Mary Peltola

I want to commend the Coast Guard on all of the real substantive efforts and forward progress on housing and childcare in many of your stations.

It's also a project that is of life-and-death importance to my constituents in Alaska.

I, too, am frustrated by the projected cost overruns and the protracted timeline on the Polar Security Cutter program.

We must correct the injustices faced by certain Native communities in Southeast Alaska.

We need you to pass this, please.

I promised my father on his deathbed, literally, that I would fight, and I would continue this fight.

The primary concern that came up over and over again was access.

It is clear that a consensus has emerged, and it is time for Congress to join.

My predecessor, Congressman Young, knew this was an injustice and championed this bill all his years in the Congress.

Today, I am thrilled that we are discussing how to write a wrong that has lingered for over half a century.

Back in July, I introduced this legislation with Representative Kilmer from my state of Washington as well as Representative Davids from the state of Kansas.

H.R. 4524 will fix this issue by classifying tribal law enforcement officers as Federal law enforcement officers for the purpose of Federal benefits and pensions.

H.R. 4524 aims to improve hiring and also increase retention for tribal law enforcement officers to better protect Native communities.

Every tribe deserves the ability to protect their people, access their historic lands, care for sacred animals, and have a place to come together as a community.

I appreciate the fact that our first Native Alaskan Congresswoman is moving this bill forward, a mere three decades later.

We will not become conservation refugees at the behest of the environmental corporations from the lower-48 states that are trying to 'protect us from ourselves.'

We do not approve of these efforts to turn our homeland into one giant national park, which literally guarantees us a fate with no economy, no jobs, reduced subsistence, and no hope for the future of our people.

We support your bill. I am here to continue the legacy of our past leaders to fight for what is rightfully ours--these are our homelands.

The Department needs to rescind its cancellation of the leases and allow exploration.

We are good stewards of our lands and resources, and we have been for millennia.

This means that we are being heard. We, of course, support your bill.

I would love to hear from each of you on how we can do a better job, as Alaskans, making sure that industry, Native people, and environmental folks can collaborate and work together.

I think that this Administration has shown Alaskans some deference in terms of Willow, the largest oil project that our state, our nation has seen in decades.

The issue and goal of this Administration seems to be to erase us from the landscape!

We are an 'inconvenient truth' because we are here, and we will not give up on our rights as Indigenous people.