Lisa Murkowski

Ms. MURKOWSKI

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. Chief Justice, I send a question to the desk.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. Chief Justice, I send to the desk a question submitted on behalf of myself and Senator Schatz, directed to both White House counsel and the House managers.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. Chief Justice.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. I send a question to the desk.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. Chief Justice, I send a question to the desk on behalf of myself and Senator Young and Senator Crapo. The question is to be directed to both parties.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. I object.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to commend the Coast Guard men and women who serve in Kodiak, AK, a designated Coast Guard City. On February 7, Kodiak's Chamber of Commerce will hold a community-wide celebration called ``We Applaud You.'' I want to take a moment to join in applauding the Coast Guard as a whole and all the Coast Guard personnel serving in Alaska, but especially those based in Kodiak who help make our great State a safe place to live and work. Kodiak is a robust Coast Guard City: it is homeport for three cutters, fifteen aircraft, a communications detachment, the North Pacific Regional Fisheries Training Center, the Aids to Navigation Team, and of course, Base Kodiak. Each of these components serve and protect Alaskans on a daily basis, and I would like to highlight some particularly important examples of their contributions and service to Alaska. Personnel from the Marine Safety Detachment in Kodiak helped oversee and coordinate multiple pollution responses on Kodiak Island last year, including responding to a diesel spill in the Buskin River, and a separate spill of Fuel Oil at Kitoi Bay Hatchery. The Marine Safety Detachment's prompt actions and clean-up expertise helped keep the island of Kodiak's rivers and coastline beautiful and safe. My sincere thanks to Marine Safety Detachment Kodiak. On New Year's Eve, the search and rescue team, including Air Station Kodiak and the Coast Guard Cutter Mellon responded to a sinking fishing vessel, the F/V Scandies Rose. The crews faced 40-knot winds, 15-30 foot seas and significantly reduced visibility at the scene of the sinking. The search and rescue team successfully recovered two survivors from a life raft but the five remaining crew members were lost. My heart goes out to the families and friends of those lost at sea. The crew of the Scandies Rose is in my prayers; this accident has hit especially close to home for Kodiak, which is a tight-knit fishing community, as well as a Coast Guard City. As we mourn the loss of the Scandies Rose, we are incredibly grateful for the efforts of the Coast Guard to rescue the survivors in the face of extremely dangerous conditions. We see these type of heroic actions in movies, but the Coast Guard in Alaska operates in dangerous, life- threatening conditions every day in order to keep Alaskans safe. To the entire search and rescue team, we applaud you, and Alaska thanks you. Now, I also want to sincerely thank Base Kodiak, the home of ``Rock Solid Support.'' Your work behind the scenes provides the foundation for all of the ready and responsive work done by those on the front lines. You truly are the rock solid support that keeps things moving, whether it is the medical and dental clinics keeping over a thousand people healthy; the Morale Welfare and Recreation team keeping the crew happy and energized--and in shape--the personnel support staff who recently completed a 5-year effort to increase salaries and close a long overdue pay gap for wage grade members across Alaska; or the facilities engineering department, who have improved living conditions for Kodiak's most junior Coast Guard members by converting housing units to allow two single members to share them. It is so important to me that our junior Coast Guard men and women are able to enjoy improved housing arrangements while away from home, maybe for the first time. Maybe they will be so comfortable in Kodiak that they want to come back to Alaska and call it home. I applaud all 450 personnel of Base Kodiak who keep the Coast Guard operations going. Finally, I want to take a minute to speak to the contributions and sacrifice of our Coast Guard families, partners, and spouses. So much of the demanding work that our Coast Guard men and women do each day is made possible by the love and support of their families. This is especially true when additional burdens are placed on Coast Guard personnel, like we experienced this time last year, when the Coast Guard was left unpaid during the 35-day government shutdown. Here in Congress, I will continue to work with Senator Sullivan to pass the Pay Our Coast Guard Act, which will ensure that a lapse in pay from a government shutdown never happens again. Our Coast Guard families deserve nothing less. Thank you to the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce for their work to honor our Coast Guard members in Alaska. I applaud you as well for your support for those who serve and for taking the time to say thank you and well done to our Coast Guard Family.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a long-time Senate staffer who recently retired, Nathan Bergerbest. Many Members and staff who have worked on judiciary, military and veterans, homeland security, public safety, foreign relations, intelligence, or Native American issues and national and international disasters likely had the opportunity to work with Nathan during the 16 years he served the people of Alaska and the Nation. I am sure that many can share stories of the help Nathan offered, ideas he pushed to fruition, and wise counsel he provided. My statement today will offer just a slice of the many contributions this accomplished man has made in the lives of so many. Nathan began his interest in good public policy and politics at a young age growing up in New York City. I believe he once said that he got involved in his first political campaign in elementary school because he was searching for the candidate who could improve his neighborhood. His quest for what was right, what was fair, and what was useful public policy has never subsided. An attorney, Nathan has been a litigator, represented an Alaska Native regional corporation, and worked at FEMA. He started in my office in 2003 as legislative assistant and retired as senior counsel and deputy chief of staff. Throughout his service here in the Senate, Nathan was the quintessential Senate staffer--working late, knowing his subject cold, understanding the ways of the Senate and navigating them brilliantly. His portfolio was huge, complex, and important. Yet he never shirked from pitching in where he could be useful. Nathan served not only as a mentor to young staffers in my office but as the conscience of Federal agency employees, military personnel, and elected leaders--constantly challenging us to do better, to be better versions of ourselves. While a tribute from a former employer is always gratifying, Nathan made a lasting impression on so many who have worked here in the Senate over the years. I would like to share some of their stories. Several of the military fellows who have served in my office and worked closely with Nathan shared these words: Nathan was part of the original group that came to be known as the Fairbanks Tiger Team, leading the red-shirted charge with the Fairbanks community against the Air Force's proposed plan to remove the F-16 Aggressor Squadron from Eielson Air Force Base. He rallied community leaders, helped leverage the effort on the Defense Appropriations Committee, and ultimately helped the Alaska delegation save Eielson. Then, only a year later, he worked to support the Alaska delegation's strong push to bring the F-35 to Eielson. In just over a year, the delegation was able to take Eielson from a near-shuttered installation, to one that will soon have the most capable fighter aircraft in the world, with significant infrastructure investment to support it. The Tiger Team still meets over telephone or in person every other Friday to discuss housing and other local community issues related to the military. The team has evolved over the years with new members joining and old members retiring or moving to different lines of work. Nathan will be missed on these calls but his legacy will be forever forged in the Fairbanks community and the national defense of our country. New commanders coming to Washington, DC, for their Hill visits would often ask my military and veterans affairs liaison in Anchorage for advice about how to prepare. The advice they received was ``Don't try to BS Nathan, because he'll be able to sniff it out.'' Several of these commanders were relieved when the meeting with Nathan was over. But Nathan would bend over backwards to help the military or a servicemember. ``A Colonel who served in Alaska attributed Nathan for saving his career. He didn't give any details. Only that he owed him everything.'' That is just like Nathan--to do good for an American and move on to the next task. Nathan was a true friend to the Alaska National Guard as well, very close to the Adjutant Generals, and always quick to help support their needs or tout their accomplishments. Nathan was extremely proud that Alaska boasts the highest rate of veterans per capita and worked to ensure strong representation of the Total Force military and veteran communities, always working to advance veterans' rights and benefits. His efforts helped lead to improvements in VA hospitals in Alaska as well as advances in telemedicine and other support to veterans in remote Alaskan communities. Public safety and support for law enforcement were always priorities for Nathan. He helped to lead collaborative efforts among the Federal agencies and State and local law enforcement to keep drugs out of Alaskan communities, and he never missed honoring the fallen at the National Fallen Officers Memorial ceremonies. He cared deeply for all those who put themselves in harm's way. While he was a policy expert in so many areas, Nathan was never one to ignore a plea for help from an individual Alaskan. There are countless examples of ``casework'' that he took on in addition to his legislative duties. From arranging military honors for veterans' funerals, persuading the Canadian Border Security Agency to reinstate 24-hour border crossings between Hyder, AK, and British Columbia, ensuring Alaskans' concerns were heard by the Navy prior to Northern Edge exercises, protecting National Guard members from retaliation during an investigation of sexual misconduct complaints, improving the standard of care at VA medical facilities, or any number of efforts, Nathan started with the question ``What does the individual need?'' and went about getting it done. In many instances, Nathan would help my staff in Alaska navigate the bureaucracy to help solve an Alaskan's problem. A former attorney for FEMA, Nathan was also the Alaska delegation's go-to staffer whenever disaster struck. After the November 2018 earthquake struck Anchorage, Mat-Su, and the Kenai Peninsula, Nathan helped disentangle municipalities, school districts, business owners, and individuals from the byzantine red tape that often characterizes FEMA. In call after call, Nathan translated FEMA's language and policies for Alaskans and worked with FEMA officials to do a better job assessing and responding to the damage. When FEMA sought to respond to a flood in Galena but lacked a sense of the challenges of rural Alaska, Nathan helped prod and guide the agency in improving the response. Nathan took the same sense of dedication to his work on Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian issues. Leading Alaska tribal rights attorney Lloyd Miller called Nathan ``one of the most knowledgeable and talented lawyers to ever work on the Hill. He