Lisa Murkowski

Well, it is really encouraging to hear you say this, because it is really all encompassing.

China's investments in the Arctic have gone from $150B in 2012 to over $300B today.

I have long advocated for our country to pay greater attention to the region.

We can't continue to rely on resources from others, I think we recognize that right now, we rely more heavily on China for these critical minerals.

I believe the requests made in the defense spending document are inadequate to maintain serious regional competition from the United States in the Arctic region.

Right now the Arctic is not a hot spot, and I think we all would agree, we want to keep it from becoming so.

I think we recognize we are seeing regional competition, we are seeing a level of activity in the region from those that--who would have ever thought that the interest would be coming from China.

I am worried that this may happen at the VA, where we continually appropriate money at the problem but don't see improvement in the situation.

Know that we appreciate that. We will look forward to partnering very closely with you as the months proceed here.

We are really excited about it. The Alaska delegation certainly is, but also the communities up north.

We are trying to address these issues, and you are trying to look to what are the contributing factors, what is happening out there?

A 92% increase is an impressive ask and I believe that it indicates that you are making a serious commitment to provide support to our nations veterans who are facing desperate situations.

I'm not opposed to conservation by any stretch of the imagination, but I think it's important to recognize that I come from a State where nearly 30 percent of our State is already conserved under ANILCA alone.

I want to make sure that once again at the subcommittee level we are directing that.

I think we recognize that it's hard to get a handle on the number and projecting forward if we haven't really defined what leases we're talking about here.

I appreciate the efforts that are being made as we try to address the issues surrounding missing, murdered American Indians, Alaska Natives.

Senator Murkowski and I have legislation to fix this problem and to make sure that these sacred items can't be exported for sale at auction houses in Europe.

I expect today to hear your plans to resume implementation of those lease sales.

The level of discussion and openness before action consultation is always key.

I appreciate that, and I will commend you to a letter that, Secretary Haaland, you received along with other Secretaries in the Cabinet from the Governor of the State of Alaska outlining the extent of the concerns and the issues, also…

Will this Energy Community Revitalization Program fund remediation of contaminated lands that have been conveyed to Alaska Natives and to the State?

I mentioned I was encouraged by yesterday's District Court ruling that determined that the administration's pause is outside of the law.

For many of the programs the department manages, there is a seemingly bottomless amount of need.

So, this is not just my initiative, that the Governor, the State is very fully behind it.

This action serves political interests while obstructing Alaska's economy and putting our Nation's energy security at greater risk.