In the News/Op-eds
Pentagon recognizing Alaska's strategic value
by Sen. Dan Sullivan
World leaders are justifiably on edge about North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-Un. From executing senior members of his government and military to rocket launches and nuclear tests, the irrational and paranoid Kim Jong-Un has combined his nuclear goals and ballistic-missile ambitions into a volatile mixture of regional and global instability. In response, Congress has stepped up to lead by recently passing bipartisan legislation to broaden sanctions and punish North Korea for its nuclear progra… Continue Reading
02.02.16
Sullivan proposes new method of VA appeals
by Juneau Empire
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, is cosponsoring the Express Appeals Act for Veterans Benefits Administration clients, his office announced by email Monday. According to figures provided by the federal government, there are 400,000 pending cases from veterans disputing benefit determinations made by the Veterans Administration. The Express Appeals Act would create a voluntary "express appeal" process that cuts several steps from the traditional appeals process. The Express Appeals Act has been ref… Continue Reading
01.31.16
Overstepped bounds on game management: Federal government goes too far in attempting to limit hunting in refuges
by Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Editorial Board
News-Miner opinion: President Jimmy Carter remarked at the signing ceremony of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act on Dec. 2, 1980 at the White House that the act "without a doubt is one of the most important pieces of conservation legislation ever passed in this Nation." The late Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, among the members of Congress invited to speak after the president, had a polite but different view. He noted that neither side achieved what it wanted. "So, we're not f… Continue Reading
01.22.16
Senator moves to halt proposed ban on Alaska predator hunts
by Associated Press
FAIRBANKS - U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan is looking to stop a proposed U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ban on some bear, wolf and coyote hunts on federal wildlife refuges in the state. An amendment to Sullivan's Bipartisan Sportsmen's Act of 2015 would prohibit the federal agency from enacting hunting restrictions the agency announced earlier this month, The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. Federal wildlife officials on Jan. 8 proposed changes to hunting and trapping rules for national wildlife r… Continue Reading
01.11.16
My Turn: Support the RED Tape Act
by Curtis Thayer
As the president of the Alaska Chamber of Commerce, I read with interest Rich Moniak's criticism of Sen. Dan Sullivan's fight to combat federal overregulation ("Regulations in an imperfect people's democracy," Jan. 1, 2016). The Alaska Chamber supports public regulation and regulatory reforms that encourage responsible development of Alaska's communities and natural resources. Topping both the Chamber's state and federal lists of policy positions is an entire category of initiatives advocating … Continue Reading
12.23.15
Sullivan focuses on economy, regulation reform
by Elizabeth Earl
Economics, regulation and the military ruled the conversation during Sen. Dan Sullivan's speech to the joint Kenai and Soldotna chambers of commerce luncheon on Wednesday. Sullivan, who has just completed his first year in Washington, D.C., presented a crowd of about 80 with a rundown of his views on the current national political situation. Because it is the holiday season, he said he wanted to focus on the positive while still touching on future challenges. "Believe it or not, you can someti… Continue Reading
12.13.15
Obamacare hurts Alaska most
by Sen. Dan Sullivan
Recently, while home in Anchorage, in the course of two hours, three people in three different places - a gas station, Carr's and Lowe's - talked to me about how Obamacare is wiping them out. Hardly a day passes when I don't hear from or read about Alaskans harmed by Obamacare. One Alaska family tells me they now pay $1,200 per month in premiums with a $10,000 deductible. Another couple pays more than $3,000 per month in premiums, almost $38,000 per year. Here's an excerpt from a constitue… Continue Reading
11.12.15
Senate OKs Sullivan bill to promote free lawyers for domestic violence, sexual assault victims
by Casey Grove
FAIRBANKS-The U.S. Senate passed a bill Wednesday introduced by Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan that would encourage lawyers to provide free legal assistance to victims of domestic violence or sexual assault. It is Sullivan's first standalone bill to pass the Senate. If signed into law, the Pro bono Work to Empower and Represent Act would require U.S. attorneys in all 94 judicial districts across the country to hold at least one event every year promoting pro bono legal work on domestic viole… Continue Reading
10.27.15
NEW YORK TIMES: White House Moves to Reassure Allies With South China Sea Patrol, but Quietly
by Helene Cooper and Jane Perlez
WASHINGTON - For months, lawmakers and national security hawks have urged President Obama to stand up to China's land reclamation of disputed islands in the South China Sea. But now that the Obama administration finally has, the White House does not want to talk about it. In sending a guided missile destroyer late Monday into waters China considers its territory, the Obama administration sought to exercise what officials called the right to freedom of navigation in international waters. The m… Continue Reading
08.31.15
Sullivan brings Washington to vets
An idea that started in Alaska to provide better care by the Veterans Administration for vets known as the Veterans Access, Choice & Accountability Act seems to have backfired for Alaskan vets according to freshman U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R) Alaska. "Ultimately this was about bringing Washington D.C. to Alaska," Sullivan told the Dispatch in an interview before the Kenai hearing. "To have some of the senior VA officials here in Alaska. The Secretary of the VA was here two weeks ago and to… Continue Reading
08.27.15
President must experience 'real' Alaska through its people
by Sen. Dan Sullivan
