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Senators Mary Landrieu (D-La) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) held a senate subcommittee hearing in an aircraft hanger at Air Station Kodiak regarding America's presence in the Arctic. Brianna Gibbs/KMXT photo
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Two U.S.
senators crossed party lines Monday when they met to discuss the future
of the arctic, and what it means for the country, and in particular, the United
States Coast Guard. KMXT's Brianna Gibbs has more.
Democratic Senator
Mary Landrieu was a few thousand miles away from her stomping grounds of Louisiana when she
joined Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski in Kodiak. The two sat before a field
hearing of local residents, Coast Guardsmen and an expert panel to address the
future of the arctic, and what it means for the United States Coast Guard.
Admiral
Robert J. Papp was a fitting panelist to kick of the discussion. As commandant
of the entire U.S. Coast Guard, he spoke to what melting sea ice and expansion
of industry in the arctic has done to the Coast Guard's already limited
resources.
-- (Field Hearing 1 :44 "The good thing is there is a lot of interest in the
arctic now. I think the work of this subcommittee, the two of you, some of the
speaking engagements I've had are causing people to ask the questions now. And
when I try to relate this to a landsman, someone from the interior of the
country that doesn't quite understand, what I say is well think about if your
city, or your county or your parish incorporated a new portion of land, or
gained some additional space or area, but you never increased your police
force, or you never increased your fire department. They would take on added
responsibilities, added burdens, and they'd have to spread the existing
resources a little bit thinner to accomplish the mission. ")
Murkowski and Landrieu said they
were discouraged by the declining funds the nation has put toward protecting
the coast, and said they were working together to change that. Murkowski
focused on the need for ice breakers in the north, along with more law
enforcement as fisheries expand northward and oil and gas exploration
intensifies.
-- (Field Hearing 2 :43 "But I also recognize that we ask an extraordinary amount
of the men and women who serve us. And we have an obligation to provide you
with those assets that allow you to do the job, do it well, and do it safely so
that you return home to your families. And I worry, I worry because that water big
and deep and broad and many, many times dangerous. And whether you're on the
sea, or the helo in the air plucking fishermen out of waves that are 20 feet
high and gales that are blasting, we put you in harms way. And we've got an
obligation to ensure that you have the assets to do what you do, so honorably.")
Landrieu, who serves as the
Chair of the Homeland Security Appropriations subcommittee, is no stranger to
coastal waters. While her home state of Louisiana
is a far cry from the arctic, she said she is empathic to the state's fishing
industry, and has the Coast Guard to thank for being first on the scene to
natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. But perhaps more so than anything,
Landrieu said she can attest to the immense resources needed to pursue oil and
gas drilling. She spoke from experience, too. After all, it was Louisiana that felt the
greatest effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.
-- (Field Hearing 3 :25 "It may be shocking, Senator, to
think of this but 47,000 personnel and 7,000 vessels responded to that
accident. We're sitting in the largest air base here and we only have 1,000
personnel. I don't think you have nearly 7,000 vessels anywhere close, and that
response had to be done immediately. And I think the nation has to really come
to grips with the exploration opportunities for oil and gas, the need of the
nation to have our domestic resource, but the extra responsibility that comes
with that to provide the vessels and the man power to take care of something
that if in that situation, something went terribly wrong.")
The dire need for ice breaking vessels
was a reoccurring topic during the hearing. Landrieu said the U.S. is an
arctic nation, but one would not assume that if they considered the resources the
Coast Guard is working with. Admiral Papp, who agreed, addressed the question
of what is currently in operation.
-- (Field Hearing 4 :42 "So
that will give us one heavy
breaker, and one medium breaker, and that's my bridging strategy over
the next
decade until we get the new polar ice breaker build. And how much do
those
polar ice breakers cost approximately. We're estimating anywhere between
$800
million to $1 billion, looking across the world at the price we see in
other
countries and what Canada
is allocating to build their new icebreaker. And do you know how many
Canada has, or how many Russia has or how many China has? I'd
have to get back to you with the rough numbers. But they have more than
we do?
Absolutely.")
The field
hearing was intended to provide testimony for the need of additional funds to
the Coast Guard. The two senators are currently working on a bill that would
allocate $10.336 billion to the Coast Guard, $282 million above president's
request. Dr. Mark Myers, a researcher from the University
of Alaska in Fairbanks, joined Admiral Papp on the panel,
and provided testimony as to his research needs and discoveries in northern
waters. Joining him was Merrick Burden, executive director of the Marine
Conservation Alliance, and Bruce Harland, vice president of commercial services
for Crowley Marine.
Once the
hearing came to a close, both Murkowski and Landrieu said they had gained
valuable information to support their bill, and shed light on the needs of Alaska for those far away in Washington D.C.
They said the record would remain open until August 20, giving time to allow
the community at large to testify about the topics discussed during the hearing.
Murkowski
and Landrieu will continue their Alaskan visit in the coming days, visiting
other communities that rely on the Coast Guard. In Kodiak, I'm Brianna Gibbs. ###
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