combined an unmatched mastery of Alaska Native legal history with a deep sensitivity to Alaska Native issues gained from working inside one of the major Alaska Native regional corporations. And while his background before coming to the Hill was predominantly with Alaska Native corporations, he was equally knowledgeable about the unique challenges confronting Alaska Native Tribes, and the importance of supporting the critical role that Alaska Tribes play alongside their corporations. Nathan's remarkable intellect and sage advice will be deeply missed.'' Over the years, as protestors filled the halls of Capitol Hill and individual offices, Nathan would stay late to talk with those who visited my office. He would sit with them for long periods and talk about how they can best navigate the issues, and how they, as advocates, could best approach offices for meetings and how they can present their issues in such a way that they were truly being heard on both sides of the aisle. On at least one or two occasions, I have seen him go and literally sit on the floor with protestors outside of my office for an hour or two--just listening to what they had to say so that he could ensure I understood the concerns of Americans who are so passionate about the important issues of the day. No matter what the time of day or day of the week, Nathan made himself available to me, to other members of my staff, and to Alaskans. As my constituent services director in Anchorage put it, ``I remember one time in particular in 2011 where he and I each took 12-hour shifts around the clock so we could help Alaskan constituents after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of Japan. A massive tsunami was triggered that flooded Japan's coastal communities and damaged infrastructure. We spent several days in communication with constituents stranded in Japan that were trying to navigate the treacherous environment, communicate with the State Department, and ultimately obtain transportation home. He was also helpful in working with stranded Alaskan constituents after the 2015 severe earthquake in Nepal. He reached out to the lobbyist for Orbitz, since many of the foreign air carriers on their website raised prices drastically when trying to book flights out of Nepal after the earthquake.'' There are so many stories illustrative of Nathan's positive influence here in the U.S. Senate and in Alaska. I thank Nathan Bergerbest for his service to Alaska and the Nation and wish him well.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize and honor CMSgt Marcus Oats for his recent promotion to Chief Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force and upon the completion of his Air Force fellowship with my office. Selection for chief master sergeant is extremely competitive, as only 1 percent of the Air Force's entire enlisted population may hold the pay grade of E-9 at any time. Chief Oats clearly epitomizes the finest qualities of a military leader, as evidenced by his distinguished career and elevation to the highest enlisted level of leadership within the Air Force. Chief Master Sergeant Oats entered the U.S. Air Force on September 4, 1996, as a services specialist and was later selected for retraining into the field of acquisition. Chief Oats' honorable service has spanned numerous overseas and stateside assignments including Southwest Asia, four States, and the Nation's Capital. He has also completed several deployments in support of Operations Allied Force, Enduring Freedom, and Inherent Resolve. Chief Oats currently serves as the senior enlisted advisor in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force's Legislative Liaison Directorate. Chief Master Sergeant Oats has chosen to repeatedly lead his airmen by example. Despite years of challenging work schedules and countless military obligations, Chief Oats elected to make his education a priority. Since 2011, he has earned two associate's degrees, a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and a graduate-level certificate. Furthermore, Chief Oats' outstanding performance has garnered numerous accolades, including the 386th Expeditionary Wing Lance P. Sijan Leadership Award, two time 7th Bomb Wing Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year Award, and the Air Force Central Command Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year Award. As a true testament to Chief Master Sergeant Oats' exceptional career, he was selected to represent the U.S. Air Force on Capitol Hill as its enlisted legislative fellow in 2019. I was fortunate to have Chief Oats spend the year in my office as an integral part of Team Murkowski and was pleased with his professionalism, character, and devotion to duty. Chief Oats joined my office in January of this year while serving as my defense fellow on behalf of the U.S. Air Force Legislative Fellowship Program. As the defense fellow, Chief Oats drafted legislation, prepared floor debate materials, planned and analyzed public policy, and served as a congressional liaison between Alaskans and industry or government representatives. Chief Oats is the first enlisted contracting airman selected for this position and is one of only two enlisted Active-Duty Air Force fellows currently serving in this capacity. Chief Oats is a Memphis resident and an alumnus of Overton High School. He holds a bachelor of science in computer information systems and management, as well as a master's in business administration. Chief Oats served as an integral member of our defense team, and I relied on his advice in support of Alaskans and all Americans. His tireless efforts were critical to the passage of the Merchant Mariners of World War II Congressional Gold Medal. This bill is to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the U.S. Merchant Mariners of World War II in recognition of their dedicated and vital service during World War II--service which proved instrumental in securing victory for the Allied powers. Moreover, Chief Oats led a bipartisan effort to introduce the sixth Defense Department Regional Securities Study Center, named after the late Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. The centers aim to support defense strategy objectives and policy priorities through a unique academic forum and to foster strong international networks of security leaders. He also helped secure several wins for Alaska in the Defense appropriations bill. Chief Oats continued the extraordinary lineage of military fellows I have had the honor of working in my office, serving as a member of my team. He was also the first enlisted contracting fellow in Congress. It has been a great privilege to work with and get to know Chief Oats over the past 11 months. I know that my entire team will agree when I say Chief Oats will always be part of the Murkowski family. As I thank Chief Oats for his service, I also thank his wonderful family who has remained by his side for his 23-year Air Force career. Chief Oats is married to Cecilia Oats. They have three children, Kayla, Mya, and Myles. On behalf of the U.S. Congress and a thankful Nation, I want to express our gratitude to CMSgt Marcus T. Oats for his dedicated service to the U.S. Senate and to all Alaskans. We applaud Chief Oats on his recent promotion to chief master sergeant, the highest general enlisted rank of the Air Force, and hope the best for him in his next role of Legislative Advisor to the Chief Master Sergeant of the U.S. Air Force. Just as I have greatly benefited from Chief Oats' leadership and advice, I have no doubt that the U.S Air Force will also reap the benefits from this true American. Thank you for everything Marcus.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I thank my colleague, the ranking member on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He is really a friend on not only energy matters but on so many of the other initiatives we have worked on. As he mentioned, every now and again, our two States might see things differently, but we have come to understand where we come from, what we bring to the table, and figure out how we can work together collaboratively and then set that collaborative tone for the full committee as a whole. I appreciate the opportunity to highlight a few of the accomplishments we as a committee have achieved over this past year. We had a holiday lunch at the first of this week with both of our staffs assembled--had some good food--and I was able to share with all of the staffs that I felt like we were the committee that was kind of like ``The Little Engine that Could''--the children's storybook wherein the tiny little engine is kind of plugging along. We are not typically the headline-grabbing committee in this Senate, but just like the little engine, we kind of put our heads down and get to work, and we achieve a lot. In our case, even in a divided time, we are seeing good, strong bipartisan legislation that is helping just about every Member of our Senate in all areas of the country. Think about where we started off this year. You will recall that it was unfortunately in the midst of a government shutdown. But what we were able to do even at that time was to move through a significant victory, and that was the passage of our sweeping lands package containing more than 120 individual measures that reflected the priorities of dozens of Members in the Senate and the House. We passed that out of the Senate 92 to 8, the House passed it out 363 to 62, and the President signed it shortly thereafter. It was sweeping. We recognized that it provided for economic development for so many small communities, protected treasured landscapes, addressed a range of sportsmen's priorities, and permanently reauthorized the Land and Water Conservation Fund. It took a long time. There were many initiatives we had been working through for a considerable period of time. But our ability to be able to pass it shortly after this government shutdown underscored that even at a time when we are known for our divisions, we can still achieve bipartisan success. The committee really took the momentum, and we ran with it--as Senator Manchin has pointed out, some 51 bills, 52 bills here. Today, we just moved 19 bills out of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee markup. We have moved out measures that are focused on energy efficiency, renewables, energy storage, advanced nuclear energy, carbon capture, utilization, and storage. We focused on mineral security, cyber security, and a range of additional technologies that really work to ensure that energy becomes more affordable as it becomes cleaner. We have been working very hard on the public lands side of our jurisdiction as well. One bill you are sure to hear more about in the first of the year is the Restore Our Parks Act, which will address the multibillion-dollar deferred maintenance backlog at our national parks--the crown jewels of our Nation. That bill provides $6.5 billion over the next 5 years to fix dilapidated trails, buildings, roads, bridges, monuments, and historic markers. Working on the parks and the land side, we reported 13 nominees for key leadership positions at the Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, and the FERC. Nearly all of them were confirmed, ensuring the President has a good team to carry out our Nation's energy and resource policies. We have also held hearings--about two a week while we have been in session--to highlight the opportunities and the challenges we face within our jurisdiction. These range from everything from the need for new and innovative technologies--as Senator Manchin pointed out--to the future of our Strategic Petroleum Reserve. As he mentioned, we have held hearings--many hearings now--on climate change, making that a priority among priorities. I think it is fair to say we have been very productive as a committee. We know the work isn't done. It is one thing to report the measures out of committee; it is another thing to get them enacted into law. Our eyes are directed right now on these