Lisa Murkowski

Thank you. I appreciate the fact that you have come all the way to be part of the testimony this morning. Very credible panel. You have certainly enhanced that credibility. We appreciate that.

I'm going to ask you a more specific question, if I may.

Our oil imports have declined from 60 percent in 2005 to the latest number I've seen in your numbers, Howard, 44 percent.

We recognize that there are a lot of different factors that are driving up the fuel costs.

Including, Senator Murkowski, in Alaska with respect to TAPS which we need to get on

U.S. oil production is up 20 percent since 2008, over 1.1 million barrels a day.

I think realistically we know that there are no quick and easy answers to the fact that we are seeing significantly high prices at the pump.

What about the rest?

They expect us to do something here. They want to know what it is that can be done.

I would appreciate that a great deal.

If there is any way to include a meeting with the mayor of the Fairbanks North Star Borough...

Can you think of any reason why you should not be able to accommodate that meeting?

I also recognize that our wing commanders are there for very brief periods and then they move on.

Have we identified how much will actually be saved, where that comes from, whether it's in personnel reductions or from infrastructure cost reductions?

But, again, was there any data that was different this go-around in this tabletop exercise than what we saw back in 2005?

What is the business justification for moving the Aggressor squadron from Eielson Air Force Base to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson?

I appreciate that the Budget Control Act puts us in a very difficult spot.

But with this somewhat ad hoc realignment proposal that is now out there on the table for Eielson, it doesn't bring any of that assistance to the communities.

There is an obligation for consultation. There is an obligation for that information.

I'm concerned that what it looks like is we're trying to break Eielson down in small pieces to put it in a situation where it really doesn't stand on its own.

It seems to me that the Air Force is taking the position that it can avoid the intent of either of these two statutes.

Many up north feel that the Air Force, since it was not able to get this proposal through the BRAC Commission, is simply trying to accomplish this through a different means.

I write in strong support of the nomination of Chairman Tony Clark from the North Dakota Public Service Commission to be a Commissioner to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (``FERC'').

The legislation clarifies the cure provisions already in law apply to the failure to timely file a small miner claim maintenance fee waiver.

I write on behalf of Trout Unlimited (TU) and its 140,000 members to express our strong support for S. 1788, the Pine Forest Range Recreation Enhancement Act of 2011.