WASHINGTON, July 25 -- Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Maryland, ranking Democratic member of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, issued the following news release on July 24: U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Ranking Member Ben Cardin's (D-Md.) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth's (D-Ill.) Unlocking Opportunities in Emerging Markets Act today gained bipartisan support after U.S. Representatives Abby Finkenauer (D-Iowa) and Don Young (R-Alaska) introduced a   more

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, issued the following news release on July 22: Today, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) - chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee (SVAC) - held a roundtable discussion to address veteran equality and ways the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) can better serve women, minority and American Indian and Alaska Native veterans. "Since America's founding, women and minorities have serve  more

WASHINGTON, July 25 -- Rep. Peter A. DeFazio, D-Oregon, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, issued the following news release: Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Chair of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA) issued the following statements after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) regarding the Pebble Mine project.   more

DALLAS, Texas, July 25 -- Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, issued the following news release: The final Environmental Impact Statement for the Pebble Mine, a massive proposed open-pit gold and copper mine at the heart of Bristol Bay, Alaska, was released by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Bristol Bay Watershed is home to the world's largest natural sockeye salmon run which is an integral part of the social and cultural heritag  more

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- The House Natural Resources subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the U.S. issued the following testimony by Andy Teuber, chairman and president of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, in a remote hearing on the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Land Transfer Act (H.R. 7119): My name is Andy Teuber, I am the Chairman and President of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC). Thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of H.R. 7119--the Alask  more

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- The House Natural Resources subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the U.S. issued the following testimony by Michael D. Weahkee, director of Indian Health Service at the Health and Human Services Department, in a remote hearing on the Proper and Reimbursed Care for Native Veterans Act (H.R. 6237); Coverage for Urban Indian Health Providers Act (H.R. 6535); and Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Land Transfer Act (H.R. 7119) on July 22: Thank you for the opportunity t  more

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- The House Natural Resources subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the U.S. issued the following testimony by Robyn Sunday-Allen, vice president of the National Council of Urban Indian Health, in a remote hearing on the Coverage for Urban Indian Health Providers Act (H.R. 6535): My name is Robyn Sunday-Allen and I am the Vice President of the National Council of Urban Indian Health (NCUIH), which represents the 41 Urban Indian Organizations (UIOs) across the nation who pr  more

WASHINGTON, July 21 -- Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: Alaska Congressman Don Young announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded over $2 million in funding to various Alaska Native organizations. In addition to general health care grant funding, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium was awarded a grant under the CDC's Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Program. The REACH Program is the only federal prog  more

WASHINGTON, July 22 -- Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: Alaska Congressman Don Young, former Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, helped the House pass legislation reauthorizing funding for the Coast Guard through F.Y. 2022, included with H.R. 6395, the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). In addition to reauthorizing Coast Guard funding, amendments increasing the U.S. Maritime Administration's (MARAD  more

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: Alaska Congressman Don Young, former Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, voted in support of H.R. 1957, the Great American Outdoors Act. This landmark conservation legislation provides funding to clear the $12 billion National Park Service maintenance backlog, expands the preservation of ecosystems and biodiversity, and permanently funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) - an achievement  more

WASHINGTON, July 22 -- Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, issued the following statement: With the support of Alaska Congressman Don Young, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6395 - the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 - legislation to set the annual budget for the Department of Defense. In addition to supplying needed funding for military expenditures, providing a 3.1% military pay raise, and bolstering natural disaster and pandemic preparedness.  more

WASHINGTON, July 22 -- Sen. Michael F. Bennet, D-Colorado, issued the following news release: Following President Donald Trump's formal nomination of anti-public lands activist William Perry Pendley to lead the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet joined his Western colleagues in calling for an expedited Senate confirmation hearing for Pendley, who was installed as the de facto acting director of the agency nearly a year ago without a confirmation hearing or vot  more

WASHINGTON, July 25 -- Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, slammed an environmental analysis released by the Trump administration that could pave the way for approval of the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska: "Mining and fish spawning habitat don't mix. Mining pollution not only kills fish, but it can permanently destroy their hab  more

WASHINGTON, July 25 -- Sen. Tom Carper, D-Delaware, ranking Democratic member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, issued the following statement after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concluded its environmental review for Pebble Mine project in Alaska and clearing a path for the project to be approved: "The Trump Administration's determination that the Pebble Mine project will bear no harm to the environment does not change the fact that the Pebble Mine project poses a real a  more

WASHINGTON, July 25 -- Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Delaware, issued the following statement after the Army Corps of Engineers concluded its environmental review for Pebble Mine project in Alaska: "The Trump Administration's determination that the Pebble Mine project will bear no harm to the environment does not change the fact that the Pebble Mine project poses a real and undeniable threat to the environment. "The science is crystal clear, as clear as the waters teeming with hundreds of thousands of  more

WASHINGTON, July 24 -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) 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 Nuc  more

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) recently co-sponsored the bipartisan Paycheck Protection Small Business Forgiveness Act, a bill sponsored by Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND). Cramer originally introduced the bill with Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). "We appreciate our colleagues signing on to this important legislation," said Senator Cramer. "The bill is a commons  more

