Articles & Op-eds
American Institute of Physics: The Week of July 8, 2019
Science Committee to Spotlight Disappearing Glaciers and Ice Sheets The House Science Committee has invited five scientists to testify at a hearing Thursday on the worldwide recession of glaciers and ice sheets. Alongside decreases in the seasonal coverage of sea ice, the retreat of permanent masses of land-based ice represents one of the most visible early effects of climatic warming. Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet and the rapid deterioration of parts of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet are an… Continue Reading
07.08.19
SitNews: $53 Million Approved for Fishermen & Stakeholders Affected by 2016 Gulf of Alaska Pink
by Mary Kauffman
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the approval of $53.8 million to restore losses for Alaska fisheries impacted by the 2016 Gulf of Alaska pink salmon fishery disaster. NOAA approved the funds Tuesday and transferred the funds to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, the agency tasked with distributing the relief payments to fishermen and their deckhands, processors, and for salmon research in the affected regions. "This funding has been a long-time … Continue Reading
07.07.19
Defense News: What will the US defense industry do when China cuts off rare earth supplies?
by Jeffery A. Green
On June 17, Chinese state-controlled media again threatened disruption of rare earth supplies to the United States - this time targeting U.S. defense contractors. The astonishing threat noted that "military equipment firms in the United States will likely have their supply of Chinese rare earths restricted" and follows calls just weeks ago to shut off rare earth supplies to the United States. The latest comments follow a meeting of China's state economic planner, the National Development and Re… Continue Reading
07.03.19
Wall Street Journal: Equal Rights Amendment Could Soon Be Back in Congress
by Kristina Peterson
The last amendment to the U.S. Constitution took 203 years to ratify. A Supreme Court ruling in June has revived hopes-and controversy-over whether another such change, the Equal Rights Amendment, could be ratified far sooner. Congress could face the issue, and a host of complicated legal questions, early next year. Already, the ERA, which says "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex," has surfaced on the 2020 campai… Continue Reading
07.02.19
Washington Examiner: House bill targets illicit use of Pentagon networks
by Regina Barton
Bipartisan legislation introduced Tuesday in the House seeks to stop the use of Department of Defense computer networks for sharing child pornography. The bill, called the End National Defense Network Abuse Act, was introduced in response to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation that showed over 5,000 individuals used Pentagon networks to access child pornography websites. Reps. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Mark Meadows of North Carolina introduced the legislation. The… Continue Reading
07.01.19
Associated Press: Senators press feds on commitment to Native American safety
Lawmakers pressed the Trump administration on June 19 to respond with urgency in addressing violence against Native American women and children after they say two officials arrived at a key U.S. Senate hearing unprepared to take concrete positions on proposed legislation. The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held the hearing in Washington to review a slate of bipartisan bills aimed at stemming domestic violence, homicides and disappearances on tribal lands. The hearing followed recent p… Continue Reading
07.01.19
Scientific American: Safer Nuclear Reactors Are on the Way
by Mark Fischetti
Controlling carbon in the atmosphere will require a mix of energy technologies-potentially including nuclear reactors, which emit no carbon but are seen as risky because of a few major accidents. That risk could be greatly reduced. Commercial reactors have used the same fuel for decades: small pellets of uranium dioxide stacked inside long cylindrical rods made of a zirconium alloy. Zirconium allows the neutrons generated from fission in the pellets to readily pass among the many rods submerged… Continue Reading
07.01.19
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Murkowski introduces International Year of the Salmon bill
by Iris Samuels
Earlier this month, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced a resolution recognizing 2019 as the international Year of the Salmon. "Alaskans are incredibly proud of our salmon. My hope is that this resolution will foster discussion and collaboration that will help others more deeply appreciate the tremendous value of these fish - to understand that supporting salmon means supporting food security, marine ecosystems, Alaska Native culture, coastal communities, and economies," said Senator Murko… Continue Reading
06.30.19
Anchorage Daily News: US attorney general declares emergency for public safety in rural Alaska, freeing up $10.5 million to support police
by Alex DeMarban
U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr declared an emergency for public safety in rural Alaska on Friday and announced that the Department of Justice will provide more than $10 million in emergency funds as part of a sweeping plan to support law enforcement in Alaska Native villages. The department's Emergency Federal Law Enforcement Assistance Program will immediately provide $6 million to the state to hire, equip and train rural police, and for mobile holding cells. Another $4.5 million will s… Continue Reading
06.28.19
Associated Press: US Senate panel takes up what to do with nuclear waste
It's been more than a decade since the US government was supposed to begin moving spent nuclear fuel that has been piling up at dozens of commercial reactors around the country to a repository in the Nevada desert. The Obama administration halted development of a proposed long-term storage site at Yucca Mountain and the federal government is no closer to finding a solution to what to do with the high-level waste. Resistance is strong in Nevada and temporary storage options in New Mexico and Tex… Continue Reading
06.26.19