next steps. Early next year, we hope to bring much of the work we have processed through the committee, bring it to the Senate floor. We are counting on our colleagues to join us and to help move these bills to the House and to the President for his signature. Whether you are interested in energy innovation, resource security, or access to public lands, this work should appeal to just about every Member and provide a great opportunity to advance the security, prosperity, and competitiveness of our Nation. I want to share the deep appreciation I have for my ranking member, Senator Manchin, and his partnership. We have navigated some complicated stretches, but we have done so by working together to ensure a good outcome for the committee, for the Senate, and for the American people. I think you have seen some of that. Tribute to Johnny Isakson Mr. President, we saw some of the good work reflected of a gentleman we have lauded on the floor now throughout this week and will continue to laud because he is a most laudable and wonderful human being, and that is our friend, the Senator from Georgia, Mr. Isakson, who will soon be stepping down after a very good and honorable career in the U.S. Senate and before that. It was a pleasure to know we were able to move out of the Energy Committee this morning. One of the priorities he has been working on is the Preserving America's Battlefields Act. He is a great historian and has put a great deal of himself into advancing that important legislation. Another markup I was part of this morning was in Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, where we moved out two significant bills that had Johnny Isakson's fingerprints all over it. His care, his compassion for the most vulnerable children who have been abused--he has been a leader in the CAPTA legislation that moved out of that committee by voice vote this morning. He was also instrumental in another measure that moved through the committee, the Adoption Opportunities Act. It gives you a glimpse of the range and the breadth of this extraordinary legislator, whether it is his great effort working for our veterans and his leadership on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, his leadership on those matters that he cares so personally and passionately about in the HELP Committee, or what we see in the other committees as we have seen in Energy with his focus on America's history. Johnny Isakson is not only a great legislator, a laudable man, but he is also a true friend. He is one who has reminded us all that relationships matter; that how we speak to one another matters; that how we treat one another as human beings and friends matters. I know that as we say our goodbyes to Senator Isakson from this Chamber, we will long remember not only the contributions he has provided from a legislative perspective and a policy perspective but as a person and as a lovely and decent human being. With that, I yield floor.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to say how pleased I am to join with the Senator from New Hampshire in introducing S. 2942, a bill to revise the tax treatment of certain contributions to the capital of corporations. S. 2942 corrects a provision in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that disqualified government grants to corporations from treatment as tax- free contributions to capital. The provision resulted in the imposition of income tax on all such grants. At the same time, a companion provision in the act imposed income tax on ``contributions in aid of construction,'' CIAC, to regulated water utilities, reversing a longstanding rule of prior law that shielded regulated water utilities from tax on such payments. The term CIAC refers to payments--from either governmental sources or other sources that are used by a utility to expand its physical plant. Our bill corrects the TCJA, first, by restoring the tax exemption for CIAC received by water utilities. That change will ensure that Alaskans, along with all water utility customers around the country, who make payments to a water utility to help the utility expand its service territory or otherwise improve its physical plant will not thereby saddle the utility with a tax charge that could translate into an increase in rates for water service or that, alternatively, could be passed back to the payer of the CIAC. There is no plausible basis for taxing CIAC received by water utilities and thereby saddling the utility and its customers with the tax charge. CIAC does not at all resemble normal taxable income received by a business in exchange for goods or services. In fact, our bill specifically precludes the utility from including CIAC in its rate base and thereby earning a return on it. The treatment of CIAC as taxable income might not matter if water utilities could expense the cost of the capital improvements funded through CIAC. The expensing deduction would offset the income. But under the TCJA, regulated utilities do not qualify for expensing. Thus, they incur the tax on the receipt of CIAC and pass the tax on to the payer of the CIAC. One unintended consequence of the taxability of CIAC, coupled with the ineligibility of regulated utilities for expensing, is the creation of an unjustifiable incentive for the development of water infrastructure outside regulated utilities--i.e. outside the companies that are best equipped to build and manage the infrastructure. The incentive exists because non-utility corporations, unlike regulated utilities, qualify for expensing and can thus eliminate the tax on the receipt of CIAC. Our bill eliminates the incentive by restoring the tax exemption for CIAC received by regulated water utilities. The other correction our bill makes in the TCJA is to reverse the rule in the act that treats all government grants to corporations as taxable income. Under prior law, government grants that were not in the nature of ordinary purchases of goods or services could qualify as tax- free contributions of capital. The TCJA failed to distinguish among different types of government grants in writing the new rule. For example, there is no apparent reason why government grants made to spur investment in rural broadband infrastructure should be taxable. The effect of the tax is to reduce the value and effectiveness of the grants. Nor should tax logically be imposed on grants intended to spur investment that would protect the environment or public health, including Investment in water infrastructure. There are, of course, types of government grants that could probably be taxed without adverse consequences. One example would be grants made to influence corporate decisions on the location of corporate headquarters or facilities. To create a simple starting point, our bill simply eliminates the TCJA rule taxing government grants. As the Finance Committee and leadership consider the issue, we anticipate that, this time around, they will take the time to consider more carefully which types of grants should be taxable and which should be tax-free. At a minimum, the broadband and environmental grants described above should be tax- free, but there are probably many similar types of grants that should have the same treatment. Mr. President, I look forward to working with the Senator from New Hampshire and with the members of the Finance Committee to craft sensible corrections to the TCJA to restore the tax exemption for CIAC received by water utilities and restore the tax exemption for government grants received by corporations where the grants are demonstrably in the public interest.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I am pleased that at any moment now, we will move to invoke cloture on the nomination of Dan Brouillette to be Secretary of Energy. As folks know, he is currently serving as our Deputy Secretary of Energy. In my view, he has excelled in that role since being confirmed by this body in a strong bipartisan vote back in August of 2017. He has run the Department on a daily basis. He has been helping Secretary Perry set an agenda that has been focused on energy security and technological innovation. He has been a good partner of the Energy Committee--honest, open, and responsive. I have certainly appreciated all of his leadership. We commend him to this body. He did very well in his nomination hearing before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. I believe he will do very well in his new role. I encourage all Members to work with us to confirm him as soon as possible today.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

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

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, it was several weeks ago--actually, October 23--that here in the Senate we had the opportunity to recognize a friend of so many of us; a mentor, certainly, to me; and a leader in Alaska. We recognized the life and contributions of Senator Ted Stevens. The Alaska congressional delegation was able to join with members of the Stevens family, many of his friends, his congressional colleagues, and a lot of former staff. We were able to unveil a portrait of Senator Stevens that had been commissioned for him as the President pro tempore of the Senate. It was a lovely ceremony and a great occasion, and now his portrait hangs back in the hall, behind where the Presiding Officer is sitting. It was a great occasion to be remembering the contributions of Ted Stevens. He represented my State from 1968 to 2009. He was the longest serving Republican Senator in Senate history at the time that he left office. He left office with considerable policy legacies. Those in the fishing industry remember the work he did with Senator Magnuson in creating the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which really has become the framework for our sustainable fisheries. It is something we continue to look to. He also worked in sports with the creation of the U.S. Paralympics. We remember his encouragement and all that he did with women and girls in sports regarding title IX. We all know his background and his history. He was a pilot in World War II. Certainly, here in the Senate, he was a staunch advocate for our veterans and for all of our military. He worked hand in glove with his Senate brother and friend, Senator Daniel Inouye, chairing not only the Appropriations Committee itself but also the Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations. In that role, he helped to advance so many of our national priorities. Today is Ted Stevens' birthday. If he were alive today, he would be 96 years old. Later this evening, there is going to be a gathering. It is an annual gathering on November 18, when friends of Ted gather to raise a glass to a wonderful man, a strong leader, a great Alaskan, and truly a friend of mine. I think today Ted Stevens would be smiling at what Senator Sullivan, Congressman Young, and I were able to observe this morning. The three of us--the full Alaska delegation--were in Fort Worth, TX, at the Lockheed Martin plant, and we were able to participate in the signing as we seek to roll off the line the first F-35 that will be based there at Eielson Air Force Base. It will be the first of two squadrons with there being a total complement of 54 F-35s. It was a reminder to all of us of all we have done in the State of Alaska in our focusing on Alaska's geostrategic position, not in the country but in the world. Ted Stevens clearly recognized that. He was a visionary in so many areas, and he was certainly a visionary when it came to understanding the promise but also the challenge of the Arctic itself and how we were to ensure that in this region. It is a region that is pretty remote and pretty isolated, but it is a region that is prepared and then, with that preparation, is able to protect. As we think about that role today that Senator Stevens envisioned for Alaska in terms of our role in protecting and defending the country but also our broader, more global role and responsibility, I come to talk