Lisa Murkowski

Alaska provides the only location capable of supporting both short- and long-range hypersonic weapons testing within the United States.

Okay. I want to note that we are going to continue to place a priority on that.

I don't think that $25 million is adequate to address the decline that we see within the industry there.

The local hire and the incorporation of local knowledge in land management is super-important for us in Alaska.

If we can resolve some of these things quickly to allow for these applications to be submitted, and again, to take advantage of this, that is where we are going to make a difference.

I would ask that our teams sit down and talk about this, because as we are talking about it, you have a deadline that is coming up with opportunities for grant funding that is going to make a difference to tribes.

In Alaska, again, with small tribes, it is complicated, but most utilities are also small and simply can't afford the match.

Thank you for the time.

Speaking about refining the procedures, of course you are familiar with the, in Alaska, the tribal consortia, and how they really are able to harness economies of scale.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I have found in some agencies... an unwillingness to speak the language of the tribes.

We should be working together to try to figure out how we can solve some of these problems...

If you have greater resources, it would seem to me reasonable that this would certainly free that up. Would you not agree?

So you don't consider that outreach, do you?

One of the challenges that we have in Alaska, just as it is difficult to get things in, you have to fly barrels of fuel in at the end of winter, it is equally difficult to get things out.

But when it is our own systems that effectively hold them back, that is not fair to anybody.

Fourteen percent, about 14 percent of households in Indian Country don't have electricity.

For far too long, we hear about these programs, we hear about the funding that we have put, outlined in legislation, in law with specific, specific set-asides for tribal interests.

Well, know that we're paying close attention to Coast Guard.

Well, know that we're paying close attention to Coast Guard.

It's kind of embarrassing to think that a country like India is going to have an icebreaker in the water before we would.

We are lagging and a commercially available icebreaker is just going to be a gap-filler.

Alaska is really the first line of defense for our nation up there.

If we can resolve some of these things quickly to allow for these applications to be submitted, and again, to take advantage of this, that is where we are going to make a difference.

I would ask that our teams sit down and talk about this, because as we are talking about it, you have a deadline that is coming up with opportunities for grant funding that is going to make a difference to tribes.