We know that there are provisions within this bill, there are certain segments that are not universally supported, some areas that were perhaps not addressed to everyone's satisfaction.

I want to thank you for your leadership on this issue, working with you, Senator Alexander, Senator Feinstein, in trying to come together over the course of many months to really find this path forward.

this upcoming Saturday marks the third time Alaskans from across my home State will join together to ``get out and play'' in memory of the life and legacy of Senator Ted Stevens. Since Ted's passing nearly three years ago, we have followed…

We greatly appreciate Chairman Wyden's and Ranking Member Murkowski's recent agreement to include national park partnership funding.

I think that is huge for us. These are exactly the type of volunteer efforts that the Park service should be using and expanding upon.

Is that based on the number of visitors? Is that how you place a priority?

Senator Murkowski, you so appreciate happening in Alaska right now.

the town's economy is threatened.

I do think it's worth thinking about that we haven't had a way to fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and we've been trying for 40 years.

We want that Copper River seafood sold in your parks.

Here's a chance to meet one of the country's economic needs and, in the years ahead, with a specific timetable, really get the Government out of the helium business.

What kind of a message do you think that that sends?

the implications for not only the State of Alaska, that has a very strong, well-managed sustainable fisheries, is really quite concerned about the implications of this policy.

I support many of those efforts.

How do we make sure that, in trying to address these challenges, we don't price that park experience outside of the reach of working families?

For those of us in Alaska, our parks are pretty special. Not that they are not special in other parts of the country, I think ours are just bigger and they take up more space, and they are a constant reminder of the national treasures that…

You've got to step up, and you've got to look, as I indicated, at real and creative approaches.

He is raising legitimate questions about how the Park Service is going to be able to properly care for our national parks.

I was hiking through Klondike Gold Rush National Park some years ago.

What I'm concerned about is that the Park Service and HHS doesn't understand that when you go with one certification...

The reality is we've got some very serious, I think, reform when it comes to how we handle our maintenance issues within our parks.

Senator Murkowski and I are also working on another bipartisan effort at this time on natural gas.

I can't imagine that the bulk of what you're doing with these land acquisitions is these smaller in-holdings.

I really do hope that this is the beginning of a very constructive dialog that allows us to address, in a meaningful way, the maintenance backlog of our wonderful national parks.

There is an expectation, I want to be clear about that, by the American public that their tax dollars are the principal source for maintaining the national parks.