Murkowski Morning Meeting For Thursday, June 19, 2014

What DC is Reading

• Washington Post: Military Leaders Warn of Difficulty of Conducting Airstrikes in Iraq
• Bloomberg: Senate Democrats Hold “Show Vote” on Keystone Pipeline
• Wall Street Journal: Health Care Premiums Rise at Big Insurers [Paywall]

U.S. Senate Events

Restoring a Valuable Tool for Alaska’s Fishing Industry

Alaskan Impact: Alaska’s fisheries are a multi-billion dollar economic engine, but a State Department visitor worker policy change (because of a Pennsylvania chocolate factory) hamstrung seafood processor from filling job openings when hiring local or Lower 48 employees proves difficult. This morning in the Appropriations Committee, Senator Murkowski was able to restore the J-1 Visa program through fiscal year 2015 in an amendment to a spending bill. She also used her position to boost the nation’s work in Arctic matters through the State Department budget.

6:30a.m. AKDT

Senate Appropriations Committee Markup

Topic: FY2015 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations bill; and H.R.4487, the “Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2015”

Natural Gas, Energy Independence

Alaskan Impact: The Kenai LNG Plant was the world’s largest when it was built and the first to serve the Asia-Pacific market. Alaska is now working on a massive LNG project to help deliver affordable natural gas to Alaskans, jobs to the state and across the country – while also allowing Alaska and the U.S. to provide a stable source of energy to our allies overseas. Later today, Senator Murkowski will encourage her colleagues on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to continue to look into LNG as a natural resource with untapped potential for both domestic consumption and export.

10:30p.m. AKDT

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Hearing

Topic: “How to harness a game-changing resource for export, domestic consumption and transportation fuel.”

Witnesses:

• Assistant Energy Secretary for Fossil Energy Chris Smith
• Marty Durbin, president and CEO of America’s Natural Gas Alliance
• Bob McNally, president of the Rapidan Group
• Liz Rosenberg, senior fellow and director of the Center for a New American Security’s Energy, Environment and Security Program
• Dan Weiss, senior fellow and the director of the Center for American Progress’ Climate Strategy

Watch the hearing by clicking here.

In Case You Missed It:

Senator Murkowski Challenges White House Native Language Initiative

Yesterday afternoon, Senator Murkowski participated in a United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing to discuss her legislation to protect and preserve Native languages. When a representative from a White House Initiative came to testify, Senator Murkowski told them to increase their commitment to sustaining this link to American Indian and Native Alaskan heritage – since doing so has been proven to boost academic performance.

(Senator Murkowski: “The moral gravity of inaction is another generation we have failed.” – Click to view.)