about legislation that I have introduced, along with Senator Sullivan, to authorize the Department of Defense to create a sixth regional center for security studies that is focused on the Arctic. I think it is very, very clear to us that the Department of Defense, in particular, is keying in on the challenges that we face in the Arctic. With the growing prominence of the Arctic and global geopolitical and strategic affairs, now is the time to give the Department of Defense the tools as well as the abilities that it needs to foster the research and the dialogue that we think will be critical to our Nation's security. Let me give a little bit of background in terms of these regional centers. Currently, the Department of Defense has five academic regional centers for security studies. They cover the regions of Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Africa, Near East South Asia, and the Northern Hemisphere. What these centers aim to do is to support defense strategy objectives and policy priorities through a pretty unique academic forum, as well as to foster strong international networks of security leaders. Just to give a kind of basic comparison of what we are talking about here, in specifics, the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies is actually fully entitled the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. It was established in Hawaii back in 1995, but it is a DOD institution that provides a forum at which current and future military and civilian leaders from the Indo-Pacific gather to address regional and global security issues and enhance security cooperation through programs of executive education, professional exchange, and building relationships of trust and confidence. Currently, over 30 countries send participants to engage, to learn, and to really build those relationships. The Ted Stevens Arctic Security Studies Center, which is what we seek to name this Arctic center, will be modeled after the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. There being the fact that the two of them worked hand in glove for so many years--really, for decades--on these issues of national security and national defense from both the perspective of the far north as well as the Asia-Pacific, it is only fitting that we model the Ted Stevens Arctic Security Studies Center after the Arctic center named after Daniel Inouye. Senator Schatz clearly understands the value of the Asia-Pacific center, and he has joined Senator Sullivan and me as a cosponsor of this legislation. What we are really seeking to do here--the overarching goal of this Arctic security studies center--is to find solutions for the greatest security challenges of the circumpolar Arctic region in order to help promote a greater understanding of the Arctic--we know we have to do more there--as well as to facilitate greater engagement and potential solutions for the many challenges that we know lie ahead. It is an evolving world up there. Let me tell you that it is an evolving world. As we are seeing the impact from climate changes, as we are seeing ice recede, as we are seeing waterways open up, as we are seeing greater access, as we are seeing greater threats, what are we doing to prepare? I think it is important to recognize that the proposed center would be additive in nature. It is not looking to take away from any of the other very excellent efforts that support the DOD's mission in the Arctic. What we are seeking to do is to provide additional value while creating new partnerships and supporting critical research. We hope-- certainly, it is the intent here--to complement current structures, like the multinational Security Forces Roundtable, led by USEUCOM and the Norwegian Defence Staff. The center will build on the Arctic Coast Guard Forum, wherein, effectively, you have senior leaders from the Coast Guards from all over the Arctic nations gather to discuss defense and security concerns. Just this last Thursday, I had an opportunity to be part and spoke via videoconference of the importance of this strategic dialogue at the Arctic Symposiums and Arctic Senior Leader Summits, which was held by NORTHCOM and ALCOM. Again, what we are seeking to do here is to help facilitate the array of international senior leaders and Arctic subject matter experts to come together for these substantive dialogues on the Arctic. The Arctic presents an opportunity to expand the DOD Regional Center's model to study the rapid changes in communications, technology, environment, and societies in remote and sparsely populated areas with underdeveloped infrastructure. I mentioned that this would be additive in nature, that we seek to collaborate with other current structures that are doing good work, but we seek to have close partnerships with research centers like we have at the Wilson Center's Polar Institute, at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Arctic Domain Awareness Center, as well as at the Coast Guard Academy Center for Arctic Study and Policy. We need to have strong involvement from Native leaders and indigenous peoples. How we incorporate and how we elevate the Native expertise in the Arctic that has been informed by centuries of experience of having lived in the region must also be a priority. The center should also be used as a joint commanded venue with Canada and other Arctic partners. This would be effectively replicating the success of the model that we have with the George C. Marshall Center with Germany. Since Senator Sullivan and I introduced this bill to establish this new DOD Arctic security studies center, we have gotten great input. I am pleased that we have seen a lot of interest from within our State and outside as well. Several have reached out to our offices to express their interest in supporting and developing the concept of this center. I think we see Arctic security emerging as an area of threat as well as interest, and it certainly remains the likely spillover conflict area should confrontations occur within Europe or Asia. So great scholarship, plus international and interdisciplinary engagement from an Arctic center, would help to advance defense readiness, develop our awareness, and improve ally and partner capabilities to support multinational security cooperation across the circumpolar Arctic. This is something that I am excited to be working on, and I know Senator Sullivan is as well. I invite other colleagues to join us in this effort. I think that our friend Ted Stevens would approve of this as well. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I know that several of my colleagues have had an opportunity to take to the floor this week and today to speak to the memory of a woman, a Senator, and a friend--certainly a friend of mine--former Senator Kay Hagan from the State of North Carolina. Kay was one of those women whom you naturally gravitated to. She was kind. She was generous in her southern manner and in her charm. I rarely use the word ``delightful'' to describe people, but Kay was a delightful woman. She was a friend to so many of us, and she was a good colleague in the Senate. We had an opportunity to work together on different legislative matters, whether it was initiatives I was leading on mineral security or initiatives she was working on with regard to small business and HUBZones, but the one area we really did connect on for a couple years was what we were trying to do with our sportsmen's bill. We were successful in passing that through the Senate a couple years ago, but we worked on this back in 2014, and it gave us an opportunity, as two women from States where hunting and fishing and being engaged with the outdoors is something that Alaskans and North Carolinians do and enjoy. We shared stories. We shared just discussion about how we were able to reach common ground. We figured if these two women from these two parts of the country could figure this out and make it happen, that would really be a good day, a positive day. Well, it didn't happen at that particular time, but I am pleased to say we were successful some years later, and I think much of that was due, in part, to the good work of Kay Hagan. I know there have been references to her legislative work, to her quality as a woman and a leader. My heart is really with the Hagan family, with her husband, Chip, and her extended family who truly loved her and were very protective of her in so many ways. I know their loss is a significant one. I want them all to know that this Senator from Alaska shares that love, shares that loss for a woman who served us all well. I wanted to make sure that my comments were included among the many who have spoken on Kay's life.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I want to speak to another matter this afternoon, a matter that as I think about my tenure in the Senate and those initiatives I have been engaged with that have really touched me in a way that make me want to work all that much harder because it is so challenging, it is so difficult, and in many, many ways, it is so dark that anything I can do to shine a light on it, I will do so. I came to the Senate floor 2 years ago, joined by my former colleague from North Dakota, Senator Heidi Heitkamp. Heidi was on the floor speaking about a bill she had introduced, Savanna's Act, but together we were really working to speak to the urgency of addressing this epidemic, if you will, this growing number of missing and murdered Native women across America. The awful truth in this country is that Native women are victims of violence in unprecedented proportions. When I say unprecedented, I will give you some of Alaska's numbers just to kind of put it into perspective. This month, October, is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and so in many of the communities in States across the country, we have been focused on these issues of domestic violence and what more we can do to address these issues of concern and safety. Well, on October 1, the first day of this month where we are raising this awareness, the headlines in the State's largest newspaper stated that the rate of rape in the State of Alaska was up 11 percent between 2017 and 2018--an 11-percent increase in 1 year. We are a State where, unfortunately, Alaska Native women are 2\1/2\ times more likely to be a victim of domestic violence. In Tribal villages and Native communities, domestic violence rates are up to 10 times higher than the rest of the Nation--10 times higher. So think about as bad as it is in areas that you are in, in our Tribal villages and some of the Native communities, these rates are staggering. In 2015, it was estimated that 40 percent of sex trafficking victims were Native Americans. Now, I know 2015 was a few years ago, but 40 percent of the victims who have been sex trafficked were Native Americans. The rate of sexual violence victimization among Alaska Native women is at least seven times greater than non-Native females in the State. So think about that. There is an unprecedented level of victimization, of assault, of violence, of murder that is experienced by Alaska Native women. These are statistics that really should shock the conscience. I know they shock mine. I have been exposed to them for so many years, but it continues to shock. We all know these are not just statistics. These are mothers, these are sisters, these are aunts, these are cousins, these are friends, and these are women who are being violated at rates that are unacceptable anywhere in any State. Now, I mentioned that some of the statistics are old, and that is part of the problem, trying to understand what it is that we don't know, so we need to get updated data, but what isn't old--and, unfortunately, seemingly, every day we get new statistics that are added to what we have already known. It was just last week family and friends packed an Anchorage courtroom for the arraignment of a man who had been charged with murdering 52-year-old Veronica Abouchuk. She was a Native woman originally from the village of