Lisa Murkowski

I think that will be key because if you are the individual, if you're the community, you don't care which department, which agency, has the responsibility, what you care is that it gets addressed.

And you had mentioned in your comments just here your commitment to ensuring that we have clean lands and a level of enforcement for those that would degrade the quality of our lands.

Quite honestly, we get tired of these decade long battles.

I wrote you earlier this spring to see if you could help us settle an issue, a land issue, in the State that would provide for a bypass route of the Sterling Highway at Cooper Landing.

I share your frustration. You know, there are some who says, well, the process is slowed here in the Senate...

When I look at the budgets not only within Interior, but the other subcommittees, I am always looking to see where have we, as an Arctic nation, placed the priority, the funding priority, in our budgets.

I do not know if you have heard about Karluk Lake. This is a beautiful lake on Kodiak, in the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge area.

I need you to commit to working with our Alaska Native leadership to educate Fish and Wildlife service personnel on the need to treat elephant ivory different than walrus ivory.

I need some understanding this morning as where we stand with the co-management regime, what the timeframe is for this proposed rulemaking.

This is a bilateral commission that we have in place with Russia.

Thank you, Senator Capito.

Your budget doesn't use gimmicks--it proposes real cuts to programs.

I strongly support such as the opening of the 1002 area in ANWR for energy development.

Another area is the Volcano Hazard Program.

I appreciate that. And this is something that as we move forward, you as Secretary here, know that I am going to be on you and your folks to make sure that we have a serious commitment of resources and prioritization to clean these wells…

I would love to introduce you to some of our Tribal court judges.

I do support and remain supportive of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

I am concerned by many of the proposed reductions to the BIA, particularly the elimination of the Tribal Courts Program for which I secured funds for the first time in fiscal year 2016.

So it is tough for me to accept a 34 percent reduction to the Department's programs that issues conveyances to those who have waited so long to get title to their lands.

Know that I certainly support you in that endeavor and happy to work with you as well.

I think it is probably in our best interest to know so we can make a decision either way.

The idea was to take an environmental burden and turn it into environmental benefit.

The whole budget is $4 trillion. The part that is out of control is the mandatory spending.

As I told the Chief of the Forest Service 2 weeks ago, this is an issue that we must work on together.

I certainly prefer that relationship to being a landlord, but I think we recognize that when a Department has authority over 220 million acres in a State like mine...