Lisa Murkowski

And would you agree with me that as an Arctic nation we need more than one icebreaker?

$8 million is not enough. We are a State that is one-fifth the size of the United States, and 80 percent of the communities are not accessible by road.

I will do everything that I can working with you and other members of this subcommittee to make sure that they have what they need.

I think that any diligent effort that might be made to enforce a new policy... I'm concerned that what we might see are further delays.

I'm happy to see that you requested funding for the seventh national security cutter (NSC) as part of the Coast Guard's fleet recapitalization program.

Our problem is that there is nothing in the queue to follow the Munro, which is a concern for us with that lapse of coverage.

Alaska needs a national security cutter. We need to have a national security cutter homeported in the State of Alaska.

As good as $10 million is in this budget and my environment, we know that we need $850 million, give or take a little bit.

I am writing to express our support for S. 761, The Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act and to thank you for holding this hearing today.

Under the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, there is a program in there called Supply Star.

Thank you for being here today to provide testimony to the committee on the various measures that we have in front of us.

We are trying to put forward a path to give some level of certainty that there is a process that will not be open-ended.

Hydro is back, and I think with the good work that you and Senator Shaheen are doing, we can amend that and say energy efficiency is coming back, too.

Do you think we can get 100 to nothing on this side? If so, can you help us make that happen?

I have long been a hydropower proponent. I consider hydropower to be our hardest working renewable resource.

I would like to have you look at that definition so that it is not so narrowly defined.

I am concerned about that aspect of it.

This is an important program in the State of Alaska.

We have had a bipartisan group of Senators that supported the language in the Appropriations bill to delay that wage rule.

I think I pointed out that we have seen some great benefits in the State of Alaska.

One of the things that I thank you for your leadership, Secretary Shinseki, in Alaska, we have an agreement between the VA and the native health system, where the veterans can go to the Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities for that level…

In far too many of Alaska's communities, we're simply not connected by road; 80 percent of the communities in the State of Alaska are not accessible by road, so we've got to fly.

Well, if we can work with you to identify how we might be more effective in reaching our veterans in these highly rural areas, we would like to do that with you.

Thank you for your leadership, Secretary Shinseki, in Alaska, we have an agreement between the VA and the native health system.

I appreciate you giving that background. We have had, I think, a pretty successful partnership with Japan.