Lisa Murkowski

There's no need to reinvent wheels here.

We welcome them, but these airmen and their families need housing and one of the difficulties that we have encountered has been with the VA loan appraisal process.

I think it's a good idea.

I appreciate that priority.

That will be a huge relief to the veterans in my state.

I also sit on the Commerce Committee with our great Chair, Maria Cantwell.

The infrastructure is fine, but if it costs you $300 a month, then it is of no use to you.

I think we recognize that as much as we can do jointly for mobilization efforts, that is going to work to get better value for your dollar.

I think there is a recognition that a level of coordination is going to absolutely be key.

You really do have to be somewhat technology neutral.

We recognize that we have challenges in being able to get that, not the least of which is the extraordinary cost and the time involved.

I think we are going to have a fair amount of follow-up here, but we have some good folks who are part of the call to work with our staff.

$2 billion for our tribal communities.

Affordability is something that we have to address.

We are looking at the largest investment in broadband deployment and adoption in this Country ever.

We have an historic moment in front of us when it comes to the opportunities that we have put in place legislatively.

I hear way too often that it is the siloed world that we are all operating in, and that just further complicates it.

We need to be working together in that vein.

Cut through that red tape.

How do we cut the red tape here that oftentimes leaves tribes behind?

You remind me, and there were some people on this Committee, some of the staff on the Committee, that had an opportunity to go out to the Committee hearing that we held out in Savoonga a couple of years ago.

I would give my life for a 1 percent debt and 40 years to pay it back.

I think we recognize these areas of importance, and again, what more we can do to incentivize financial institutions to invest in our Native communities.

I don't think they are too plain and direct at all.

I think probably the others on the panel would agree that we can't make roads happen, we can't make water infrastructure happen unless we have some sense of the permitting process.