Congress tackles issue of Puerto Rico’s status By: ANA RADELAT Washington – For the first time since the Republican Party took control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010, Congress will hold a hearing on Puerto Rico’s status. Wednesday's hearing, featuring witnesses representing all of Puerto Rico’s political parties, has been scheduled by Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, the head of the House N... Read more »
Alaska senators vote yes on trade authority bill By Erica Martinson WASHINGTON -- Alaska's all-Republican congressional delegation is not in agreement on the trade bill the U.S. Senate passed Wednesday: It is split down the middle of the Capitol dome. In the Senate, both Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan voted in favor of the House-initiated trade bill Wednesday. Both voted in favor of the bill in i... Read more »
Groups target Tongass Timber By MATT ARMSTRONG A “breakfast briefing” scheduled for Tuesday morning in Washington, D.C., will seek to draw attention to the supposedly high cost to taxpayers of timber sales in the Tongass National Forest. The breakfast, titled “Money-losing timber sales in the Tongass National Forest,” is being held with the assistance of Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, and Rep. St... Read more »
EDITORIAL: Making it right It's good news indeed that Alaska U.S. Rep. Don Young has introduced legislation to correct an acknowledged historical oversight and allow Natives in the Southeast communities of Ketchikan, Haines, Petersburg, Wrangell, and Tenakee to form local Native corporations. We praised Alaska's U.S. senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, in March for introducing similar legis... Read more »
Bill seeking new Native corporations in Congress Haines, Petersburg, Wrangell, Ketchikan and Tenakee excluded from 1971 Act THE ASSOCIATED PRESS JUNEAU — Congress is picking up a bill that would create corporations for residents of five southeast Alaska communities left out of a landmark land settlement decades ago. The bill authored by U.S. Rep. Don Young went before the House Subcommittee on In... Read more »
Vets, Lawmakers Irate over New VA ‘Choice’ Program By Liz Ruskin, APRN When the scandal erupted last year over long wait lists at the Phoenix VA, Alaska was found to have quite short wait times. The Alaska VA has for years been buying care for veterans outside the VA, at community and private-sector clinics, and especially through the Native health care system. The concept is dubbed “Care Closer t... Read more »
Alaska delegation sets sights on getting US lands into local hands By Erica Martinson At 40th Avenue and Denali Street in Midtown Anchorage, a weather-worn sign leans against a fence that encloses a 9-acre lot overgrown with grass and weeds, flush with squawking birds that have appropriated the land. The sign touts plans for a new National Archives and Records Administration building. But that is ... Read more »
Landless Natives bill gets first hearing before Congress By Ed Schoenfeld, CoastAlaska A bill creating corporations for Native residents of five “landless” Southeast Alaska communities had its first hearing in Congress today. Haines, Petersburg, Wrangell, Ketchikan and Tenakee were left out of 1971’s Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. That bill gave land, money and corporate status to those in m... Read more »
Young: Let locals decide fate of Arctic drilling By Erica Martinson WASHINGTON -- What happens in the Arctic is the Arctic’s business, Rep. Don Young told members of a House subcommittee on Tuesday. “He lives there,” Young said, referring to Richard Glenn, executive vice president of the Arctic Slope Regional Corp., who was in Washington, D.C., to testify before Congress about issues related to oi... Read more »
How Congress turned its back on earmarks -- and what it means for Alaska By Erica Martinson WASHINGTON -- When it comes to spending, Congress is a long way from the its pork-barrel past -- procedurally, at least. Years after earmarks were booted out of Washington, D.C., Congress is finally getting down to the business of the budget, working its way through the now-rare process of deciding what get... Read more »
