U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) issued the following statement on the one-year anniversary of the attack at the United States Capitol:
Today marks one year since the U.S. Capitol was stormed by a mob incited by our former president. Those of us who were there to fulfill our constitutional responsibilities can never erase what we saw and heard, nor will we ever forget the desecration and violence that took place.
A year later, the sadness and anger of knowing that it was Americans who breached the center of our democracy, to thwart certification of a lawful election, remains with me. There is not a day that goes by that I am not thankful to our Capitol Police officers, who attempted to hold the line on that awful day to protect Congress and those of us who serve as part of it. I mourn for the individuals we lost and for those who continue to stand watch with injuries, both visible and invisible. My heart is also heavy knowing that American institutions and ideals remain tarnished by this terrible event.
We cannot ignore the riots of January 6th nor what led up to the insurrection at our Capitol. We must understand so that it is never repeated. Our nation – and especially those who would lead it – must also focus on healing our divisions instead of deepening them. That is the only way we will remain a country committed to civil discourse, the right to peaceably assemble, and, so importantly, the peaceful transition of power.”
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski
Washington, D.C.
Resetting for the new year: Alaska Airlines statement on reduced January schedule
The majority of this schedule reduction will occur in the Lower 48. There are no significant changes planned to our normal January flying to communities in Alaska.
As we have entered 2022, the continued impacts of omicron have been disruptive in all our lives and unprecedented employee sick calls have impacted our ability to operate our airline reliably. We are deeply grateful for how our incredible employees have pulled together to take care of our guests and each other, operate safely and make the best of a very difficult situation. To our guests, we apologize for the considerable inconvenience and are working hard to return to the level of service they know and expect from us.
We’re at our best when we are safe, reliable and caring. And right now, we need to build more reliability back into our operation as we deal with the impacts of omicron and during a time when guests generally fly less. We’ve decided to reduce departures by about 10% through the end of January. This will give us the flexibility and capacity needed to reset while continued flexible travel policies enable guests to adjust their plans accordingly. This will also give us time and space to find our path forward together, with Covid-19 as a continued reality in our business and our world.
We will learn from these challenges, improve where we must and deliver on our promise to deliver nonstop care each and every day.
Tim Thompson
External Affairs Manager
Alaska Airlines
2021 proved that Murkowski has abandoned Alaska
As we enter 2022, it’s time to examine the record of Alaska’s senior senator, Lisa Murkowski, over the last year. After strongly opposing the election of President Donald Trump and helping Joe Biden take power, Murkowski immediately set about enabling Biden’s radical agenda.
On his first day in office, Biden blocked energy exploration in ANWR, and then nominated Deb Haaland, known as a radical environmentalist, for Interior Secretary. Even though Murkowski expressed concerns that Haaland would be harmful to Alaska, she cast the deciding vote in committee to confirm her. Except for Murkowski, Haaland never would have become Interior Secretary.
When a federal judge blocked Alaska’s massive Willow oil and gas project, Haaland refused to appeal the decision. Haaland also obstructed a federal court ruling that would re-open ANWR by claiming her Department needed to redo an environmental survey. These foreseeable Haaland decisions have cost Alaska billions of dollars and thousands of jobs, all of which reflect Murkowski’s commitment to her constituency of one—Joe Biden—rather than all the Alaskans she was elected to represent.
But Haaland’s assault on Alaska is about more than just energy.
She is pushing to close off 60 million additional acres of federal public lands to hunting next year, and she has refused to honor multiple US Supreme Court decisions that upheld Alaska’s right to manage its navigable waters. To enforce our rights, the State is expending significant resources battling the radical-environmentalist chief lawyer at the Department of Interior. Guess who cast the tiebreaking vote for his confirmation? Lisa Murkowski.
Murkowski also has helped confirm other nominees who have sabotaged our right to manage our resources, like the Secretary of Agriculture who is reinstituting the “roadless rule,” which means Alaska will no longer have access to the Tongass National Forest for tourism and timber production. This is another Murkowski vote that killed countless Alaskan jobs and favored Biden over Alaskans.
Murkowski also was the only Republican – and the tie-breaking vote – to confirm Vanita Gupta, an anti-police activist who has testified in support of defunding police departments. As a top Justice Department official now, Gupta oversees federal grants to local police departments. Given our high domestic abuse, crime, and sexual assault rates, this Murkowski vote was a direct shot at our public safety victims.
Murkowski broke from Republicans at least twelve times to confirm radical Biden nominees. And she did nothing to take a stand against Biden’s unconstitutional vaccine mandates.
Undaunted, Murkowski brags about writing Biden’s “infrastructure bill,” which really is just the Green New Deal. It punishes carbon production through heavy fines – another dagger aimed at Alaska’s heart.
What’s more, under the bill, Alaska must apply, compete, be selected to receive infrastructure dollars, and then secure the same permits and environmental surveys we have been unable to get from the Biden administration thus far! In some cases, we must create more state government offices before we can even qualify. Murkowski pretends this bait-and-switch bill is good for us, but she adamantly opposed Trump, who proposed an infrastructure bill that did not include the Green New Deal.
Murkowski’s record this year is consistent with her past. In 2011, Murkowski gushed about confirming the appointment of U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason because she was a woman and nice to people in court. Gleason’s record as a non-constitutionalist, environmental activist didn’t matter to Murkowski. Gleason predictably has 1) killed the Willow oil project, 2) canceled the life-saving road to King Cove, and 3) ruled that federal agencies, not the state, have game management authority in Alaska.
Finally, during Murkowski’s time in office and on the Senate Appropriations Committee, the national debt has exploded from $6 Trillion to $30 Trillion. Murkowski was one of the few Republicans who voted to allow Democrats to increase the debt ceiling this year.
It’s little wonder that in a recent campaign finance report, only three percent of Murkowski’s donors were Alaskans. She spends her time in the Senate cultivating her political allegiances to Biden and other D.C. insiders. Her votes show that she cares more about her popularity in D.C. than she does about the people in Alaska.
There’s also no mystery why the Alaska Republican Party has censured her and prohibited her from identifying as a Republican. She has abandoned Alaska values to represent Biden and enable his radical agenda.
I have been endorsed by the Alaska GOP and by President Trump. When I’m your U.S. senator, I will represent the people of Alaska—not Biden and the DC insiders.
Kelly Tshibaka, Republican Candidate for U.S. Senate in Alaska
Anchorage, AK
Please protect yourselves
As I’m writing this on January 9, the Governor has disappeared from his job to protect your health and lives from this latest wave of COVID. He’s made the calculation that he’d rather get votes from those who want inaction than protect people from illness and hospitalization. If he won’t do the “life and safety” part of his job he should step down.
Before Christmas I asked him to elevate the discussion about how you can protect yourselves best, before hospitals started filling. This wave will harm and maybe kill people. It’s not an excuse to say it’s less deadly than the very deadly last wave.
A well-fitting disposable surgical mask (especially an N-95 or if not, a KN-95 if available), and not the buff the Governor has sported, work better to stop us from infecting each other. Vaccination and a booster can decrease your risk of major health danger. A test before visiting people with medical conditions can help protect them.
Better yet, speak to your doctor or at least read the best medical advice you can find. Because the Governor has gone silent.
Les Gara, Former State Legislator and Candidate for Governor
Anchorage, AK
