I want to publicly recognize you and your leadership on how we are assuming the role as an Arctic nation and moving responsibly to lay the groundwork for what we know is coming in terms of increased activity up there.

Well, we have had an opportunity to talk about the geographic reality that when you have got your assets located down in Kodiak and you need to move something up north somewhere around the Chukchi, that is a heck of a long haul.

You briefly mentioned that the United States Coast Guard supports ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty? Why?

Also, the Arctic has very little emergency response capability for an area that is so vast and remote.

The Arctic literally needs to be put on the map.

Today Alaskans join me in stating that our state--and our nation--must not be idle and passive; that we must not drift; that we must choose our destiny and work hard, as well, to achieve it.

But that too is part of this needs assessment that you are undertaking to determine exactly what that is.

I urge the Congress and the Federal Administration to continue the good work on Arctic policies and encourage the development of a National Arctic Doctrine that includes all stakeholders in the future of the Arctic.

And that argument needs to be made exceptionally clear.

We think it's important for these to be separately monitored and analyzed in the course of development, because most Arctic wildlife species migrate over vast distances and are susceptible to these cumulative changes.

I appreciate that commitment. I appreciate all that the Coast Guard does to serve us here in Alaska and around the country.

We will have something to really look back at with pride in terms of what we have developed because we acted in a manner that was proactive rather than reactive.

Now is the time for the level of cooperation with the other Arctic nations in so many different ways.

I think one of the beautiful examples that we have with Newtok is it is a community that has taken initiative.

And yet basing them, whether it is a helicopter or otherwise, in an area where you do not have a hangar facility where you do not have runways that you need, where you do not have harbor for the boats, we are talking some pretty basic…

As far as our icebreakers go and our capacity, we have had the discussion about what the Congress is doing right now to put forward funding to bring into operational readiness one of our icebreakers.

I urge the Congress to support the ground-based missile defense system in Alaska and reconsider the proposal to scale back the placement of interceptors at Fort Greely.

The Arctic's abundant resources; human and natural, and our strategic location for national security demand our attention.

The Federal law was not written with such hazards in mind and does not provide the mount the large-scale response these small communities need.

We need to fund a new Coast Guard duty station or port on Alaska's coast between Nome and Barrow to meet the new challenges of the Arctic.

Spill prevention and response measures should be viewed as a really good investment that pays dividends in avoiding the costs of a spill.

I am here to seek funding for a new Coast Guard duty station or port on Alaska's western or northern coast.

We look forward to working with you on these issues and so many more.

We can no longer assume that the threat from the north to our oil production fields is not real.

The Bering Strait, sometimes now called the Bering Gate, is a prime strategic area.