Alaska has benefited from many Presidential visits, and it's always good to have the national spotlight shine on us. President Ronald Reagan's visits were particularly memorable, given his keen appreciation for Alaska's vast natural resources and understanding of the federal government's history of locking up those resources by taking Alaska lands. "It's absolutely ridiculous," President Reagan said in a 1979 campaign stop, bemoaning federal land-grabs. "It's gotten to the point where a tourist… Continue Reading
08.27.15
Fixing Alaska's model VA system: Used to reform national veterans' care, state system now needs help
by Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Editorial Board
News-Miner opinion: A year and a half ago, the national Veterans Affairs health system was in disarray. At clinics across the Lower 48, veterans waited for care for weeks and months, in some cases dying before receiving treatment. But the Alaska system was a different story. Thanks to reforms pushed by the state's congressional delegation, the Last Frontier's veterans had shorter waits and better access to care. So Congress developed a national system akin to Alaska's - only to have its rollout … Continue Reading
08.17.15
Sullivan: Russian moves highlight Arctic concerns
by Becky Bohrer
JUNEAU, Alaska - U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan said the Russians are looking to militarize the Arctic, making it all the more important for the U.S. to have a broad Arctic strategy that includes having sufficient troops based in Alaska. Sullivan said Monday that's why he has been critical of proposed troop reductions in Alaska as part of a cost-saving plan announced by the Army this summer. His office said Sullivan got included in the Senate version of a defense spending bill a provision to r… Continue Reading
06.01.15
Alaska, Washington state must work together
by Sen. Dan Sullivan
As an American, a U.S. senator and an Alaskan, I'm deeply concerned with the security of our nation and the economic wellbeing of my state, much of which depends on continuing the historic and mutually beneficial relationship between Alaska and Washington state. That relationship is strained and put at risk when officials in Washington use Alaska's economy as a platform to engage in political opportunism. I'm referring specifically to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray's recent actions to attempt to bloc… Continue Reading
05.26.15
Alaska Sen. Sullivan to join Sen. McCain on trip to Vietnam
by Associated Press
PHOENIX - Sen. John McCain is leading a U.S. Senate delegation that will visit Vietnam and Singapore this week. The Arizona Republican is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and his office says the trip is being made at a critical time for U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region. McCain's office says Sens. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Dan Sullivan of Alaska also are making the trip, while Sens. Cory Gardner of Colorado and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii will… Continue Reading
05.11.15
OP-ED: ‘Rebalance’ to Asia calls for 3-pronged strategy
by Sen. Dan Sullivan
Almost two decades ago, I was a Marine Corps infantry officer aboard an amphibious assault ship with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit deployed in the South China Sea. The ship I was on, the USS Belleau Wood, received orders to transit the Taiwan Strait during what later became known as the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis, precipitated by Chinese military action and missile launches in the run up to Taiwan's 1996 presidential elections. We were part of a show of substantial U.S. military force in th… Continue Reading
04.26.15
Standing tall against sex trafficking: Sen. Dan Sullivan crafted worthy amendment to bill targeting sex trade
by Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Editorial Board
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner editorial: Sex trafficking is a difficult issue to confront. It's hard to think about people being placed in such a position, much less talk about it and develop effective strategies to combat it. Therefore, it's heartening the U.S. Senate, in a rare show of bipartisanship, came together this week to pass legislation aimed at protecting victims of sex trafficking and making punishing the perpetrators of such crimes more effective. Kudos especially to Sen. Dan Sullivan,… Continue Reading
04.22.15
Sen. Dan Sullivan explains his views on the Iran deal and why
by Sen. Dan Sullivan
Last week in an op-ed about the Iranian nuclear deal, Juneau resident Richard Moniak raised questions about an earlier column I wrote in this paper, and about the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's recent passage of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, which I co-sponsored. If the act passes in both the House and the Senate, it will allow Congress to have an up-or-down vote on an eventual nuclear arms agreement with Iran - one of the most significant national security issues facing A… Continue Reading
04.22.15
Sen. Dan Sullivan: Team of Apache helicopters likely moving to Fairbanks
by Casey Grove
ANCHORAGE - Twenty-four AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and their crews likely are headed to Fort Wainwright, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan said Tuesday. Roughly 400 personnel also will be headed to the Army post in Fairbanks, Sullivan said in a written statement. The plan is "pre-decisional" and pending environmental impact statements and approval by the secretary of the Army, said Sullivan's press secretary, Mike Anderson. According to Defense News, at defensenews.com, the Army's assistant … Continue Reading
04.08.15
New waters rule would greatly expand EPA role
by Sen. Dan Sullivan
Alaskans and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy generally don't agree on much. But recently, when talking to a reporter about water, she hit on a consensus, albeit unintentionally: "Water is personal," she said. Indeed it is. And Alaskans know just how personal. We are a state that understands and loves its water. We boast 43,000 miles of coastline, and millions of lakes. More than 43 percent of our state's surface area is composed of wetlands - which accounts for 6… Continue Reading