WASHINGTON, July 24 -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, issued the following news: U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and Rep. Don Young, all R-Alaska, issued the following statements after the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its Record of Decision (ROD) for the Ambler Mining District Industrial Access Road project (Ambler Road). "Federal approval of the Ambler Road is both timely and significant for Alaska's future,"   more

WASHINGTON, July 24 -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and Rep. Don Young, all R-Alaska, issued the following statements after the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its Record of Decision (ROD) for the Ambler Mining District Industrial Access Road project (Ambler Road). "Federal approval of the Ambler Road is both timely and significant for Alaska's future," Senator Murkowski said. "This project will provide the   more

WASHINGTON, July 24 -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, issued the following news on July 23: U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today chaired a hearing to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on users of public lands, forests, and national parks. The committee received testimony from witnesses representing the outdoor recreation industry, ranchers, water providers, state wildlife agencies, and a nonprofit foundation that p  more

WASHINGTON, July 24 -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, chaired a hearing to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on users of public lands, forests, and national parks. The committee received testimony from witnesses representing the outdoor recreation industry, ranchers, water providers, state wildlife agencies, and a nonprofit foundation that partners with the National Park Service. In her opening statement, Murko  more

WASHINGTON, July 24 -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, issued the following news on July 23: U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today thanked her colleagues for supporting the inclusion of S. 903, her Nuclear Energy Leadership Act (NELA), in S. 4049, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021. The Senate today passed the NDAA bill, with NELA incorporated by amendment, by a vote of 86 to 14. "For too long,  more

WASHINGTON, July 24 -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, thanked her colleagues for supporting the inclusion of S. 903, her Nuclear Energy Leadership Act (NELA), in S. 4049, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021. The Senate passed the NDAA bill, with NELA incorporated by amendment, by a vote of 86 to 14. "For too long, the United States has lagged woefully behind on innovative nuclear energy tec  more

WASHINGTON, July 22 -- Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, commended the U.S. Air Force for releasing the first service-specific strategy for the Arctic. The Air Force's Arctic Strategy document, which builds on the Department of Defense's (DOD) Arctic Strategy, released in June 2019, and the National Defense Stra  more

WASHINGTON, July 24 -- Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, voted with 85 of his colleagues to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021, which authorizes $740.5 billion in critical defense spending and includes numerous Arctic and Alaska priorities championed by Sullivan. Provisions secured by Sullivan include $193 million in military spending for Alas  more

WASHINGTON, July 21 -- Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Congressman Don Young (all R-Alaska) welcomed an announcement from the U.S. Department of Commerce that the Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding $5.3 million in CARES Act Recovery Assistance to the State of Alaska to administer a Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) to provide critical financing for small businesses and entrepreneurs across the state tha  more

WASHINGTON, July 24 -- Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and Rep. Don Young, all R-Alaska, issued the following statements after the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its Record of Decision (ROD) for the Ambler Mining District Industrial Access Road project (Ambler Road). "Federal approval of the Ambler Road is both timely and significant for Alaska's future," Senator Murkowski said. "This project will provide the ac  more

WASHINGTON, July 24 -- Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, issued the following news release: U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, chairman of the Subcommittee on Security, will convene a hearing titled, "The China Challenge: Realignment of U.S. Economic Policies to Build Resiliency and Competitiveness," at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 30, 2020. The hearing will examine topics related to the Chinese Communist Party's unfair trade  more

WASHINGTON, July 21 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release on July 20: Tomorrow, the U.S. Senate is set to vote on an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) introduced by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that will limit the transfer of certain surplus military-grade equipment to local law enforcement agencies across the country. The Schatz-Murkowski-Harris-Paul amendm  more

WASHINGTON, July 21 -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: The U.S. Senate is set to vote on an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) introduced by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that will limit the transfer of certain surplus military-grade equipment to local law enforcement agencies across the country. The Schatz-Murkowski-Harris-Paul amendment places limitati  more

WASHINGTON, July 22 -- Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, issued the following news release on July 21: The U.S. Senate is set to vote on a bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) introduced by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that would limit the transfer of certain surplus military-grade equipment to local law enforcement agencies across the country. The ame  more

WASHINGTON, July 25 -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, introduced the Mothers and Newborns Success Act, legislation to help reduce the egregious racial inequities in maternal and infant mortality. Congresswoman Terri Sewell (AL-07) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives. According to the Centers for Di  more

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, issued the following news release on July 22: U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) testified yesterday before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs (SFOPS) regarding U.S. efforts to combat the global marine debris crisis and the Save Our Seas (SOS) 2.0 Act, legislation introduced by Sullivan, Whitehouse and Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) that passed the Senate i  more

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, issued the following news release on July 22: U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) testified yesterday before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs (SFOPS) regarding U.S. efforts to combat the global marine debris crisis and the Save Our Seas (SOS) 2.0 Act, legislation introduced by Sullivan, Whitehouse and Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) that passed   more

WASHINGTON, July 24 -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate Oceans Caucus, have announced that their legislation to advance data collection and monitoring of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts was approved by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee by voice vote yesterday. The Bolstering Long-Term Understanding and Exploration of  more