The funding, granted by the U.S. Department of Energy to TerraPower LLC based in Washington state and X-energy based in Maryland, will be used to build… Continue Reading
10.15.20
KOTZ Radio: Pandemic dominates discussions as AFN convention goes virtual
by Wesley Early
Whether you watched on TV, Zoom or listened to the radio, this year's Alaska Federation of Natives Convention was different. With the coronavirus making an in-person convention unsafe, the state's largest annual gathering of Indigenous people came together virtually. With no booths to browse hand-crafted art pieces and attendees having to settle for virtual hugs, the 2020 Alaska Federation of Natives Convention was a drier affair than usual. AFN Board co-chair Ana Hoffman addressed the new form… Continue Reading
10.15.20
SitNews: Two Alaska service providers to receive $46 million in USDA Grants to Expand High-Speed Internet Access
by Mark Kauffman
The Trump Administration announced this week that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $46.5 million to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas in Alaska. This investment is part of the $550 million Congress allocated to the second round of the ReConnect Program. U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young, (all R-Alaska) joined U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue on Tuesday for a virtual … Continue Reading
10.13.20
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Native leaders praise bills addressing missing, murdered Indigenous women
by Erin McGroarty
A pair of bills championed by Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski that seeks to address the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls has become law. Savannah's Act and the Not Invisible Act, both cosponsored in the Senate by Murkowski, were signed by President Trump on Saturday. The first bill will increase coordination among the different levels of law enforcement, increase data collection and information sharing, and includes tribal government access to law enforcement databases … Continue Reading
10.06.20
The Hill: Murkowski after Trump halts talks: Congress must move on virus package
by Jordain Carney
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said Tuesday that she thought talks on another coronavirus relief package should continue, even after President Trump pulled the plug until after the election. "Now is not the time for Congress to stop doing its work. I strongly believe negotiations should continue, particularly among those of us in Congress. ... We all need to keep working until we reach a bipartisan agreement that can pass both chambers and be signed by the president," Murkowski said in a statem… Continue Reading
09.30.20
National Indigenous Times: US Government passes Bill to address missing or murdered Indigenous women
by Rachel Knowles
The United States Government has passed Indigenous Bill, Savanna's Act, in a move to increase the safety of Indigenous women across the nation. Aimed at addressing violence against Indigenous women, Savanna's Act is named after Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a young woman who was found dead at 22-years-old. She was eight months pregnant at the time of her death, with her foetus cut from her womb before she was killed. Over 500 Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or have been found dead … Continue Reading
09.25.20
The Hill: Two bills are passed to address missing and murdered Native American women
by Austa Somvichian-Clausen
Story at a glance In some reservations, Indigenous women are murdered at rates more than 10 times higher than the U.S. average. The murder of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind prompted the drafting of Savanna's Act, which seeks to address violence faced by Indigenous women. The Act was passed on Monday after being blocked from a House vote by former Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) in 2018. Despite the fast-paced 24-hour news cycle we all live in today, there are some stories that seem to remain untol… Continue Reading
09.24.20
Juneau Empire: Congressional delegation: Resource development can be lifeline for Southeast
by Peter Segall
Southeast Alaska was hit harder than most other parts of the state by the COVID-19 pandemic, the state's congressional delegation told a digital conference room Wednesday morning. The delegation spoke to the Southeast Conference Annual Meeting, held digitally this year, and the state's senators and representative offered their vision of an economic recovery for the region. Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young, both Alaska Republicans, spoke together, opening with an update on the delegation's e… Continue Reading
09.22.20
Cordova Times: Bill would strengthen data access between tribes, government entities
Newly introduced bipartisan legislation would help tribes access public health data and address health disparities that impact Alaska Native and American Indian communities especially hard. The Tribal Health Data Improvement Act, sponsored by Senators Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Tina Smith, D-Minn., called for more data sharing between tribes, tribal epidemiology centers and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, so tribes can be more effective in meeting public health challenges. T… Continue Reading
09.21.20
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Local and state representatives weigh in on fisheries and other issues at virtual ComFish
by Andrew Kenneson
Kodiak's representatives at the state and federal levels Zoomed into ComFish on Sept. 18 and 19 to tout their work on fishing and other coastal issues. U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, U.S. Rep. Don Young, state Rep. Louise Stutes and state Sen. Gary Stevens all spoke virtually via Zoom at the event. The federal delegation spoke on Friday. Sullivan touched on his work focusing COVID-19 relief on the fishing industry, as well as his efforts to push for the inclusion of seafood in … Continue Reading
