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Murkowski lands plum job assignments Senior Alaska senator to sit on key Appropriations subcommittees, continues as ranking Republican on Energy and Natural Resources Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
The past few weeks have been good to U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.
At the end of December, state election officials certified her improbable write-in victory for a new six-year term in the Senate.
On Jan. 27, she learned she would stay on major committees including Appropriations and Energy and Natural Resources.
And on Feb. 4, Murkowski received more good news when she was assigned to important Appropriations subcommittees.
These include the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, on which Murkowski is the new ranking Republican member, her office announced in a press release.
The subcommittee “has jurisdiction over a number of federal agencies important to Alaska,” including the Bureau of Land Management, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the release said.
“Nearly two thirds of Alaska’s land mass is owned or managed by federal land management agencies, so as the ranking member of the Interior-Environment Subcommittee, I will be fighting to ensure that the federal government upholds its commitment to maintain these lands for the benefit of all Alaskans,” Murkowski said.
Murkowski also was assigned to the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, which has jurisdiction over the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
That Murkowski secured strong committee assignments is noteworthy, as some of her Senate colleagues seemed ready to dump her after she decided to fight for re-election as a write-in candidate against Joe Miller, the Tea Party favorite who dealt her a stunning defeat in the Republican primary.
High-profile energy post Perhaps most significantly, Murkowski continues as the ranking Republican member on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which is chaired by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. The committee had deep involvement with the oil and gas industry.
Murkowski, 53, has been in the Senate since 2002 and today is Alaska’s senior senator.
As the senior Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, she has a prominent voice on key energy issues.
She used that voice on Jan. 26 in addressing the future of arctic oil and gas development following a hearing on the final report from the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling.
“The United States is an Arctic nation because of Alaska,” Murkowski said. “We cannot ignore the fact that Russia will drill in the Chukchi Sea in coming years and that Canada is already exploring the Beaufort Sea. Alaska cannot be forced to sit in the middle of this activity — bearing all the same risk but none of the reward — while our pipeline runs dry and our jobs disappear.”
She added: “The commission’s report clearly states that the need for ongoing research in the Arctic should not be used as an excuse to permanently delay exploration.”
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