Lisa Murkowski

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I call up substitute amendment No. 1407.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, as I mentioned yesterday as we were preparing to vote on the motion to proceed to the American Energy Innovation Act, there is much to like and much to support in this energy reform legislation we have proposed. We are in the early stages here of legislating, and I think it is probably fair to say that perhaps we are a little rusty. As we have told Members, we hope to have a process that allows for amendments from both sides, that gives us an opportunity to debate these important and timely issues. As we legislate and as we move through each step, it does require a level of cooperation. Again, as I mentioned, we haven't been legislating on a weekly basis, so when it comes to just the process and the procedure of how this all comes together, maybe we are still in a little bit of a learning curve. I have had an opportunity in previous Congresses to be that first legislative vehicle that we have really taken on in a period of time. We have worked through some of them successfully before--one, famously unsuccessful. I don't want this to fall into the ``famously unsuccessful'' category, so I am encouraging Members to look critically at the bill we have introduced, the American Energy Innovation Act, and work with us through this amendment process. We have received a number of what I would put in the ``noncontroversial bucket'' category that I am hoping we will be able to accept, and I am hoping we can work together to incorporate those into our underlying measure. I wanted to take just a few minutes this afternoon to highlight why the innovation title within the American Energy Innovation Act is so important and what this bill will do to help support and increase innovation in America. When you think about who we are as Americans, what we are built on, we are built on a foundation of ingenuity and innovation. We pioneered the electric grid system. We pioneered nuclear energy. We pioneered horizontal drilling. These are many of the life-, economy-, and world- changing technologies that you think of in this energy space, and the United States has led in these areas. But the policies underlying Federal energy R&D have not been updated now in more than 12 years--a dozen years since we have last updated, refreshed, modernized. So the question is whether they fully reflect the range of opportunities and challenges that we have, and I would submit to you that they do not. We haven't kept pace with everything that is happening around us. It is important--it is incumbent upon us to look to our policies. Modernizing our energy laws will support the scientific work undertaken by the Department of Energy, by our National Laboratories, and by our universities. It will also support the men and the women who dedicate their careers to scientific pursuits, individuals who truly form the backbone of American R&D and are a tremendous asset to our country. As I mentioned yesterday, those of us on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee have spent the last year putting together this innovation package. Throughout that process, what we heard in committee from the experts was that three of the most promising technologies for clean energy are energy storage; advanced nuclear; and carbon capture, utilization, and storage. These three areas, we are told, are where the promise really is if you want to focus on clean energy solutions. Our composite bill prioritizes all three technologies, as well as renewable energy and industrial and vehicle technologies. CCUS--carbon capture, utilization, and storage--technologies will allow coal and natural gas plants to avoid greenhouse gas emissions and even allow us to make useful products from carbon dioxide. I have had an opportunity and I know some other colleagues have had an opportunity to go to some of these laboratories--not only in this country but overseas--where we are taking that carbon, that waste product, and we are turning it into value--in other words, building materials, whether it is a sheetrock type of a process or whether it is the equivalent of cinder blocks made out of carbon, that waste. When we can change this so we are taking a waste product and converting it to value--talk about technologies that can really change how we operate. Again, the carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies will allow us to advance in that direction. The bill also includes demonstration and deployment programs that focus on industrial emissions and direct air capture, which will similarly reduce emissions. When you think about the prospects and the possibilities for us with direct air capture, it was not too many years ago that it was a dream concept. Now it is no longer a dream concept. We are truly in the process of evaluating and piloting some of these technologies. I mentioned nuclear energy as one of the three. Nuclear energy is our Nation's largest and most reliable source of zero-emission electricity. Within this subtitle of this bill, we have included the legislation I have been working on, the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act, which would demonstrate advanced reactors to help restore our national leadership and keep our domestic industry competitive with the likes of Russia and China. You have the CCUS and nuclear energy. The third area--the third really transformative area--is storage. This is, without a doubt, probably the most popular topic within our bill. We have included the BEST Act from Senator Collins, which creates a crosscutting energy storage R&D program at the Department of Energy. Its focus is on long- duration energy storage that can smooth out variable renewable energy generation. This is a very significant part of our bill. With regard to industrial energy, our innovation package includes language that Senator Whitehouse authored to create