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.
Senator Murkowski Launches COVID-19 Information Page
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) recently published a page on her website to share up-to-date information and resources regarding the Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019, known as COVID-19. The website includes reliable information about the disease, preventative measures you can take to help stop the spread of germs, and Alaska-specific efforts taking place in response to the outbreak. To access Senator Murkowski's COVID-19 info page, click here. Background: A new strain of coronavirus, desi… Continue Reading
03.06.20
Murkowski and Manchin Add 18 Amendments to Bipartisan Energy Innovation Bill
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today filed a modified substitute amendment to S. 2657, the vehicle for the broad, bipartisan American Energy Innovation Act she has introduced with Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. The modified substitute contains the text of 18 amendments-nine from Senators on each side of the aisle-that have been filed during this week's floor debate. Click photo for video of Murkowski's floor statement Below are excerpts from Murkowski's floor remarks, which also focused… Continue Reading
03.05.20
Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Passes Senate
A new strain of coronavirus, designated as COVID-19, emerged in China in December and has spread around the globe. The virus, which causes respiratory illness, has now been detected in nearly 70 countries, including the United States. In an effort to better prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19, the Senate today passed an emergency supplemental funding package totaling $8.3 billion. U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) voted in favor of the Coronavirus Preparedness… Continue Reading
03.05.20
International Energy Agency: United States is Well-Positioned to Lead the World on Energy
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today chaired a hearing where International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Dr. Fatih Birol testified on the latest developments and longer-term prospects for global energy markets, with a special focus on the United States. "Dr. Birol is internationally renowned and respected as a true expert on energy markets, trends, and policies, and we were glad to have him back before our committee," Murkowski said. "His perspective is particularly timely today a… Continue Reading
03.05.20
House Companion of Murkowski Bill Honoring WWII Merchant Mariners to Become Law
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) applauded the Senate passage of the House companion legislation to her bipartisan, bicameral bill - the Merchant Mariners of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act, sending it to the President to be signed into law. The legislation would award a Congressional Gold Medal, one of the highest civilian honors, to the Merchant Mariners who helped protect America during World War II. Introduced by Senator Murkowski in January 2019, with Senators Dan Sullivan (R-AK… Continue Reading
03.04.20
Murkowski Questions Interior Secretary on Alaska Specific Priorities
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) chaired an Interior Appropriations Subcommittee hearing to examine the Fiscal Year 2021 budget request for the Department of the Interior (DOI). During the hearing, Senator Murkowski raised Alaska specific priorities with Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, such as the Alaska land conveyance program, justice and public safety initiatives, and expanding energy and mineral security, including unlocking onshore Arctic resources in ANWR and NPRA-A. Murkowski questi… Continue Reading
03.03.20
Murkowski Questions Agency on Alaska-Specific Concerns over COVID-19 Outbreak
Today U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) participated in a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee focused on how the U.S. is responding to the emerging threat of COVID-19, the Novel Coronavirus. The Senate HELP Committee hearing highlighted how the U.S. federal government is responding to the outbreak and actions the administration is taking to ensure that the U.S. is prepared for, and responding to, COVID-19 at the federal, state, and local levels. The hearing delved int… Continue Reading
03.03.20
Murkowski: DOE Request Hits on Minerals, Misses on Innovation
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today chaired an oversight hearing to examine the proposed fiscal year 2021 budget for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Secretary Dan Brouillette testified in support of the President's budget request, which focuses on a number of key cross-cutting challenges - including grid modernization, energy storage, and plastics innovation - while proposing steep cuts to important innovation-focused programs. Murkowski highlighted DOE's new Critical Minerals Init… Continue Reading
03.03.20
Murkowski: American Energy Innovation Act Will Benefit Alaskans
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, last week released the American Energy Innovation Act (AEIA), her broad, bipartisan bill to modernize America's energy laws. Murkowski intends to file the full text of AEIA as a substitute amendment to S. 2657, which is being debated on the Senate floor this week. The bipartisan energy innovation package has significant benefits for Alaskans. "Alaska is a natural proving ground for new technologies and an incubator for innovation," Murkowski said. "My new bil… Continue Reading
03.02.20
Senate To Take Up Murkowski’s Bipartisan Energy Innovation Bill
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR), spoke today after the Senate voted to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 2657, the vehicle for the American Energy Innovation Act (AEIA). Click photo for video of Murkowski's floor statement Below are excerpts from Murkowski's floor remarks: "It has now been more than 12 years since Congress enacted comprehensive legislation to update our nation's energy laws. During that … Continue Reading
02.28.20
Bipartisan Group of Senators Send Letter Urging DHS To Provide Immediate Relief For Seafood Industry
U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) was joined by six of his Senate colleagues in calling on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to release the additional H-2B visas needed to support local seafood businesses in Virginia and states like Alaska, Maryland, and North Carolina. The letter, signed by Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Dan Sullivan (D-AK), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), urges the DHS to quickly authorize additional visas for temp… Continue Reading
02.28.20
Alaska Congressional Delegation Announces Earthquake Relief Grant
U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young, (all R-Alaska), today announced a $33.5 million grant coming to Alaska to assist communities impacted by the magnitude 7.1 earthquake on November 30, 2018. The U.S. Department of Transportation grant was awarded to the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to assist the Municipality of Anchorage, Mat-Su Borough, and the Kenai Peninsula Borough with the repair or reconstruction of highways and roads that su… Continue Reading
02.28.20
Sullivan & Murkowski Direct Feds on Flowers: “Buy American!”
