Murkowski Morning Meeting for Tuesday, July 9, 2013

U.S. Senate Events

“Rubber Stamp” on National Security Surveillance?

Alaskan Impact: The federal government’s monitoring of Americans in the name of national security has come under fire in recent weeks, as news first broke that the NSA was collecting millions of American’s phone records. Senator Murkowski has raised Alaskans’ concerns over the approval process to gain phone records of law-abiding Americans – observing that since no applications were denied in over 1800 requests last year, a “rubber stamp” appearance is emerging. Today the nominee to become the next FBI Director addressed those worries.

6:00am AKDT
Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing
Topic: The nomination of James Comey Jr., to be director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Testimony from:

• The nominee, James Comey Jr.

(CLICK IMAGE to watch)

Comey: “It is anything but a rubber stamp.”

Watch the entire hearing online: judiciary.senate.gov

U.S. House Events

Small Businesses: “Get Out of the Way”

Alaskan Impact: According to recent Small Business Administration (SBA) numbers, Alaska is home to more than 68,000 small businesses. Many of those small business owners tell Senator Murkowski that the best thing the federal government can do is get out of the way so they can thrive without overregulation. Today, the House looks at other barriers hindering business in the United States – and ways the government can get out of the way for our economic success.

9:00am AKDT
House Small Business Committee Hearing
Topic: Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access Subcommittee hearing on “American Competitiveness Worldwide: Impacts on Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs.”
Testimony from:

• Michael Porter, Professor at Harvard Business School
• Smyth McKissick, National Council of Textile Organizations
• James McConeghy, CFO of Chobani, Norwich, N.Y.

Watch the entire meeting online: smallbusiness.house.gov

Legislative Action

Protecting Tomorrow’s College Students from Higher Loan Payments

Earlier today, Senator Lisa Murkowski co-sponsored S.1241 the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act to keep loan rates low for new college students – representing a permanent fix to “lock and lower” interest rates for 100 percent of newly-issued student loans. Though rates on new loans officially doubled on July 1^st, if this bill is enacted, the U.S. Department of Education would originate all new loans for the coming school year at the new, lower rates.

This bipartisan measure uses a plan proposed by President Barack Obama in his 2013 budget and is similar to the approach that passed the Republican House of Representatives in May.