St. Michael. She had been in Anchorage for a period of time. She had been reported missing earlier this year, and then she was found dead near the Old Glenn Highway in April. It was just a few weeks ago now--maybe about 3 weeks ago--the Alaska community was just horrified as we learned through the news of a video cartridge that had been found on a street, and what was revealed was a tape of torture and abuse of a Native woman. That tape ultimately led to the arrest of this same man who is accused of killing Veronica. That video showed the torture and the murder of 30-year-old Kathleen Jo Henry. She was originally from a very small village, the village of Eek. These are stories of women. We read about what they have experienced, what they have endured, and we think about their families who no longer have these women in their lives. You just can't view them in the abstract as statistics. What are we doing to respond to them as women, women who are vulnerable and are being preyed upon? What are we doing to act, to help? I mentioned this is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. In Alaska, we have started calling it Domestic Violence Action Month. Going from awareness to action is really the key because I am here to tell you, in Alaska, we are very aware of how severe the problem of violence against Native women is--whether it is domestic violence, an assault, to them being trafficked and murdered. We know the statistics. When I am talking with Alaskans about what we are seeing with missing and murdered indigenous women, the subject of trafficking keeps coming into every conversation because that is, seemingly, what is happening to so many who unfortunately go missing. There are far, far, far too many stories that we then hear they were trafficked and then ultimately murdered. This nexus is what is really frightening. I mentioned the data and understanding what it is that we know and what we don't know--how big is the problem, what is happening with our Native women that they are being victimized to the extent and to the level we see. We are beginning to make some progress. We are beginning to gather more data and understanding. There is a lot we know we have to learn, but one thing that has become clear is that these crimes are permeating cities across America. They are in the cities, but they are also in our small, remote, and rural communities. There is really no geographic boundary that we are talking about here. Initially, we had thought the problem of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls was primarily a problem on the remote Indian reservations, but we had some good, strong reporting from the Seattle- based Urban Indian Health Institute. We learned a lot there about the gaps in the data. We learned that the number of Native women who go missing in urban centers is as significant as those who go missing on reservations or in rural areas. In fact, last year there were 507 cases of Native women killed in urban areas. Of those, 282 were confirmed murdered, 127 were confirmed missing, and 98 cases are still listed in an unknown status. These cases exist across 71 urban areas selected for the study--from Baltimore to Orlando in the east coast and all the way up to the North Slope in the community of Utqiagvik. According to the report, Anchorage was among the top 10 cities identified in this study, coming in at No. 3, with 21 cases of missing and murdered indigenous girls. Overall, Alaska was the fourth highest State in the Nation with 52 cases. Keep in mind that these are just the cases that have actually been reported. Making sure that we are understanding the extent of the problem and the issues we are dealing with, the spotlight we are shining on the issue of murdered indigenous women is growing, but we need to answer those questions so we can move from awareness to action. What are we doing? How are we doing? We are keenly focused--I am, certainly, keenly focused--on what we can do to improve public safety in Alaska. As shocking as many of these statistics are that I have shared with you, what we know is that in far too many communities in our State we lack law enforcement presence. These are remote communities. These are small communities, maybe 300 people. When you don't have law enforcement, when there is nobody there who can administer justice, who can be the law, it is a safe place for bad people to go and do bad things. What we do to address this is on all of us. So as we are looking at public safety in rural Alaska, I reminded Attorney General Barr when he participated in a video conference at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention a couple of weeks ago--he made the comment that we want to make sure we have public safety throughout Alaska and that a woman shouldn't have to move to the city to feel safe, and I had to remind him--that in the cities, unfortunately, we are not seeing the level of safety that we would seek. But we are making some headway, and I want to share with colleagues what we have just done in this Interior appropriations bill that we moved through in the full Senate just this afternoon, and I thank colleagues for that support. For the first time, we are directing real dollars to prioritize the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women. We have included a specific focus there within the Interior approps bill for FY 2020. We provide funding to address the crisis with support for cold case investigations, equipment, training, and background checks. This will be an effort where we will work with the Department of Justice, with the BIA, with the administration, with the State, and with the Tribes. We also encourage the Indian Health Service to look at programs that can help educate community health aides on trauma informed care, which also includes collecting medical evidence. Through the CJS approps bill that we passed, we build upon efforts to address the high rates of violence that are experienced in far too many Alaskan communities. We have been advocating for the largest possible Victims of Crime Act fund set aside for Native communities that disproportionately face violence and have oftentimes extremely limited access to service. We also secured significant funding for the Violence Against Women Prevention and Prosecution Programs, and for State and local law enforcement and Tribal assistance, we provide additional resources, as well as resourcing for the COPS, or the Community Oriented Policing Services Program, which is an initiative to increase the number of police officers and ensure they are properly trained. So I think we are making some headway on the appropriations side, but I think we know there is more that we can do. We know there is more that we must do. I thank Attorney General Barr, who came up to the State of Alaska in May at the invitation of Senator Sullivan and myself and many of our leaders around the State, including our Tribal leaders, and he was able to sit down at roundtables in Anchorage and was able to get up to Fort Yukon, on the Yukon River, and come down to Bethel and to go out to the small village of Napakiak, a community of about 350 people. Following his visit, he was so struck by what he had heard and what he had seen, and truly what he felt in his heart, that he moved forward with a designation of a public safety emergency in the State of Alaska. He has been working with us to help specifically address how we can make these rural communities safer and what we can be doing with everything from training to basic infrastructure. It is something we are working collaboratively on. We are also seeing so many individuals, organizations, and communities really speaking up about this issue. Again, it is like the data. If you don't know it, you can't respond to it. If the stories aren't shared, as hard and awful as they are, it is difficult to know how we respond. There are so many who are speaking up in different ways to bring light to the fact that so many Native women have not received justice. There is a woman by the name of Amber Webb that I met when I was in Fairbanks for the AFN conference. She has created this really powerful visual symbol to honor missing and murdered women. She sketched the faces of more than 200 missing and murdered indigenous women from across North America. She sketched them on a giant white qaspeq. Qaspeq is the traditional garb of a woman. She chose the qaspeq because it symbolizes the adaptability and the strength of Native women. It is pretty impressive. It is about 15 feet high. But, again, it is a white qaspeq, with the portraits, the sketches, of these women. In the center is the face of not a woman but a young girl, Ashley Johnson Barr. She was a 10-year-old girl who was kidnapped and killed in Kotzebue last year. Being at Ashley's memorial services with the entire community of Kotzebue--it probably felt like the whole region--grieving the loss of that child in that brutal and awful murder in her home was something that never leaves you. On one sleeve of the qaspeq is sketched the face of Sophie Sergei. Sophie was killed in 1993. She was at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in one of the dorms. Her case was cold for 25 years. For 25 years, her family had no idea who brutally killed her and left her in a bathtub of blood in a campus dorm room. That case broke loose with some DNA testing not too many months ago. Her family is hoping that one day there will be justice for their daughter, but the faces on that qaspeq represent way too many lives lost. Some of what we are facing in Alaska, when it comes to public safety, is the lack of public safety in rural areas and an inability to ensure that people are safe in their homes. When you look at the statistics that we have, when you look at the issues you face, sometimes you have to say: Maybe the way we have been doing things for this long just isn't working out in these areas. Maybe there needs to be a different dynamic. I recently introduced what we are calling the Alaska Tribal Public Safety Empowerment Act. It builds on a legislative provision that Congressman Young has introduced. It is a pilot for Alaska Tribes to address violence against Native women. In that bill, we empower Tribes to exercise domestic violence criminal jurisdiction on a pilot basis, similar to what we did in VAWA 2013 for those in Indian Country. We allow Tribes to assume local control over local public safety matters. We cannot deny safety or justice to an individual based on jurisdictional issues. This addresses one critical piece, and that is the Tribal empowerment. There is another very important element, and that is coordination among law enforcement agencies. I hear way too often from Alaskans who tell me that they don't actually count a missing Native woman as missing because the last time anybody saw her, she met somebody, she left a village, she went to Anchorage, and nobody really heard of her again. But what we know is that one of the most vulnerable times for these young women is the transition from a village to a hub community or to a city. We have heard from law enforcement that Native people, especially these young Native girls, are targeted by traffickers when they first arrive in Anchorage or Fairbanks or a hub community. It is important that we both understand the scope of the problem and address coordination between our State, our Federal, and our Tribal governments. That is what Savanna's Act and this counterpart legislation, the Not Invisible Act, do together. I reintroduced Savanna's Act with Senator Cortez Masto earlier this year. This was an effort where I was proud to carry the torch for Senator Heitkamp, who has truly been a leader on this issue. Our bill combats the epidemic of murdered and missing Native women and girls by improving the Federal Government's response to addressing the crisis. Savanna's Act increases coordination among all levels of law enforcement, increases data collection in information sharing, and empowers Tribal governments with the resources