Year-End Omnibus Appropriations Package Signed Into Law
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) applauded a year-end omnibus bill being signed into law, which includes a 12-bill appropriations package to fund the government through the end of Fiscal Year 2021, including Senator Murkowski’s Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill. This historic funding package also provides nearly $900 billion for COVID-19 relief; Senator Murkowski’s […]
Murkowski Applauds New Polar Security Cutters Authorized in Coast Guard Bill
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) applauded the authorization of additional Polar Security Cutters (icebreakers) in the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act, which passed Congress as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021. The bipartisan provision was authored by U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK). […]
New DOD Arctic Security Studies Center Approved by Congress
The U.S. Senate today passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA), including a provision authorizing a new regional Department of Defense (DOD) Center named the “Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies.” U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and chairman of Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, successfully included […]
Murkowski Welcomes Coast Guard Heavy Icebreaker Deploying to the Arctic
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) applauded the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) announcement that the USCG’s POLAR STAR, our nation’s sole operational icebreaker is deploying to the Arctic. The U.S. Coast Guard announced that beginning in early December 2020, POLAR STAR, a heavy icebreaker, will conduct an 82-day deployment in the Arctic, primarily in the Bering […]
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: Federal Arctic Energy Office to open on UAF campus
The University of Alaska Fairbanks campus will be the home of a new federal office focused on Arctic energy. The office was announced Thursday by Department of Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette and Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski in her capacity as a chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The office will focus […]
Anchorage Daily News: The federal government will hold an ANWR lease sale. But drilling would be more than a decade away
The Trump Administration on Monday set the stage for a lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the coming months, but industry observers and Alaska leaders say oil won’t flow for years. Drilling in the sensitive coastal plain faces strong resistance, questions about future demand for oil and vows from large banks not […]
Murkowski Applauds Major National Security Bill Passing Senate
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), legislation that authorizes $731.6 billion in national defense funding for Fiscal Year 2021. The bill authorizes funding for modernizing military technology, improving the livelihoods of troops and their families, and military construction—including in Alaska. The legislation includes Senator Murkowski’s […]
KTUU: Senators Sullivan and Murkowski commend the Air Force’s Arctic Strategy
Senators Sullivan and Murkowski are expressing their approval of the Air Force’s Arctic Strategy. The strategy “lays out an expansion of the competitive space in the Arctic under four lines of effort: vigilance in all domains, projecting power through a combat-credible force, cooperation with allies & partners, and preparation for Arctic operations. Importantly, this strategy […]
Murkowski Commends Air Force’s Arctic Strategy
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) issued the following statements after the Department of the Air Force unveiled an Arctic Strategy: “One of my top priorities is ensuring the Arctic region is a national priority. The Air Force’s first ever Arctic Strategy not only recognizes the importance of the Arctic, but emphasizes Alaska’s essential role in projecting […]
Gray TV: Push from Washington, military officials to bolster Arctic strategy
The White House is making it known they want to enhance the U.S. presence in the Arctic. Alaska is the lone U.S. state that borders the Arctic, and leaders in Washington say they want to make sure the resources are there to strengthen the U.S. position. That efforts begins with ice breakers. “The Arctic is […]