a crosscutting R&D program to reduce emissions in seven areas, including chemical production, steel and aluminum, high temperature process heat generation, and industrial carbon capture. I think you will see from that provision that, again, it is making inroads into those areas where we see the highest emissions within our industrial energy sector. As we see consumers demanding cleaner products, know that our bill helps ensure that American industries are going to be prepared to deliver on that. Another area where we are pushing forward, of course, is renewable energy, which we look at and say has the opportunity to provide nearly limitless power across America. The costs of many of these technologies we have already seen come down significantly. We take reasonable steps within this bill to move wind, solar, geothermal, marine, hydrokinetic, and other renewables to full commercialization. To give some specifics in this space, in geothermal energy, we provide opportunities to responsibly develop more of the resource with new techniques and to coproduce critical minerals along with it. In my State of Alaska, we have enormous potential within the geothermal space. Knowing that within this title, we have an opportunity to really help move out some of the new techniques that are out there is significant. For solar energy, we are working on new applications like solar paint, addressing grid integration challenges, and improving recycling. For marine energy--marine hydrokinetic--we are developing offshore testing centers to scale up new concepts. I remind colleagues, I come from a State where we have more coastline than the entire United States put together of all the coastal States there. This is an area that I have long looked to and said: Why are we not doing more when it comes to tapping into our marine energy sources? Our wind energy provisions include offshore and floating wind development and demonstration activities. We are working to push out in the renewable sector some of these areas where we are still pioneering in many of these ways. We have demonstrated wind on land with great efficiency. How are we doing with offshore? What more can we be doing there? By providing the Department of Energy with new tools and direction, we are helping to ensure the United States remains the world leader in innovative technologies. One of the challenges we hear about as we discuss these cool things in the Energy Committee is how you get these great cutting-edge ideas from the lab to the market. To address that, our bill reauthorizes the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. This is ARPA-E. This is the entity that helps these nascent technologies bridge the so-called valley of death and reach commercialization. ARPA-E has already delivered significant results with nearly $3 billion in follow-on private financing for its projects. We had the Secretary for the Department of Energy, Secretary Brouillette, before the committee just today on a budget hearing. He heard repeatedly from members on both sides of the aisle the value that comes from ARPA-E. Of course, developing new and cleaner and more affordable technologies doesn't benefit us just here at home; it can also make a meaningful impact around the world. We shouldn't just develop and deploy new technologies at home. We should also sell them to other countries around the world. This is an incredible opportunity for economic growth. We know that we will simultaneously lower global greenhouse gas emissions and help to cement geopolitical relationships that can span generations. We will be discussing more of the component pieces within the American Energy Innovation Act. You are going to continue to hear me say that this is good legislation, this is important legislation, this is timely legislation--after 12 years. But you don't necessarily have to take my word for it. Consider the work of the American Energy Innovation Council, which is led by noted individuals, luminaries, like Norm Augustine and Bill Gates. They have found that at least 50 percent of the U.S. annual GDP growth can be traced to increases in innovation and that innovation has been the predominant driver of U.S. economic growth over the last century. When we say that this Energy bill focuses on that innovation, recognize the value that innovation brings to us in the energy sector. The council's members have also observed that advances in energy technology deserve particular attention since energy underlies virtually every facet of modern life. Without a sufficient, reliable, and affordable source of energy, the U.S. economy would grind to a halt. They are exactly right in their words. Yet the United States continues to allocate less than 0.1 percent of its annual Federal outlays to energy R&D. Put that into context. This is an afterthought in our budget and, unfortunately, in real life for too many Americans. We take for granted that when you pull up to the gas station, they are going to have fuel there. We take for granted that when you flip the light switch, the lights are going to come on. The reality is, it takes a tremendous amount of work to make that happen. It is innovation that brings this all to us. Innovation is worth it. The proof is literally around us with everything we do. Given our history, given our people, given our institutions, I know this country can continue to lead the way on new technologies. What we need to do is make sure we have policies that help further incent them, that do not drag down that opportunity to meet those challenges. I am confident that we have a good bill in front of us, a strong bill in front of us. I appreciate the support that the Senate has shown for our bill thus far. I look forward to working on amendments as the week continues. I urge colleagues to provide us with those matters that you have been working on. We want to try to accommodate, but we also recognize that we haven't been in this process before where we have had the opportunity for open amendments. We want to try do it right. We want to try to be efficient, as we do in the Energy Committee, and we want to be fair to our colleagues. With that, I look forward to the input and the cooperation from fellow Senators as we proceed with the discussion about the American Energy Innovation Act. With that, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. I know of no further debate on the bill.