they need in cases involving missing and murdered indigenous women and girls wherever they occurred. This second bill that I mentioned, with Senator Cortez Masto, is the Not Invisible Act. What we have seen for far too long is that Native families and communities mourn the loss of family members, sometimes with the resolution of their cases of a murdered sister or a missing loved one, but often the cases remain unsolved. As I mentioned earlier, we were shocked in Alaska by the case of Kathleen Jo Henry and the related case of Veronica Abouchuk. But what is just as shocking is that the Abouchuk family has already--already-- experienced the loss of one of their sisters, Martha Toms, who was killed in 2005 and whose case is still unsolved. So they have had tragedy compounded upon tragedy. These bills, Savanna's Act and the Not Invisible Act, attempt to bring the issue of violence against Native women and the ongoing epidemic of missing and murdered Indians to the attention of the Nation. These families have faced unspeakable loss and, until recently, have felt almost invisible, frustrated, and really just let down by this system--the complex system that was supposed to protect them. But to truly honor the memory of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind and acknowledge her family's loss, we have to close the jurisdictional loopholes that criminals exploit. We have to improve the coordination among law enforcement at all levels of government, and we have to provide the necessary resources. The Not Invisible Act designates an official in BIA to coordinate violent crime prevention efforts across Federal agencies. It also establishes a commission of local, Tribal, and Federal stakeholders to make recommendations to the Department of the Interior and the Department of Justice on how to combat this epidemic of disappearances, homicides, violent crimes, and trafficking of Native Americans and Alaska Natives. We know we have a trust responsibility to our Native people, but also we have a duty of moral trust when we talk about keeping all Americans safe. We all have to be part of the solution. By passing these bills, we are saying that we are not going to accept what we have dealt with and what we have faced for far too long. I think we have to have a sense of urgency to keep Native women and girls safe. It shouldn't be anything that is partisan. There is nothing partisan about trying to protect women. There is nothing partisan about trying to protect Native women. There is nothing Republican or Democratic about the reality that we all deserve to have the same level of protection and justice as every other woman in this country. So I am back here on the Senate floor with the same message I had a couple of years ago with Senator Heitkamp, and that is to urge colleagues to move beyond awareness to action. Let's take up Savanna's Act. Let's take up the Not Invisible Act. Let's act. Let's provide for the safety that all these women should expect. With that, I yield the floor.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I am here this morning very pleased to be at this point where we are talking about consideration of an appropriations package that includes the fiscal year 2020 bills for the subcommittees on Interior and Environment; Commerce, Justice, and Science; Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration; and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development; and the various related agencies. It may be premature to call this a return to regular order, but I think that is kind of what it feels like. I would note that it is October 23, well past time that we should have finished our appropriations work, but we are advancing. We have bills that we have moved through the subcommittees and the full committee, and we are now moving packages of these to the floor. I am pleased that we are here, where we have an opportunity to take up these substantive measures that the full committee has addressed with strong bipartisan support. In the case of the Interior and Environment bill, there was unanimous support for our bill. Then, there is the opportunity to bring the bills to the floor for consideration, where other Members have an opportunity to debate these appropriations bills, offer amendments, and, then, advance them through the process. I am pleased this morning--particularly pleased--to be able to speak on the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee bill and to be here with my ranking member, Senator Udall. We have worked through this subcommittee account now for several years. It has been a good partnership, a strong partnership, with our teams working side by side. It is not the easiest of bills. We get our fair share of controversy. In addition to taking care of all of our public lands, we also have oversight of our Native peoples. We also have oversight of the EPA. So we have a range of subject matters that sometimes can bring us together and sometimes can cause some bumps along the way. Yet what we have committed to doing, I think, in working collaboratively, in working together, has resulted in a good, strong measure that the Senate now sees before it. Last year was the first time since fiscal year 2010--9 years now-- that the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations was brought before the full Senate. We have been in a situation in which, for years, we have kind of been at the tail end of the line, the last of those spending bills to move. Now we are debating it in the first package, so we really feel like we have kind of arrived here. Again, you don't arrive here as part of the first package without having done a great deal of work. You don't do that and receive unanimous support coming out of the committee for the second year in a row now if you do not demonstrate this strong commitment that both sides have made to create an environment in which we can work through these issues in a bipartisan manner. The Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies portion of this minibus includes funding for all of the major Federal land management agencies. This includes the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Forest Service, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency. We also provide funding for essential Indian health, education, and resource management programs through the BIA and the Indian Health Service. Then we also provide funding and oversight for important cultural institutions, like the Smithsonian Institution, our National Gallery of Art, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. This aspect of our oversight is often kind of forgotten because it doesn't necessarily fit in with the public lands, with the EPA, with the BIA, but it is an important and an integral part of our subcommittee's work. Our subcommittee's allocation for fiscal year 2020 is $35.8 billion. This is $248 million more than last year, with an additional $2.25 billion being made available by the wildfire cap adjustment, and I will speak to the wildfire cap issue a little bit later here. Similar to the approach that we took in fiscal year 2019, the bill rejects the proposed budget decreases. We make investments in our highest priorities, such as infrastructure investments for our land management agencies, Indian Country, and wastewater and drinking water improvements. The Department of the Interior itself is funded at $13.7 billion. These funds go to support energy development that is critical to our Nation's economy, to recreation activities that power our rural communities, and to conservation efforts to protect our public lands and the wildlife that relies on them. Funding is provided to support an all-of-the-above energy approach, both onshore and offshore, that will continue to help our country achieve energy independence. On the conservation front, investments in grants programs for species protection, wetlands conservation, and to combat wildlife trafficking are included. We also took a keen look at some of the invasive species that are wreaking havoc in certain of our regions, like the Asian carp, so we provide a lot of good focus there. Americans love to love our national parks, so this bill provides the funds that are necessary to meet our responsibility at the national park units. We also focus on the deferred maintenance, which is something we have talked a lot about in committee and on the floor. We invest $127 million for deferred maintenance. We also increase funding for historic preservation, which is critical to preserving the sites and the stories of our Nation. The USGS, the U.S. Geological Survey, receives funding for important programs that help our emergency responders during natural disasters like earthquakes or tsunamis. We work within this bill to provide assistance for responses to natural hazards and disasters as well as to inform the public. In my State of Alaska, the support for the Earthquake Hazards Program helps us. As a State that is very seismically prone, it helps us with warnings, and it helps to enhance the earthquake monitoring capability. The bill also maintains funding for mapping initiatives that will help to gather data to improve our maps, which enhances the safety of activities such as aviation. In certain parts of the country, believe it or not, we do not have current and accurate mapping. Certainly, in my home State--and I know in other parts of the country--the updates to the maps have simply not been made. We also fully fund another lands matter, PILT, which is estimated at $500 million, and it maintains our commitment to meeting the needs of local communities for county roads, public safety, and schools. I know many of us in this Chamber hear from our constituents about the significance of adequate PILT funding. The Land and Water Conservation Fund is something that is near and dear to many in this body. You will see in this bill an increase to the LWCF, which receives $465 million. This is $30 million above the enacted level. This also includes $140 million for the NPS State side program as well as additional funding for recreational access. We focus on how we are able to access our treasured lands and ensure we have a level of conservation that is supported across the country. In working with Senator Udall over these years, I think it has been important--it has certainly been important for me--to have had a great partnership, a strong partnership when it has come to trying to meet the needs of those within Indian Country and having to fund the critical services. With this bill, I think we are making good measure to do that. The two primary agencies that deliver services to the Indian community are the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service. They receive a combined increase of $288 million over the 2019 levels. We maintain all critical program funding with some important increases for Indian Country. For the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the BIA, we maintain the substantial increases we have provided over the last 2 fiscal years. We are helping on matters such as the construction, operation, and maintenance of Indian schools. We know, unfortunately, that in so many of the reservations in the lower 48, our schools are simply inadequate. The education scores we are seeing from our schools are not where we need to be. Making sure we are doing right by our Native children around the country is so important when it comes to education. We also include funding for irrigation systems. We also fully fund contract support costs. We increase funding for public safety and justice facilities construction and programs. Certainly, as I hear from folks in Alaska and those around Indian Country in the lower 48, public safety is something by which, again, we are not doing right by those whom we must serve in these areas. This is an effort that I intend to continue to push in my going forward. I would specifically like to point out to my colleagues that for the very first time, we include a comprehensive look