Modern Healthcare: Senate health committee may change surprise billing proposals ahead of floor vote
by Susannah Luthi
The Senate health committee approved its major healthcare package on Wednesday, but with one change to the proposed ban on surprise medical billing and potentially more to come ahead of a full Senate vote expected later this month. As it stands, the provision on surprise medical bills would cap out-of-network physician or hospital charges at a rate already negotiated by insurers. An amendment to that provision came from Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and would make insurers post all the physician an… Continue Reading
06.26.19
Saipan Tribune: A thousand new residents
by Jon Perez
President Donald J. Trump yesterday signed H.R. 559 into law, saving the immigration status and livelihood of 1,039 individuals who have worked in the CNMI for decades and call the islands their second home. H.R. 559, or the Northern Mariana Islands Long-Term Legal Residents Relief Act, provides a legal remedy for the 1,039 long-term humanitarian parolees and their families-people who are under the categorical parole program and those holding employment authorization documents-by granting them … Continue Reading
06.26.19
Alaska Lawmakers, Industry Tell Democrats to Stand Down
by Brian Dabbs
House Democrats are taking aim at key industries in The Last Frontier. The House passed a minibus spending bill this week that includes a controversial provision to require national minimum bids for oil and gas development in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And Democrats pushed through, on a largely partisan basis, language to ban public funds from being used to build logging roads in the nation's largest national forest, a 17-million-acre expanse in southern Alaska called Tongass, a… Continue Reading
06.26.19
Lake County News: Garamendi’s World War II Merchant Marine Congressional Gold Medal Act heads for House vote
Congressman John Garamendi (CA-3), announced that his bipartisan Merchant Mariners of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2019 has secured the 290 cosponsors necessary to receive a mandatory vote in the House of Representatives. The bill will move to the Consensus Calendar, which hosts legislation that's typically passed unanimously by the House. "Throughout the Second World War, our armed forces relied on the Merchant Marine to ferry supplies, cargo and personnel into both theaters o… Continue Reading
06.25.19
Juneau Empire: OP-ED: Sen. Dan Sullivan: Pressing the Canadian government to take action on transboundary mining
by Senator Dan Sullivan
The Taku, Stikine and Unuk are world-class transboundary rivers that originate in Northwest British Columbia (B.C.) and flow into Southeast Alaska. These iconic rivers and their watersheds are central to our fishing industry as well as tourism in Southeast. Importantly, they've also been centers of culture for thousands of years. It's imperative for our economy and our people that these waters stay pristine for generations to come. Virtually all of the U.S. portions of these watersheds have the… Continue Reading
06.24.19
The Daily Sentinel: OPINION: America's energy, tech and defense future needs more metals, minerals
by John Adams
As the recent trade war with China has escalated, Beijing has implied that it may retaliate by withholding rare earth minerals. Such a strategic vulnerability - and America's alarmingly high reliance on imported minerals and metals - is now in the spotlight for all the world to see. China's rare earth threat underscores just how perilous U.S. mineral import reliance has become. While rare earths are currently the focus, America's overall reliance on imports of these minerals is indicative of a … Continue Reading
06.24.19
Saipan Tribune: HR 559 goes to Trump
by Jon Perez
The fate of a thousand individuals in the CNMI now rests in the hands of President Donald J. Trump. A total of 1,038 categorical parolees and employment authorization document holders are anxiously waiting for Trump's signature on a bill that would give them legal CNMI-only permanent resident status. The bill, H.R. 559, is now at the White House and must be signed by Trump on or before June 29, 2019. If not, these individuals, along with their families, will have to leave the CNMI after U.S. … Continue Reading
06.22.19
KTVA: Murkowski bill would let more low-income Alaskan kids get free summer meals
by Angela Krenzien
Alaska's senior senator announced a bill Friday that would give more low-income children access free meals during the summer. According to a release from Sen. Lisa Murkowski's office, the Summer Meals Act of 2019 would make changes to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Summer Food Service Program, which, during the summers, works with public and nonprofit groups to provide meals to kids under 18 who receive free or reduced lunches during the school year. "This bill would allow more children … Continue Reading
06.22.19
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: OPINION: Stop trying to take away critical care in Alaska
by Rina Kowalski
While the country debates the morality of bodily autonomy and works to eradicate access to reproductive care, including abortion, I want my community to know how fundamental a full range of reproductive health care is to me and my family. When I was 19 years old, I had two children and was living off welfare assistance programs because we could barely afford the basic necessities we needed to survive. As a Medicaid recipient, I was fortunate enough to have access to health care services through… Continue Reading
06.21.19
WHNT: Rape Kits: Many cities don’t have them; new proposed legislation hopes to change that
by Shevaun Bryan
In 2014, Leah Griffin of Seattle says she was raped and went to the closest hospital for a rape kit, only to be turned away. "They looked at me and shrugged their shoulders and said, 'We don't do rape kits here,'" Griffin recounted. Griffin says she later went to a second hospital that did administer the special examination to collect and preserve forensic evidence, but because of the delay in care, her case was never prosecuted. There are many places around the country where access to rape ki… Continue Reading