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 5214.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 497.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to; the Cotton amendment at the desk to the preamble be considered and agreed to; the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Wednesday, March 4; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; finally, that following leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 2657, and that notwithstanding rule XXII, all postcloture time on the motion to proceed to S. 2657 be considered expired at 10:30 a.m.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be withdrawn; that the Peters substitute amendment, which is at the desk, be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 196, S. 1869.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Collins substitute amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to; and that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I know of no further debate on the bill, as amended.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 280, H.R. 4334.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I am here on the floor this afternoon because we will very shortly have a vote on the motion to proceed to S. 2657. This is the vehicle for our bipartisan American Energy Innovation Act. I am here today to kick things off and just let colleagues know some of the highlights of this measure that my colleague and ranking member on the Energy Committee, Senator Manchin, and I have been working on for some time. When I say ``some time,'' I think those here in the Senate know that when you take up substantive energy bills, whether they are focused on energy or whether they are focused on lands, we spend a lot of time giving good committee process to bring these matters to the floor. The measure that we have in front of us is the American Energy Innovation Act. You will hear it referred to by its acronym, AEIA, which makes you want to do a joke about the vowels--a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y. I can give you that, but I am not going to do that today. The reality is that we have been working on energy reform now for almost a dozen years. Twelve years is a long time, since we have last refreshed and updated our energy policies. This act contains priorities from more than 60 Members of the Senate. So to suggest that it is a bipartisan bill--it is more than bipartisan. It has Republican priorities and Democratic priorities and priorities from urban and rural areas. It is a package that really does help move the ball forward when we think about energy and energy innovation and energy security. I want to extend my particular thanks to my good friend and ranking member on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Manchin of West Virginia. He is going to be on the floor in just a couple of minutes to speak, as we take up this motion to proceed. From the start of this Congress, he and I have really been focused on modernizing our Nation's energy policies, and this bipartisan package that we have assembled will do just that. So, again, I credit my ranking member. I also credit the great work that both of our teams have brought to this very important national discussion. It has been a long process but one where I think Members will look critically at the package that is in front of them and realize that we have worked hard to address what more we could be doing to modernize our energy policy. I have been framing this American Energy Innovation Act into two buckets, if you will--innovation and security. Innovation includes everything from the renewables to vehicle technologies, to carbon capture utilization, to efficiency. Then you have the security side, which is the security of your supply chain and what that means to make sure you have access to minerals that allow you to build out your renewable energy projects. You view that security from a defense perspective. How do we ensure that our grids are secure and modernized and, again, secure from the perspective of economic security, when we ensure good jobs for Americans, from Alaska to Arkansas. So our bill promotes energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy storage--this is what so many of us have been speaking about for so long--advanced nuclear, industrial and vehicle technologies, carbon capture utilization and storage. We review a number of broad-based support programs, including weatherization assistance. In so many of our communities, especially in our cold States, which we are thinking about right now--but also during the summer months, when it is hot--weatherization assistance programs are a key for so many of the people whom we work for. We also renew ARPA-E. ARPA-E is that innovation hub within the Department of Energy that has really helped to build out so much in energy innovation. We have also included timely provisions to strengthen our Nation's mineral security and cyber security, as we modernize the electric grid and bolster workforce development. What we have worked to build are consensus policies that will help this country maintain its status as a global energy leader--and we are a global energy leader. We also want to ensure that we are providing affordable energy for our families and businesses and know that all of this helps to strengthen our national security and increase our global competitiveness. These policies will also lead to the development of low- and zero- emissions technologies that will help us