U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Angus King (I-Maine) yesterday introduced the American Grown Act, legislation requiring all federal agencies to only procure cut flowers and cut greens grown in the United States. Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska) first introduced the legislation in the House in May of 2019. "Alaska has a burgeoning peony and flower industry that offers world-class blooms during our long, sunny summer growing seaso… Continue Reading
02.27.20
Alaska Congressional Delegation Welcome Disaster Relief for Alaska Fisheries
U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young, (all R-Alaska), today welcomed an announcement by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that the agency approved $24.4 million to restore losses for Alaska fisheries impacted by the 2018 Pacific cod fishery disaster and $10.3 million for the 2018 sockeye salmon failure in Chignik. The NOAA-approved funds will now be administered by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, the agency tasked with dis… Continue Reading
02.27.20
Murkowski, Manchin Introduce American Energy Innovation Act
After a full year of hearings, business meetings, and bipartisan negotiations, U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., today released the text of their energy innovation package. The American Energy Innovation Act (AEIA) will modernize domestic energy laws to ensure the United States remains a global energy leader while also strengthening national security, increasing our international competitiveness, and investing in clean energy technologies. "This bill is our best… Continue Reading
02.25.20
Murkowski Comments on Born-Alive and Pain Capable Legislation
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today made the following statement after voting in favor of S. 311, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which ensures legal protections for babies born alive following the failure of an attempted abortion: "This legislation addresses complex and sensitive issues of a medical and ethical nature that deserve serious consideration. My vote today was centered on my support of protections for infants born alive. We often talk about access to care-so e… Continue Reading
02.25.20
Murkowski: Forest Service Should Prioritize Wildland Fire Management, Reasonable Access to Alaska Forests
Chairman Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today convened a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to examine the President's $5.3 billion budget request for the U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service) for Fiscal Year 2021. During the hearing, Murkowski addressed the importance of fire management, the need for sustainable timber harvesting and recreation access in Alaska, and the disturbing rise in firefighter suicides. "Although this year's budget request is far from perfect, I agre… Continue Reading
02.14.20
Murkowski, Cortez Masto Co-Host MMIW Briefing on Capitol Hill
Building on her long-standing efforts to address rural Alaska's public safety emergency, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) helped lead a Capitol Hill briefing with U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) on ways to increase the safety of Native women and address the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people. The briefing also covered other topics, including issues for PL 280 states, the implementation of 2013 special jurisdiction, and various pieces of legislation that Senator Murkows… Continue Reading
02.14.20
U.S. Senators Tina Smith & Lisa Murkowski Press Secretary DeVos for Answers About Undercounting American Indian and Alaska Native Students
U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) pressed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to stop undercounting the number of American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) students in America's schools. Inaccurately identifying students leads to an incomplete picture of whether or not a school is adequately meeting students' educational needs. Sens. Smith and Murkowski-both members of the Senate Indian Affairs and Education Committees-said that the Department of Education's guidance a… Continue Reading
02.14.20
Murkowski, Smith Introduce Bill to Protect Children from Human Trafficking
According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), every two minutes a child is being victimized for sexual exploitation. U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Tina Smith (D-MN) introduced the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Prevention Training Act of 2020, which would prevent the human trafficking and exploitation of children by providing grants critical for training students, parents, teachers, and school personnel to understand, recognize, prevent, and respond to signs of human tr… Continue Reading
