Lisa Murkowski

“During the reconciliation negotiations, protecting health care access for rural communities in Alaska and across the country was my top priority,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski. “As one of the lead advocates to double the Rural Health Transformation Fund from $25 billion to $50 billion, I was intent on ensuring our rural providers had the resources to adapt, innovate, and continue to deliver care in challenging environments like ours. In addition to the funding, I fought for key provisions, including exemptions for Tribal members from SNAP and Medicaid work requirements and greater flexibility for states like Alaska to exempt regions with limited job availability. These safeguards will matter just as much as the funding. Taken together, they position Alaska well for the future and recognize the realities facing our rural and remote communities. We have an extraordinary opportunity in front of us, and I’m committed to working with our partners in the state to seize it.”

Washington, DC — Today, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) released the following statement today following her votes to proceed on debate for the two proposals on healthcare: The cost of health care is already a significant burden, and in just a few short weeks, it is set to explode into a full-blown crisis for thousands of Alaskans and millions of Americans. We have known this cliff was coming for quite some time, but Congress has ignored opportunities to address it at every turn. This brought us to today, when I voted to begin debate on competing proposals that ostensibly aim to address this challenge.

“We have been in close contact with leadership from Alaska Command for several days now and received detailed classified briefings about the foreign vessels that are transiting U.S. waters in the Aleutians,” said Senator Murkowski. “This is a stark reminder of Alaska’s proximity to both China and Russia, as well as the essential role our state plays in our national defense and territorial sovereignty. Incursions like this are why we are working so hard to secure funding and resources to expand our military’s capacity and capabilities in Alaska, and why our colleagues must join us in supporting those investments.”