Murkowski speaks on several Alaska bills at the Senate Energy Hearing [Video]

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) – On June 12, Senator Lisa Murkowski, senior member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, spoke on 20 bills, including three Alaska bills at the Public Lands, Forests, and Mining Subcommittee Hearing.

The first Alaska bill Murkowski spoke on included the Chugach Alaska Land Exchange and Oil Spill Recovery Act, in which Murkowski stated, “In 1989, one of the worst environmental disasters in history occurred with the Exxon Valdez oil spill. That spill devastated the Chugach region on many levels—not just environmentally, but socially and economically. The government recovery efforts, though well-intentioned, also had negative impacts and did not always include the voices of the Alaska Native people who have stewarded these lands for millennia,” said Senator Murkowski. “The people of this region and the environment are still recovering, 35 years later.”

Murkowski also commented on the Cape Fox Land Entitlement Finalization Act, saying “This bill waives an existing statutory requirement in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act that restricted Cape Fox Corporation from making selections …