address climate change and protect our environment. Now, you are going to have some people who might say: Well, this measure doesn't solve climate change. You haven't worked to reduce emissions to zero. I will stand before you and acknowledge that is the case, but what we are doing is recognizing that this is a necessary first step to update, to refresh, and to modernize energy policies that haven't seen an upgrade, if you will, in a dozen years, and to help incentivize these technologies that will get us to that cleaner energy future and really allow for a level of transition that will help protect the environment. These are the steps that we are taking today to focus on innovation in the energy space and the security of supply, economic security for the workforce, and physical security, when it comes to our energy grids. The American Energy Innovation Act is a good bill. You are going to hear me say that a lot this week. It is a good bill. It was developed the right way, through regular order--something that we don't see often enough around here. It is one of those things that the Energy Committee has developed a reputation for--using regular order--and we will see that regular order demonstrated here on the floor. This measure deserves to advance through the legislative process and to become law. We have an opportunity to legislate in a meaningful way for the American people. I think all of us have a little bit of pent-up energy, if you will, to get to legislating. We will have that opportunity in just a little bit. I would strongly encourage every Member to vote in favor of the motion to proceed to this important legislation. Mr. President, I see that my friend, the Senator from West Virginia, the ranking member, has come to the floor. I know he is going to give more extended remarks about the measure, speaking to some of the priorities. After we complete the vote here in about 15 minutes on the motion to proceed, I will have an opportunity to speak more fully about some of the details, but, again, I want to repeat, while my friend is here with me, that this opportunity to really shape legislation in a space that is so needed is one that he embraced from the minute he assumed the role as ranking member. The two of us asked: What is it that we can build? We are not interested in messaging. We are not interested in having hearings to have hearings for hearings' sake. We are interested in making a difference when it comes to our Nation's policy, and I think that we have done it. We have done it because of a good, cooperative process. So I want to thank my colleague. With that, I yield the floor.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, here we are; we have successfully voted to proceed to S. 2657, which is our vehicle for the American Energy Innovation Act. We are now at the point that many of us have been waiting for for some time; that is, the opportunity to debate, to offer amendments, and to pass this measure, hopefully on a strong bipartisan basis. I want to encourage all Members to look at the bill that is now before us and to ask those questions and look at how, with this update to our energy policies, we will be moving forward with innovation; we will be moving forward with energy security, grid modernization, cyber security, workforce security. We are at a good place this evening. As I mentioned in my very brief remarks before the vote, it has now been more than 12 years--more than a dozen years--since Congress enacted comprehensive legislation to update our energy laws. When you think about what has happened in a time period of a dozen years--12 years ago, we didn't have iPads. Twelve years ago we weren't even thinking about this shale revolution and what that would mean to America, turning us into an energy superpower. Over the course of 12 years, the costs of renewable resources have come down dramatically. New technologies are emerging. What hasn't kept pace are our policies. When they don't keep pace, we miss out on opportunities to further our energy leadership, and we are failing to adequately address what I think are some very significant challenges. That is why the innovation package that Senator Manchin and I have put forward is so important at this time. What we are seeking to do is to modernize our energy laws to ensure that we remain a global energy leader. We seek to keep energy affordable, to strengthen our security, and to increase our competitiveness. We do all of this while making our energy cleaner and cleaner, to protect the environment and to reduce the impacts of climate change. Within this measure--this American Energy Innovation Act--we have included more than 50 related measures that reflect the priorities of more than 60 different Senators. What we have done is gone through this committee process, and, as I mentioned, it has been a very robust, very thorough committee process. We have arranged these 50-some-odd measures into two titles. The first is focused on technological innovation, and the second title is focused on security and workforce development. Starting with the first title, which is innovation, we really start with the first fuel. First fuel is energy efficiency, which has tremendous potential to lower energy bills and to meet growing demand. We certainly know and understand that in a place like Alaska, a cold State. It helps our families, our businesses, and the environment alike when we can be more efficient in our energy consumption. I think we recognize that efficiency is often the easiest and often the cheapest option. That is why, within our bill, we take steps-- reasonable steps--to improve the efficiency of everything from schools to data centers. I mentioned also that we will renew vital programs like Weatherization Assistance. Again, that is so key to so many in States that are cold or very warm in the summertime. The second subtitle in the bill is focused on renewable energy. When you think about what has happened