with new funding into those issues related to murdered and missing indigenous women. Many of us have been shocked at what we are coming to understand about the murdered and missing of our Native women around the country. The data we have we know is lacking. We don't know what we don't know. Thus, oftentimes it is difficult to respond and to address resources. The fact is that many who live in Tribal communities are often located in rural areas that lack public safety, and even though you have high rates of violence, abuse, murder, trafficking, we simply don't have the resources there to help to respond to it. I have been working with several of my colleagues to address these challenges--Senator Udall, Senator Hoeven, Senator Daines, and so many--to shine a light in this area. We know it is going to take a lot of coordination and communication among law enforcement agencies to get this right. In this bill, we include $6.5 million for cold case investigations, equipment, training, background checks, and the necessary report language to move us in the right direction. Attorney General Barr came to the State of Alaska in May. In Anchorage, he had an opportunity to sit and listen to statewide leaders, Native leaders, and law enforcement. He then had an opportunity to get out of the rural areas and into the villages. After he left, he declared a public safety emergency in the State of Alaska because of where we sit. So we have been working with the Attorney General and greatly appreciate his efforts there, but we need to do more through these appropriations to look specifically at these issues as well. For the Indian Health Service, there are also programs we have an obligation to fund that are vital to Indian Country. Many of these programs and the costs associated with them have grown since we enacted the 2019 bill. Among these are leasing and staffing costs that are associated with new healthcare facilities that are operated by the IHS or by Tribes under compact agreements. Our bill funds these new increases. We provide additional funding for recruitment and quality improvement as well as providing a $24 million increase for facilities, including an increase for medical equipment. The Forest Service receives investments in funding for the improved health and management of our Nation's forests, including for recreation assets, such as the cabins so many of us enjoy, the trails on which we hike, and recreation special use permitting to allow certain businesses to operate in our national forests in order to enhance the many recreational experiences and opportunities. At the beginning of my comments, I mentioned the wildfire cap adjustment. It was back in the 2018 omnibus that we created the wildland fire cap adjustment, and fiscal year 2020 is the first year this is now available. The bill invests $5.167 billion in wildland fire activity, including $2.25 billion in fire cap adjustment funding. In my State over this past summer, we certainly saw intense and extensive fires. It was a recordbreaking heat year this past summer, and we had some pretty devastating fires. We are still talking about the fires just last year in California. We know the threat is real, and we know we have to respond. So making sure we have the capacity to fight fire is important. In this bill, we not only invest in fire suppression, but we also invest in State and volunteer fire assistance. We provide increases for hazardous fuels reductions. As far as the EPA budget goes, we prioritize funding for the programs that result in concrete actions to improve the quality of the environment across our country. The bill provides significant increases in State and Tribal grant programs, which will lead to tangible, on- the-ground cleanup and environment benefits, which was another priority that was strongly supported by many in this Chamber. The priority that was targeted by many in the waters phase was water infrastructure development. Many of the newly authorized programs in America's Water Infrastructure Act are funded for the first time in this measure. Funding is also provided for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds and for the WIFIA Program to build and support critical water infrastructure in communities in every State. The bill also equips the EPA with a powerful set of tools to further the Agency's core missions of clean air, clean water, and clean land. One of the issues I hear a lot about from the folks back home, as well as from my colleagues in the Senate, is the issue of PFAS and PFAS contamination. In this bill, we have provided $25 million in increases to address PFAS, including new funding for State-led cleanup and remediation efforts. We also focus on the research of human health and environmental impacts and related priority regulatory actions. There is a $20 million increase provided for EPA grant programs to support States in their cleanup and remediation efforts of PFAS-contaminated water sources as well as the water systems and the lands. The remaining $5 million in increases will support the EPA's priority actions on PFAS and supplement the research that other agencies are currently conducting on the chemicals. So we heard the concerns of so many, and we really worked to respond in this measure. Lastly, the bill includes important increases for our cultural institutions and our agencies. The Smithsonian Institution, the Gallery of Art, and the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities all receive increases in our measure. I think it is so important to make sure that when we think about our treasures--clearly our land, the cleanliness of our water, but we also have national treasures, and we see so much of that reflected in the arts, whether it is the Smithsonian, the galleries, or what the Endowment for the Arts and the Humanities do. Consistent with fiscal year 2019, we do not include new policy provisions that were not in the enacted bill. So we worked with Chairman Shelby, Vice Chairman Leahy, and the ranking member, again, with Senator Udall, to assemble a package that both sides supported in committee. I want to reiterate the work Senator Udall and I put in to produce a bipartisan product that invests in programs that we care about-- programs that protect our land and our people and enable infrastructure projects to boost the economy and help communities provide vital basic services that many might take for granted. We also worked hard to shape this bill so that it reflects the priorities of Members on both sides of the aisle. I am proud--I am really very proud--of the good, bipartisan work to ensure that this Interior appropriations bill directs the Federal resources to where they are needed most, providing critical investments in communities across the Nation. Of course, this Interior bill is just a part of this package. We also have Commerce-Justice-Science, Agriculture, and T-HUD. All of these have significant impacts across the country. Certainly in my home State, we are looking at the Commerce-Justice-Science bill to help keep our fisheries healthy and provide assistance for public safety programs. In the Agriculture bill, there is funding for much needed water infrastructure in our villages, and it helps expand our ever-growing agricultural industries. Of course T-HUD makes sure that rural communities in my State can still receive things like essential air service and helps with our ferry transportation system and to provide Tribal housing. There is so much good in all of these measures. I would commend them to Members' consideration but would certainly urge passage of this very important Appropriations bill. I am pleased to be here with my colleague, the good Senator from New Mexico. I yield the floor.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, as the Senator from Missouri has stated, this is a significant day. This is a very special day in the Congress, as later this afternoon we are going to gather to pay tribute to a truly great Senator, the late Senator Ted Stevens from Alaska. His official portrait will be unveiled shortly by the U.S. Senate Commission on Art. It will be part of the U.S. Senate Leadership Portrait Collection, which honors past Presidents pro tempore and past leaders. Like all of the family, the friends, the colleagues, and the former staff who have gathered for this occasion, I am so very pleased that he will be memorialized forever here in the U.S. Capitol and will be watching over all of us. There are only 38 Members who are currently in the Senate who served with Ted, but I think it is important that all of us--and really every American--know who he was and why he so clearly deserves this honor. Ted was a public servant. He was the ultimate public servant. He dedicated his life to public service. He spent more than six decades fighting for our State and the country he loved. His service began during World War II, when he flew as a pilot in the Army Air Corps. He flew missions behind enemy lines in China in support of the Flying Tigers. The stories we have heard over the years are truly legendary of his efforts in the war. After the military, Ted helped Alaska to achieve its dream of statehood. He was basically Secretary Seaton's point man at the Department of the Interior during the Eisenhower administration. Think about what that means to have the opportunity to shape statehood for your State and then to go on and serve your State at this level as he did for some 40 years. He went on to become one of the longest serving Republican Senators of all time. In this Chamber, he represented Alaska with great dignity, with great distinction over the course of 40 exceptional years. He was truly a public servant. Really, from the very beginning, Ted was one of those special kinds of guys. After being appointed to the Senate in 1968, he established himself as a leader among leaders. Over the course of his time in the Senate, he chaired the Select Committee on Ethics; Rules and Administration; Governmental Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation, as well as the Committee on Appropriations. From 1977 to 1985, his colleagues chose him to be the Assistant Republican Leader. He led the Senate's Arms Control Observer Group for 15 years, and he served as the President pro tempore, the senior member of the Senate's majority party, from 2003 to 2007--so leadership across all levels. As one might expect, Ted was a force to be reckoned with. He made sure Alaska's voice was heard and was heard in every debate. As such, he secured an incredible number of legislative victories that shaped both the State of Alaska and our Nation. He helped to settle most of Alaska's Native land claims, returning 44 million acres of land to First Alaskans and establishing a new model that empowered our Native peoples to create new economic opportunities. Ted was instrumental in securing the passage of a bill that enabled the construction of our 800-mile-long Trans-Alaska Pipeline, which, to this day, remains the backbone of our State's economy and is a critical part of our Nation's energy security supply. Ted was a guy who worked very, very hard but who also loved to fish. He loved to be outside. His focusing on fishing led him to be very concerned about what he saw as being the overfishing by foreign fleets, which was taking place just miles off of Alaska's shores. So he worked across the aisle with Senator Warren Magnuson to protect and sustain our fisheries into the future. The Magnuson-Stevens law has been repeatedly reauthorized and, to this day, still bears their names. It really is impossible to overstate the beneficial impact that Ted had on Alaska. Now, keep in mind he came to the Senate in 1968--less than a decade after Alaska had become a State. So he knew as well as anyone how tough those early years of statehood were. He knew probably as well as anyone how difficult life was for so many Alaskans, particularly in the rural parts of our State and, more than anyone else, he helped to change that. Ted was an appropriator for a