ABOUT
About Lisa
Hello and welcome to my online office!
I am pleased to make this website available for Alaskans and others interested in my activities as a U.S. Senator. I hope you find the website helpful and informative. I appreciate your suggestions and invite you to email me to share your opinions.
Please visit often since we're frequently updating our site with new information on events in Alaska, Washington, D.C. and the 118th Congress!
Biography
Lisa Murkowski, Alaska’s senior U.S. Senator, is a third generation Alaskan proudly serving as the first Alaskan born senator. Murkowski was born in Ketchikan and raised in towns across the state, including Wrangell, Juneau, Fairbanks, and Anchorage. She is married to Verne Martell and they have two grown sons. Lisa loves spending time in the Alaska outdoors. She’s an avid skier, has hiked on glaciers, enjoys fall duck hunts, and has a pretty impressive King Salmon mounted on her office wall.
Since joining the Senate in 2002, Senator Murkowski has worked tirelessly for Alaskans and earned a reputation in the Senate for her ability to work collaboratively and across the aisle to reach common sense solutions. Murkowski is well-known for her love and dedication to her state, which means putting Alaska first.
A leader on energy and public lands issues, Senator Murkowski recognizes that sound national policy will promote not only job creation and economic growth, but also higher standards of living and greater global stability. She supports the safe and efficient production and use of all forms of domestic energy, as well as research to help develop emerging technologies. Senator Murkowski continues to pursue policies to advance renewable energy, increase energy efficiency, and make America’s energy cleaner, more affordable, and more reliable.
Senator Murkowski has long-advocated for the Arctic as a national priority and continues to push the United States to invest in the infrastructure and assets critical to supporting an Arctic strategy. She is leading the charge to recapitalize and expand America’s fleet of icebreakers and has introduced legislation to raise the nation’s presence in the Arctic through two bills that support responsible research and development as well as giving those who live in the region a greater voice on policy and research.
She is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee (Subcommittees –Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Defense; Energy and Water Development; Homeland Security; Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies), Ranking Member of the Interior-Environment Subcommittee, member of Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, and Vice Chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
Quick Facts About Lisa
Born: Ketchikan, AK
Husband: Verne Martell
Children: Two sons, Nicolas and Matt
High School: Monroe High School, Fairbanks, AK (1975)
University: Economics Degree, Georgetown University (1980)
Post-Graduate: Juris Doctor, Willamette College of Law (1985)
Career History: Attorney, Private Commercial Law Practice in Alaska
Alaska State Legislature: Alaska State Representative from 1999-2002
U.S. Senate: Appointed in 2002, elected to a full six-year term in 2004, re-elected in 2010 in a historic write-in campaign, re-elected in 2016 and re-elected for another six-year term in 2022.
Committee Assignments
About Alaska
State Facts
Statehood: January 3, 1959, the 49th state
Capital: Juneau
Total Land Area: 571,951 square miles (as of 2000). The largest state in the country, Alaska is one-fifth the size of the combined lower 48 states.
North America's Tallest Mountain: Denali at 20,320 feet
Total Population: 710,231 (as of 2010 census report)
Largest cities: The Municipality of Anchorage has 291,826 residents or 42 percent of Alaska's population. The Fairbanks North Star Borough has 97,581 residents. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough has 88,995. The Kenai Peninsula Borough has 55,400 residents. The City and Borough of Juneau has 31,275 residents.
State Bird: Alaska Willow Ptarmigan
State Dog: Alaskan Malamute
State Fish: King Salmon
State Insect: Four-spotted Skimmer Dragonfly
State Flower: Forget-me-not
State Tree: Sitka Spruce
State Song: Alaska's Flag Song
Motto: North to the Future
Nickname: The Last Frontier
Alaska has 22 indigenous languages spoken by the Alaskan Native peoples.
Alaska harvests 62% of all fish caught in the United States. If Alaska were a country, we would be 9th in the world in seafood harvest by volume.
The famous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is a 1150-mile race from Anchorage to Nome every year in Alaska.