in the energy sector in a 12-year period, the progress we have made with renewable energy is remarkable. With this provision, we focus on resources like wind, solar, geothermal, hydropower, marine, and hydrokinetic energy, which offer the potential of virtually unlimited energy. Again, as I mentioned, the costs of these technologies have come down in recent years. What we aim to do with our bill is to keep that going so that as we make our energy cleaner and more renewable, it is also more affordable. The third subtitle in the innovation package focuses on energy storage. We talk a lot about energy storage, and folks look at that as being the holy grail. It really is critical to overcoming the variability of certain renewable resources. I want to recognize a colleague, my friend here, Senator Collins, from the State of Maine. She has been a real leader on this issue. We have taken her legislation and called it the Better Energy Storage Act, the BEST Act. We took the BEST Act and included four other bipartisan bills, all focused on storage, to advance these technologies. Another subtitle within the innovation space is carbon capture, utilization, and storage--technologies that reduce, and even eliminate, greenhouse gas emissions from coal and natural gas plants. Within this subtitle, we reflect both the EFFECT Act, which was sponsored by Senator Manchin, as well as the LEADING Act from Senators Cornyn and Cassidy, and this will help us build on the work that Congress has done to promote CCUS through the Tax Code. Another area of great focus within the bill is nuclear energy, which is clearly our largest source of emissions-free energy. Here in this country, we created nuclear energy. American ingenuity created nuclear energy, but conventional reactors are closing. What has happened is we have ceded our global leadership in recent decades. Through my Nuclear Energy Leadership Act, called NELA, the Nuclear Energy Renewal Act from Senator Coons, as well as the Integrated Energy Systems Act from Senator Risch, we seek to restore that leadership for next-generation reactor concepts. We also support innovation and smart manufacturing for industrial and vehicle technologies, which will help create good jobs in America's heartland. These are some of the toughest sectors for emissions reductions. So in this space, particularly, innovation is really key. I want to thank our colleague from Rhode Island, Senator Whitehouse, who just left the floor, for his leadership on the Clean Industrial Technologies Act. The last part of our first title will provide updated direction and authority to the Department of Energy, which is really at the heart of Federal efforts to promote energy innovation. To give a couple of examples here, we renew the popular ARPA-E program, and we improve the Office of Technology Transitions. Then the second title of the bill is more broadly focused on security and workforce development. We start off with focusing on supply chain issues as they relate to minerals themselves. I have included the American Mineral Security Act, which recognizes that our foreign mineral dependence is really our Achilles' heel. Right now in the United States, we import at least 50 percent of 46 minerals, including 100 percent of 17 of them. What we have seen is a foreign dependence that has grown significantly over the recent years. What we seek to do is to take some real steps to reverse that and rebuild our domestic supply chain. If we can do that, everyone from our military to our manufacturers will benefit. When we think about the securities space, we also have to focus on cyber security. We all understand a successful cyber attack against our Nation's critical infrastructure, including the electric grid, could have devastating and far-reaching consequences. To guard against that, we provide new mechanisms and incentives to protect our cyber security and modernize the domestic grid. Then again, when we think about security, we think about economic security through good jobs. We recognize the importance of a well- trained, highly skilled workforce. That is essential to our ability to produce energy, to develop clean technologies, rebuild our domestic supply chain, and ultimately remain a global energy superpower. To address workforce challenges, we have incorporated several bills from colleagues that will meet the needs of companies and our national labs alike. We are going to focus almost all of the debate on title I, ``Innovation,'' and title II, ``Security.'' Title III is really my favorite. It is the last title. We call it ``Cleaning up the Code.'' That is not very fancy, but we are working to repeal a number of sections of law that are either duplicated by the American Energy Innovation Act or simply outdated. We don't do this often enough. We need to take the old stuff off the books. There are reports that are no longer required that are parts of provisions of law that are just not in place; yet somebody out there still does the reports because we haven't taken them off the books. Let's get rid of things that are redundant or outdated. We repeal old studies. One of the items that we repeal is a requirement for motorists to purchase at least $5 worth of gas; we actually have on the books a requirement that motorists have to purchase at least $5 when you go to the fuel tank. We are getting rid of that. We have some other provisions in there that we believe are no longer needed. We did this very carefully. It was not just quickly going through things. We checked with the Department of Energy during both the last administration and this one to ensure they agree these are outdated or duplicative. As proud as I am of the substance of our innovation package, I am equally proud of the process that we followed to put it together. I mentioned earlier that, on the Energy Committee, we developed somewhat of a reputation for doing things the old-fashioned way, through regular orders, spending some time