long time. He was legendary in that role. He once convinced the entire Committee on Appropriations to go to Alaska for 2 weeks to see Alaska's needs firsthand. The Federal funding he secured year after year allowed many Alaskans to gain access to very basic infrastructure. We are talking water and sewer--things that most Americans would take for granted. He also worked to help develop Alaska so we would have a telemedicine network that would work. He helped to facilitate bypass mail and Essential Air Service for our rural communities--programs and benefits that continue to this day. There is absolutely no doubt that the people of Alaska are better off because of Ted Stevens. Many around the State still lovingly refer to Ted as ``Uncle Ted.'' We are happier, and we are clearly healthier. We are a safer and more prosperous State because of his contributions. Yet the same is true for every American because Ted's accomplishments did not end with the State of Alaska. He was a patriot. He was firmly committed to our national defense and the security of our country. He had great admiration for those who answered the call to serve in uniform, as he had. He traveled the world to visit with our troops and hear directly from them. He was a longtime leader on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Department of Defense. He and Dan Inouye would kind of share the chairmanship, one between the other practically. Throughout his Senate tenure, he fought tirelessly to make sure our military had the best equipment, better pay, and the needed care it sought. He was a defender of those who defended us. Ted was an avid surfer when he was young, and he recognized the importance of sports in our daily lives. I can remember a story that has gone around for so many years; that of having to put his eldest daughter, Sue, on a boy's softball team because we didn't have a girls' league in Alaska at the time. So he championed title IX of the Education Amendments Act, which provides equal opportunity for women to participate in sports. He also authored the Amateur Sports Act, which created the U.S. Olympic Committee, and worked to ensure funding for physical education programs--programs, again, that had that fingerprint of Ted Stevens from so many years prior. I can go on and on about Ted's accomplishments. His legislative accomplishments are considerable and far too many to speak to here today, things like his work to ban damaging high seas drift nets to the funding he secured to advance AIDS and breast cancer research. He was involved in so much. In recognizing that other colleagues wish to speak of Senator Stevens as well, I, instead, will speak very briefly about what I feel made him so effective and really so beloved--because he was beloved, maybe feared a little bit but beloved. The first thing to understand is that Ted had a pretty simple motto. It was not very complicated. He said: To hell with politics. Just do what is right for Alaska. He lived by that every day that he served here. He would work with anyone who was willing to do right by the State of Alaska no matter who one was, where one came from, or which side of the aisle one was on. I mentioned Senator Inouye and the relationship that Ted had with him on the Subcommittee on Department of Defense and on the Committee on Appropriations. They formed a very close relationship. They had a lot in common. Obviously, they were both veterans, and they were both from young, offshore States. Yet they looked out for one another. They had one another's backs. On committees, as I mentioned, they would be chairman and vice chairman and would trade off but would work with one another. In later years, it was not uncommon to find them both smoking cigars out on the pro tempore's balcony in the early evenings, talking about what had happened that day or what was going to happen the next day. Another thing that folks should know about Ted is that he was definitely a fighter. I am told that Newsweek described him as a ``scrapper'' when he first arrived in the Senate, and it certainly proved to be an apt description throughout his tenure. Yet Ted was, again, pretty clear: If Alaska's interests were at stake, he was out there to defend them. There were times he would put on his Incredible Hulk tie and channel the big guy's persona. When that happened, everyone knew to look out because Ted was going to the mat for Alaska on that day. Look out. Some suggested that Ted had a bit of a temper. A Senator is chuckling back there. I hear that. I think Ted knew that a little bit of a temper could actually serve him pretty well, and he would usually have a cute, little gleam in his eye when he would say, ``I never lose my temper. I know exactly where I left it.'' Ted was one of those guys who was great to his people, but when something needed to be said--when it needed to be direct and to the point--he was not going to shy away from it. That was another part of what really made him a legend around here. I think those who are listening and those who know me know I have an immense, great affection for Ted and that this day and the recognition he is receiving has great personal meaning. I had the extraordinary fortune to know Ted Stevens for almost my entire life. At one point, he was my boss. I was a high school intern. My first opportunity to really be out of Alaska on my own was when I was an intern here for Senator Ted. Later, of course, he was my colleague in the Senate, where he mentored me and partnered with me to help serve Alaska. Above all that, he was a true friend--truly a friend--and I miss him dearly. I am reminded of him all the time. I have his old office in the Hart Building. I have pictures and mementos that remind me of Ted. Every time I go back home to the State, I think of him. It is not just because, when I land, it reads ``Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.'' It is also when I go out to the communities and see a road or a bridge or a community that is no longer utilizing a honey bucket system because of the work that Ted did. When you go home, when you visit in Alaska, you see firsthand the impact he had. You see it everywhere. I often say that Ted built Alaska and that Ted was Alaska. So you can see why we named him the ``Alaskan of the 20th Century'' and why we remain so grateful for all that he has done for us. I am happy there is now going to be a place in the Capitol where I can visit Ted, talk to him, and think about what he might have said and about the counsel he might have provided for our State and our Nation. I do hope his portrait will be a reminder to those of us who serve here that we can work together even on the hardest of days and that, if we do, we can achieve great things for the American people, which sometimes might just require us to say: To hell with politics. Just do what is right. I am honored and privileged to be here with so many Alaskans, including Catherine, Ted's wife, as well as many of his children and grandchildren. I know they are overwhelmed by the number of friends and colleagues and staff who are here to celebrate Ted's life and legacy. In channeling here, I think Ted is looking down on all of this and is thinking: Enough already. This is too much. You all have to get back to work because, after all, we have appropriations bills on the floor. With that, I yield to the fine Senator from Mississippi.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I want to take a few minutes to recognize the life of a highly respected Athabascan elder Howard Luke, who died September, 21, 2019 in Fairbanks, AK, at age 95. With the passing of Native elder Howard Luke, Alaska has lost a highly respected Athabascan leader who dedicated his life to empowering the Alaska Native community and ensuring that cultural and traditional knowledge will be passed down to younger generations. Howard Luke was born in 1923 in Nenana, later moving to Fairbanks with his mother at age 13. A man with a true gentle spirit, Howard made a unique contribution to our State, and he shared his passion of the Athabascan language and traditional ways. He always stressed the importance of school for young people while also learning their traditions. At his mother's side, he learned the stories and values and subsistence way of life of his people. He sometimes talked about wishing he had received more formal schooling and that he felt hindered by stopping school after the fourth grade; yet he was constantly pursuing learning. He travelled to New Zealand, Australia, Russia, and visited other Tribes throughout the United States. In honor of his efforts, the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District named an alternative school after him. In 1991, he received an honorary high school diploma from that school. Howard later received an honorary doctorate from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. In discussing his efforts with schools, he said that he wanted teachers to help the kids more than anything else. He knew that you can't just tell them, ``This is the way to do it,'' and leave them alone. You have got to help them. His approach was based on the idea that you have got to make the kids proud of themselves for what they were able to do. Howard made sure to focus on educating young indigenous people, ``the grandkids,'' about the rich culture and values that are their inheritance. Howard dedicated his later life to culture camps and cultural education in the schools. He started a camp on the banks of the Chena River, the Gaaleeya Spirit Camp, to teach skills to Native youth, such as art, language, and how to live off the land. He was a common and welcoming elder in Canada and the Chilkoot Culture Camp in Haines. He shared traditional practices of hunting, teaching deep respect for those resources that are so much a part of Alaska Natives lifestyles. The knowledge that he had and shared with others is something you cannot learn in a university. This knowledge is passed down from elders to youth, and he recognized the importance of sustaining places for younger generations to learn the ways of their ancestors. Howard Luke always said, if you love the kids, they will know that they are loved. He also always told the kids to be proud of themselves. Howard was loved in return, and Alaskans are immensely proud of all that he contributed to the State. My deepest condolences to his friends, family, and loved ones during this time as we reflect on the life a legendary Alaskan.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr, President, I have 5 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions The Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 24, 2019, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing on the nomination of Eugene Scalia, of Virginia, to be Secretary of Labor. Committee on Foreign Relations The Committee on Foreign Relations is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 24, 2019, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing. Select Committee on Intelligence The Select Committee on Intelligence is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 24, 2019, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a closed briefing. Subcommittee on Aviation and Space The Subcommittee on Aviation and Space of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 24, 2019, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing. Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights The Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 24, 2019, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Energy and Natural Resources Committee be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 267.

Ms. MURKOWSKI

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. 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. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Thursday, September 12; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired and the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Bowman nomination under the previous order.