XI. Two Visions

Last year, I spoke about how the political parties in D.C. have two very different visions for Alaska—with D.C.-based Democrats always looking to shut down and restrict our economy, killing jobs, and Republicans in D.C. wanting to unleash Alaska’s full potential and private sector growth.

These differences in outlook don’t just exist in the executive branch, they exist in the Legislature as well in D.C.

Here’s a fact on this bill. It wasn’t just the Alaska FMAP provision that Senate Democrats went to the parliamentarian to target against Alaska. They targeted and tried to work against every single provision I’ve told you about today, every Alaska priority, every Alaska win—of which there were many. They went to the parliamentarian to try to strip out of this historic bill.

I’m not being partisan here. These are just the facts. Alaskans should know who wants to help us and who wants to hurt us.

This wasn’t abstract. They went line by line, provision by provision, trying to strip Alaska priorities out of the bill before the Senate parliamentarian. They made this a priority.

Of course, they also tried to kill all the provisions I talked about on NPR-A, and ANWR, and Cook Inlet—all the resource development provisions. But they tried to kill so much more.

The $300 million we secured for an icebreaker here in Juneau. The $115 million we tried to secure to re-open Adak. The entire Rural Health Transformation Fund. The Alaska-specific flexibility Senator Murkowski and I got in the bill on SNAP and Medicaid. Hell, they even tried to strip out the whaling tax credit that supports our North Slope subsistence whaling communities and whaling captains.

Again and again, they came after Alaska.

Again and again, we got in the arena and fought—and we beat them on almost every one of these things.

Alaska is winning. Our comeback is real. It is happening, because of so many of these things. We need to continue to work together on all of these issues.

XII. Conclusion

We’ve seen this moment before. The TAPS generation led a comeback for America—led by Alaska. Think about it. When our country desperately needed energy in the early 1970s, Alaskans stepped up and built something extraordinary. That effort was bigger than any one individual. It was about the future of our state and the strength of America. Alaskans who built TAPS still have an immense pride in what they accomplished. We all know the people who were a part of that. It’s great to talk to them, even today, about it.

And today, we are also part of a moment that I think can be just as meaningful. This is particularly important for young Alaskans.

Like the TAPS generation, our kids, our grandkids, have the opportunity to be part of building something very consequential and bigger than themselves: the gas line, fully rebuilding our military capability, transforming our health care system, working in shipyards, opening new manufacturing centers across our state. Working together, we can give the next generations of Alaskans this incredible opportunity and this incredible gift.

Why does it all matter? It’s jobs. It’s the future. But, at the end of the day, it’s about our kids and grandkids. Because when the state was created, our predecessors promised Alaskans a “homeland filled with opportunities.” That future is now.

I want to thank you all again for the great work you guys do. It’s an honor of a lifetime to represent all of you in the United States Senate. We will continue to work with all of you on the great, generational opportunities we have before us. Thank you very much.

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  juneau, legislature, sullivan