in committee, and really trying to build consensus products so that, when we can come to the floor, we have measures that enjoy broad support from both sides of the aisle. I think our bill is a textbook example of the benefits of working together across the aisle in a regular order process. It is not quick to do it this way. This is the result of a full year's worth of hearings, business meetings, and bipartisan negotiations. I think that it shows what is possible when we focus on what most of us agree on, rather than those things that will serve to divide us. I am certainly aware that, even with the strong vote that we just had to move to proceed to this bill, not all Members plan to support the measure. Some think it has gone too far; others think it doesn't do enough. I heard from Members who want to add energy tax provisions. I will have an opportunity to have that discussion, but I will remind colleagues that, when we originate here in the Senate--if there are any tax measures--that results in a blue slip from the House and effectively kills our bill. This is too good a bill to kill. A few would like to reduce its authorization levels, while others would have us multiply them by 10 times. I think by doing either of this, what you lose is the balance that we have worked very hard to achieve with this. Last point I am going to raise--and just very briefly because I will have plenty of time on the floor and I see we have colleagues here. One criticism I find disappointing is that we are not doing enough in this bill to tackle climate change. I think what is important for Members to know is this package, without question, is a good step, a strong step, a necessary step in the right direction to continue to reduce our Nation's greenhouse gas emissions. When you say we need to tackle climate change, you can't get there without innovation. You can't get there without technology. That is exactly what this bill promotes. To say that perhaps we should not pass a good bill because it doesn't go far enough, in my view, is a mistake that will result in absolutely nothing happening, and that is not good for anybody. I am excited to be here. I am proud to be managing a strong bill with the Senator from West Virginia. It is a strong bill that will benefit our economy, our security, our competitiveness, and our environment. I want to thank all the Members who have contributed to it and who will help us move this forward. I think we have a lot to be proud of. I hope that we will have a productive week in front of us as we begin to work through possible amendments. I yield the floor.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following fellows in my office be granted floor privileges through June 30, 2020: Robert Ivanauskas, Stephanie Miller, and Heather Boothe.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, very briefly, here this afternoon, beginning at 3:30, we will have a series of votes that include the nomination of Katharine MacGregor to be the Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior. I would like to provide my support for this nomination. I want to thank my colleagues on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee for working with me to report then re-report Ms. MacGregor's nomination, which moved out on a bipartisan basis. I thank the majority leader for filing cloture on her nomination before the recess so we could confirm her this week. She has a lot of work to do at Interior, and we need her on the job. She did very well at her confirmation hearing last year. She has significant experience on the issues she will face as Deputy Secretary, having worked here on Capitol Hill for 10 years, as the principal deputy and Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, as well as the Department's Deputy Chief of Staff, and, most recently, exercising the authority of the Deputy Secretary. Ms. MacGregor's nomination has drawn the support of dozens of groups, including some in my State: Alaska Federation of Natives, Arctic Slope Regional Association, Doyon Limited, American Wind Energy Association, Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Public Lands Council, and many others. I personally share those groups' confidence that Ms. MacGregor will do a good job as Deputy Secretary. I think she is well qualified. She has the right experience to succeed in this role. I think she will be a fine asset for Secretary Bernhardt and the rest of the Interior team. I would urge my colleagues to support her full confirmation. I yield the floor.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I want to take a few minutes to recognize the life of Ugiaqtaq Wesley Aiken, who died January 6, 2020 at the age 93 years old, only 19 days shy of his 94th birthday. With the passing of Native elder Wesley Aiken, Alaska has lost a highly respected Inupiat leader who dedicated his life to leadership in the Alaska Native community and ensuring that cultural and traditional knowledge will be passed down to younger generations. Wesley Aiken was born in 1926 in Utqiagvik, to a completely subsistence lifestyle north of the Arctic Circle. He grew up in a small village, Isuk. which lays east of Utqiagvik, until the age of 12, moving for his education. As a teenager, he became a reindeer header for 3 years in order to help out his family. He was a man of many trades--he was a mechanic, laborer, member of the Alaska Territorial Guard, and later a member of the Alaska National Guard. He served as the land chief for Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation following its formation in 1973. He was a spiritual leader for the community and was always asked to pray. He would pray when the whale was caught, before big celebrations, the Nalukatak blanket toss, the Winter Games, and he prayed with the whaling captains. He loved the gatherings of the people and strived to see all the community's children participate. He was a hard worker and would say, ``If you have