09.21.20
HuffPost: Congress Finally Passes Bill To Address Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women
by Jennifer Bendery
After years of unnecessary delays, the House passed legislation on Monday to help law enforcement respond to a horrifying and largely invisible crisis: Hundreds of Native American women are mysteriously disappearing or being murdered. The bill, Savanna's Act, passed on a voice vote with little fanfare. It now heads to President Donald Trump's desk to be signed into law. The measure, authored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), responds to a devastating situation in which nobody can say, exactly… Continue Reading
09.20.20
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Federal Arctic Energy Office to open on UAF campus
by Erin McGroarty
The University of Alaska Fairbanks campus will be the home of a new federal office focused on Arctic energy. The office was announced Thursday by Department of Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette and Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski in her capacity as a chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The office will focus on the advancement of Arctic energy studies in areas such as research on methane hydrates and development of advanced microgrids and nuclear power systems such … Continue Reading
09.16.20
Huffington Post: Senators Introduce Last-Minute, Bipartisan Bill To Prevent A Census Disaster
by Jennifer Bendery
Senators unveiled bipartisan legislation on Tuesday to give the Census Bureau more time to finish the 2020 census ? an eleventh-hour effort to prevent a potentially severe undercount of the U.S. population, particularly in Native, minority and rural communities. The census count, which is conducted every 10 years, was delayed for months because of COVID-19. Now the Trump administration is insisting on ending the count early, on Sept. 30, to meet end-of-year deadlines. The crunched schedule all … Continue Reading
09.16.20
Natural Gas Intelligence: FERC Nominees Tell Senate Public Interest Foremost if Confirmed
by Leticia Gonzales
The two nominees tapped by President Trump in July to fill vacant FERC positions pledged to be champions for the consumer by ensuring the reliability and fair cost of energy while remaining unbiased in their decision making. Speaking Tuesday before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Democratic nominee Allison Clements noted her "tremendous respect" for the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission and "its role as an independent, bipartisan commission." The attorney worked f… Continue Reading
09.15.20
Associated Press: Senators push for extra census time, as court prods deadline
by Mike Schneider
As lawyers in a court hearing argued over what would happen if the U.S. Census Bureau blew a deadline to turn over data used for redrawing congressional districts, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Tuesday introduced a bill pushing the deadline into next year, even though a previous effort hasn't gone anywhere in the Senate. During a federal court hearing on whether to extend the 2020 census by a month, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, asked government attorneys to exp… Continue Reading
09.14.20
Anchorage Daily News: $21 million federal grant to help build cold-storage cargo facility at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport
by Alex DeMarban
A $21 million federal transportation grant will help pay for the cost of building a huge cold-storage facility at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, boosting the airport's value as an international shipping hub between the U.S. and Asia, Alaska's congressional delegation announced on Monday. The grant has been awarded to the Alaska Energy Authority, a state agency, to support construction of the 190,000 square feet project, which has been previously announced. The facility will b… Continue Reading
09.12.20
Value Walk: Support For Bipartisan Restaurants Act Grows In The Senate
Support for Bipartisan RESTAURANTS Act Grows in the Senate; 12 More Bipartisan Senators Cosponsor Bill, Including Sens. Murkowski, Brown, Manchin, King, Booker and Gillibrand 40 Republican and Democratic Senators Support an Independent Restaurant Relief Program Bill, Including Sens. Cornyn, Schumer, Graham, Tillis, and Gardner. House Bill Is Cosponsored by 194 U.S. Representatives. Support for Bipartisan RESTAURANTS Act Grows WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC… Continue Reading
09.11.20
CBC News: Alaskan sisters beg Canada to let them go to school in B.C.
by Yvette Brend
It's back to school this week for students in Stewart, B.C., but five Alaskan children who were set to join them this year are stuck at home after pandemic restrictions have essentially closed the border between two remote cross-border communities that sit side by side and usually intermingle. Right now, people are only allowed to cross the border between Hyder, Alaska and Stewart, B.C., for essential travel or they must abide by two-week quarantine requirements. For two American sisters that … Continue Reading
09.11.20
Alaska Journal of Commerce: USDA announces tariff relief for seafood harvesters
by Elwood Brehmer
Harvesters in more than a dozen commercial fisheries across Alaska that have been hit in the pocketbook by foreign tariffs on American seafood are eligible for part of $530 million in federal aid from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA announced Sept. 9 that the money is meant to offset weaker market conditions for American seafood brought on by import tariffs. A statement announcing the availability of the funds, which will be dispersed through the USDA's new Seafood Trade Relief Pro… Continue Reading
