JUNEAU, ALASKA—U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) today delivered his annual address to a joint session of the Alaska Legislature in Juneau, outlining an optimistic vision for Alaska’s future focused on growing the state’s private sector economy, creating good-paying jobs for Alaska’s families, and uniting to seize the enormous economic opportunities available to the state.

“This is a vision that I believe everybody in this room supports,” said Sen. Sullivan. “It’s a vision arising from our frontier heritage—a spirit of strength, invention, energy, and resilience, shaking off the shackles of the past, and building a new world. It’s a spirit of opportunity. It is the spirit of the Last Frontier.”

Sen. Sullivan contrasted the Trump administration’s positive focus on Alaska’s economy, as demonstrated by hisday-one “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential” executive order, with the 70 executive orders and actions of the Biden administration targeting Alaska’s economy and access to lands during the last four years.

“With the stroke of a pen, on his first day in office, President Trump sent Alaska, America, and the world an unmistakable message that unleashing Alaska’s extraordinary resources and jobs in a growing economy is one of his administration’s top priorities,” said Sen. Sullivan. “Regardless of political party, I encourage all of you to read it, understand it, and most importantly, work with us to use it for the betterment of the people we are honored to represent.”

Sen. Sullivan also shared the unprecedented progress on the Alaska LNG project, which would bring affordable energy and thousands of jobs to the state, and breaking news from the Department of the Interior, whichannounced today it will lift Public Land Order 5150, restoring access to federal lands, facilitating long-overdue land conveyances, and boosting responsible resource production in Alaska.

“I know you have a lot of hard work to do to make sure the Alaska LNG project gets the proper scrutiny and due diligence, and that’s a big part of your job,” Sen. Sullivan said. “But we have to move fast. We have an opportunity! As you’re evaluating this project and thinking of creative ways to spur it, not stop it, I’m asking all of you—all of us collectively as Alaskans—to not lose sight of the vision that built our state. The vision that’s still brimming with strength, invention, energy, and opportunity.”

In his remarks, Sen. Sullivan also gave an update on his work to continue building up Alaska’s military, including the first new icebreaker in a generation, the USCGC Storis, which will achieve initial operating capability by this August and is set to be homeported in Juneau. He also spoke about progress that he’s achieved in pushing the Department of Defense (DOD) to reopen the historic naval base in Adak in the Aleutian Islands.

“With authoritarian aggression on the rise, especially near our borders, I am happy to report that, after five years of dogged persistence on the Armed Services Committee from me and my team—countless hearings, meetings, amendments in the National Defense Authorization Act—the NORTHCOM commander and INDOPACOM commander in hearings have recently agreed that we need to re-open the naval base at Adak for our national security,” said Sen. Sullivan. “I was recently briefed by the CNO of the Navy—the top admiral in the U.S. Navy. They’re going to be sending a team next week to assess the investments needed in order to reopen Adak as part of our defense perimeter on the northern border for our country.”

Finally, Sen. Sullivan discussed his efforts to protect the interests of Alaska’s fishermen and coastal communities, establish stronger aviation safety standards in Alaska, and raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl with a statewide “One Pill Can Kill” campaign. He also addressed federal spending reductions by the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and encouraged Alaskans to reach out to his office regarding decisions that would run counter to President Trump’s day-one executive order to unleash Alaska’s economy.

Below is a full transcript of Senator Sullivan’s address as delivered.  

I.                   Introduction

Good morning, everybody. President Stevens. Speaker Edgmon. Members of the House and Senate. Thank you for inviting me to speak to you this morning.

It’s a great tradition and it’s really great to be back home!

I want to begin by introducing my outstanding team who are in the gallery today: Larry Burton, my chief of staff; Amanda Coyne, my communications director; Michael Soukup, my deputy communications director; Maria Uchytil, my Juneau Regional Director. Many of you know Joe Byrnes, who I recently stole from DNR. Rest assured, he’s still working for Alaska!

I also am appreciative of the work my team and I do with our Alaska delegation—we are a small but mighty delegation back in D.C.—Senator Murkowski and, our newest member, Congressman Nick Begich, who’s doing a really great job.

You can tell, this is the most important speech for me all year. I bring a big team.

But the most important member of my team and the most important person the world for me, the love of my life—my wife, Julie, is also here today. I should just end it. You gave my wife a standing ovation. I should be done. I’m just going to leave. Thank you for that. That was very kind.

II.                Alaska Legislature Facts

I also want to mention it’s great to have our good friend Donny Olson back. Donny, we’ve been praying for you and Rep. Maxine Dibert as well. We know that prayers have been answered so we’re glad that both of you are back here and healthy.

As the father of three daughters and husband to a strong, brilliant wife, it’s great to see our House have a majority of women here. This is not surprising given our state’s history—the Alaska Legislature voted to give women the right to vote seven years before the passage of the 19th Amendment, and this body also passed the first anti-racial discrimination bill 19 years before the 1964 Civil Rights Act, due to the advocacy of a strong Native Alaskan, Elizabeth Peratrovich.

I mentioned this already. This is the most important speech I give all year, because we want to work closely with all of you, and it’s a marker of our state’s progress. Last year, I spoke about the optimists who dare greatly and have made our state what it is today. Those with the big can-do spirit that reflects the best of our Alaskan heritage, who’ve had to overcome the naysayers and pessimists, which I described in detail last year.

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