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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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01.20.21

Delegation Applauds Issuance of Leases for Coastal Plain Oil & Gas Program

U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and U.S. Congressman Don Young, all R-Alaska, issued the following statements after the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced the signing and issuing of leases on nine of the tracts that received qualifying bids from the first lease sale for lands in the non-wilderness Coastal Plain (1002 Area) of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Results of the January 6 lease sale are available on BLM's website. "The Alaska Delegation has been fighting… Continue Reading

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01.14.21

Murkowski Applauds Alaskan Appointed to FAA's Drone Advisory Committee

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) released the following statement after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) named Catherine Cahill, Director of the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, as one of 12 new members of its Drone Advisory Committee (DAC). As an expert in chemistry and ACUASI Director, Cahill leads on world class research to help allow for expanded unmanned aircraft system operations and improve the implementatio… Continue Reading

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01.14.21

Murkowski Statement on House Passing an Article of Impeachment Against President Trump

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan article of impeachment against U.S. President Donald J. Trump: "The House of Representatives has impeached President Trump for an unprecedented second time, under a charge of "incitement of insurrection" in the wake of the unlawful and violent siege of the Capitol on January 6. This second impeachment stands in stark contrast to what we faced last January-an impeachment … 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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01.11.21

Alaska Delegation Commends U.S. Navy for New Arctic Strategy

U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, and Congressman Don Young (all R-Alaska) commended the U.S. Navy for releasing "A Blue Arctic" last week, the service's strategy document for the Arctic region. The Department of the Navy's document builds upon the Department of Defense's (DOD) Arctic strategy, released in June of 2019, and compliments the Air Force's Arctic strategy, released in July of 2020. "We live in an era of renewed great power competition, when a growing number of countri… Continue Reading

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01.08.21

Delegation: This Is A Historic Moment For Alaska

U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and U.S. Congressman Don Young, all R-Alaska, issued the following statements after the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) held the first lease sale for lands in the non-wilderness Coastal Plain (1002 Area) of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). "The first lease sale in the 1002 Area was the result of many Alaskans' tireless efforts over the course of decades. While it did not occur under ideal conditions, it will benefit Alaskans both in the sho… Continue Reading