dreams to do something, you, yourself have to work hard to get to that goal.'' Wesley grew up using dog teams in the wintertime to camp and hunt long before snow machines were prevalent and available in his region. His traditional knowledge of the subsistence lifestyle was extensive, and he enthusiastically shared with his community. He learned whaling from his grandfather and uncle and later became a whaling captain. He took it upon himself to teach the next generation whaling. His daughter's generation was sent off to boarding schools, and so many youth were not taught the traditional ways of hunting and needed to be retaught when they returned. He taught many of his nephews traditional hunting methods and said it was his job to give back, just as his elders had taught him how to hunt whale and inland animals. He observed changes in sea ice and climate in his generation and shared with the world what he saw. Wesley also served on the North Slope Borough's Inupiat History, Language and Culture Commission. He often stressed the importance of language, and his dream was an immersion camp in which only Inupiat was spoke. He reminded the youth about the hardships their ancestors experienced and that the whole community looked out for each other. And if you took care of animals and the land, they would take care of you. In 2018, he served as the keynote speaker at the Elders and Youth Conference in Anchorage, during which he delivered a strong message on respect. He said it is all about respect. It is about respect for self and for one other, as well as a respect for the animals, which he said have spirits just like we do. In fact, when he took his daughter hunting, he taught her where to put a hole behind the neck to release the spirit of the caribou. Wesley was also known for his Alaska Native rights activism. He participated in the 1961 Barrow Duck Sit-in, protesting the Federal Government's regulation of Native hunting rights, and this protest, among others, led to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. A respected leader, he also helped establish the Alaska Federal of Natives. Elder Wesley's wisdom and kindness will be missed. He is survived and respected by his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, friends, and his whole community.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I have come to the floor this evening to speak in support of the nomination of Joshua Kindred to be a U.S. district court judge for the District of Alaska. We were able to move forward with the first step toward the confirmation of Mr. Kindred, but I just wanted to take a couple of minutes and speak as to why I believe he is well qualified to serve in this capacity and deserves to be confirmed by the Senate with, hopefully, broad bipartisan support. I am glad and I am pleased that he has been willing to step into a new role for our State. Josh Kindred comes from Anchorage, where I am living. He currently serves as Alaska's regional solicitor for the Department of the Interior. He has been doing a good job, a strong job, for us there. Before joining the Department, Mr. Kindred served as the environmental counsel for the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, as well as an assistant district attorney and violent unit supervisor for the State of Alaska. He also served as a law clerk to Chief Justice Paul De Muniz of the Supreme Court of the State of Oregon. One way that you know that Mr. Kindred has good judgment is that he went to the same law school I did. So it can't be all bad there. He earned his juris doctorate from Willamette University College of Law. He served as editor in chief of the Willamette Law Review and certainly demonstrated great skills and abilities at that level. I think it is important to speak to Mr. Kindred's biographical details to illustrate that his experience is both considerable and is really relevant. It is directly relevant for this new role that he is seeking. It is that experience in a host of different areas that matters for our State, and I believe that will help him as a Federal jurist. Mr. Kindred's experience in civil, criminal, and administrative law at both the State and the Federal levels, in both the public sector as well as the private sector, is exactly what we should be seeking in a nominee for a court of original jurisdiction, such as the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. Josh Kindred is no stranger to the courtroom. He has extensive trial experience, which is, of course, important for operating in the courtroom. His background also brings a welcomed and valuable understanding of Alaska's unique Federal laws and landscape. He has extensive experience in Federal lands, mining, natural resources, oil and gas laws, and environmental laws and permitting. These are all things--all things--that are constantly litigated back home and that apply to so many of the important priorities that we have in Alaska. You often hear me talk about the fact that Alaska is different. It is unique, and, certainly, some of our laws--many of our laws--reflect that. Not many are truly knowledgeable about ANCSA, about ANILCA. These are critically important to understand, and Mr. Kindred certainly understands them. That skill set, that operational base of knowledge on Alaska-specific laws and matters, is really vital for our State. In addition, and perhaps of equal importance, Mr. Kindred has long called Alaska home. He was raised in our local schools. He is raising his young family there. He comes from good family. He married into good family. He is a good Alaskan. He knows Alaska. He understands our State well. I am proud of Mr. Kindred's continued commitment to public service and his willingness to serve our State. So, again, I would urge the Senate to confirm Josh Kindred. I know that he will do well in his new role, as he has done in all his others. I yield the floor.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.