Murkowski Secures Committee Wins for Alaska
Committee Reports Bills to Extend Veterans Allotments Program, Address Cape Fox Lands, Renew Volcano Monitoring, and Provide Offshore Revenue Sharing
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) a senior member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (ENR), today worked with her colleagues to ensure a number of Alaska-specific bills were favorably reported for consideration by the full chamber.
ENR reported three bills that Murkowski is sponsoring and three that she is cosponsoring:
- S. 3617, the Cape Fox Land Entitlement Finalization Act (sponsor).
- S. 620, the Alaska Offshore Parity Act (sponsor).
- S. 4974, to reauthorize the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System (sponsor).
- S. 3790, the Alaska Native Vietnam Era Veterans Land Allotment Extension and Fulfillment Act (cosponsor with Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK)), as amended.
- S. 4664, the Department of Energy AI Act (cosponsor with Chairman Joe Manchin, D-WV).
- S. 4932, the Department of Energy Quantum Leadership Act (cosponsor with Senator Steve Daines (R-MT)).
S. 3790, the Alaska Native Vietnam Era Veterans Land Allotment Extension and Fulfillment Act, reauthorizes the program that Murkowski and Sullivan established in the Dingell Act of 2019 to allow eligible Alaska Native Vietnam veterans and their heirs to finally select the land allotments that they missed out on while serving in the U.S. military. While ENR could not reach bipartisan agreement to open new federal lands for selection that are near veterans’ homes and ancestral homelands, the committee agreed to extend the program for five years. Murkowski also inserted similar extension language in her FY 2025 Interior-EPA Appropriations bill earlier this year.
“Thousands of Alaska Native veterans are still owed land allotments that they missed out on while serving our country, but as of September, the Bureau of Land Management had only completed the certification of 35 applications,” Murkowski said. “With this program set to expire next year, we clearly need to extend it. I will simultaneously continue to push to open more lands across Alaska so our veterans can select allotments closer to their homes and where their ancestors have hunted and fished for generations.”
S. 3617, the Cape Fox Land Entitlement Finalization Act, waives an existing statutory requirement that would compel Cape Fox Corporation, the Alaska Native Corporation for the Village of Saxman, to use a portion of its entitlement under ANCSA for remote parcels that have no economic value. The bill instead directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey to Cape Fox the surface estate of a 180-acre tract in the Tongass National Forest that was unavailable to the corporation under the original terms of ANCSA. This would allow Cape Fox to consolidate land ownership for a project to construct a road and transmission line to connect the Mahoney Lake site to the Beaver Falls Power Grid and provide power to communities in Southeast Alaska.
“Cape Fox was put at a tremendous disadvantage when it was forced to claim lands under ANCSA that offered no economic value to their village corporation,” Murkowski said. “This win-win legislation will not only help Cape Fox capitalize their rightful lands, but also address local energy needs in Ketchikan, Saxman, and Metlakatla.”
S. 620, the Alaska Offshore Parity Act, provides for revenue sharing from the development of Alaska’s offshore federal resources. The bill would provide 30 percent of relevant revenues to the State of Alaska, 7.5 percent to coastal political subdivisions closest to production, and 12.5 percent for the National Oceans and Coastal Security Fund. These revenues could be used for a variety of purposes and would provide essential support for the responsible resource development, as well as the resilience and protection of coastal communities.
“As the State with the largest coastline in the nation and tremendous offshore potential, it is completely unfair and unacceptable that Alaska be left ineligible for the same revenue sharing that other states already receive,” Murkowski said. “Senators Cassidy and King have committed to me that Alaska will be included in any final revenue sharing measure agreed to in this Congress, and I intend to hold them to those promises.”
S. 4974, legislation to reauthorize the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System, will renew critical research and monitoring systems, upgrade existing networks, and provide for the installation of new detection technology. The reauthorization establishes a 24/7 national volcano watch office and data center to bolster our understanding of volcanic activity around the country and ensure better prediction and preparation to detect eruptions before they occur.
“As we focus on the rising threats that Alaska faces from landslides and outburst flooding, we continue to face serious threats from volcanic unrest along the Aleutians and at sites such as Mount Spurr,” Murkowski said. “For us, volcanoes are no abstract threat, and the investments this bill will facilitate are needed to improve warning and response systems across Alaska and the greater Pacific Ring of Fire.”
S. 4664, Chairman Manchin's Department of Energy AI Act, would advance American leadership in artificial intelligence (AI) by harnessing existing National Laboratory infrastructure and the DOE workforce to help develop these emerging technologies. Over the past decade, the Department has developed thousands of AI applications, ranging from medical imaging and genomics to electric grid management and nuclear security.
S. 4932, Senator Daines’ Department of Energy Quantum Leadership Act, would renew and update the Department of Energy’s efforts on quantum technologies. Murkowski and Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) led the development of the ENR title for the initial National Quantum Initiative Act in 2018.
