Press Releases
Sens. Sullivan, Scott, Rubio Introduce CRUISE Act to Resume Cruise Line Operations
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) today introduced the Careful Resumption Under Improved Safety Enhancements (CRUISE) Act, which would revoke the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) current "Conditional Sailing Order" on cruises and require the CDC to provide COVID-19 mitigation guidance for cruise lines to resume safe operations. Representatives Don Young (R-Alaska) and María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) will soon be… Continue Reading
04.13.21
Sen. Sullivan Blasts Unsubstantiated Claims of Widespread Extremism in Military Ranks
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and a Marine Corps Reserve Colonel who recently returned from training at Camp Lejeune, today criticized a suggestion made by one of his colleagues that as much as ten percent of America's military service members may ascribe to "violent extremist" or "white supremacist" ideology-an unsubstantiated claim that would amount to over 200,000 military personnel. The hearing witnesses-General Step… Continue Reading
04.07.21
Ketchikan Port Revitalization, Top Sullivan Priority, Funded at $18.7 Million
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, welcomed an announcement today by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that the agency is awarding an $18,771,041 contract to rebuild the NOAA port facility in Ketchikan, Alaska, with completion expected by December 2022. The contract is a result of several years of work by Sen. Sullivan, including bipartisan work he and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) did to secure… Continue Reading
04.05.21
Alaska Congressional Delegation Named Among Most Effective Lawmakers in the 116th Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young, all R-Alaska, were all identified by the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) among the top ten most effective lawmakers in the 116th Congress. CEL, a non-partisan, joint partnership between the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University provides an in-depth look at the effectiveness of individual lawmakers in Congress. In their recently released Legislative Effectiveness Scores (LES) and rankings for… Continue Reading
04.03.21
Murkowski, Sullivan Welcome Phase II CDC Guidance for Cruise Ship Industry
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (both R-Alaska) today released the following statement after being briefed by Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on publication of the CDC's Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO). The steps released today are required for the cruise ship industry to safely return to passenger operations as the successful distribution of COVID-19 vaccines brings the pandemic under greater control.… Continue Reading
03.26.21
Sullivan Headlines Atlantic Council Discussion on U.S.-China Relations
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was interviewed on Monday by the Atlantic Council's President and CEO Frederick Kempe regarding the senator's call for a long-term, bipartisan strategy to address the challenges posed by the rise of China. The Atlantic Council is a premier think tank focused on international affairs offering a forum to "[shape] policy choices and strategies to create a more free, secure, and prosperous world." To w… Continue Reading
03.26.21
Alaska Congressional Delegation Urges Biden Administration to Issue Clear Guidelines for Cruise Ship Industry Operations to Resume
WASHINGTON- U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young, all R-Alaska, sent a letter with colleagues to Jeffrey Zients, the White House COVID response coordinator, urging the Biden administration to be more transparent and timely in their efforts to develop guidance for the resumption of operations for the cruise ship industry. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cruise ship industry has continued to face a strict "No Sail" order, while many other trave… Continue Reading
03.25.21
SPEECH: Sullivan Cautions Colleagues Against Curtailing Legislative Filibuster
WASHINGTON-On the floor of the U.S. Senate this week, Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) urged his colleagues not to curtail the legislative filibuster-the 60-vote threshold necessary to advance legislation-and to consider the long-term ramifications of changing this foundational rule of debate in the Senate in exchange for short-term partisan benefits. Sen. Sullivan noted that when Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress and the presidency just a few years ago, but lacked a filibuster-pro… Continue Reading
03.25.21
Sullivan Honors Rod Boyce as “Alaskan of the Week”
WASHINGTON-On the floor of the U.S. Senate yesterday, Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) recognized Rod Boyce, of Fairbanks, the recently retired long-time editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and an avid dog musher. Boyce spent nearly his entire career, 35 years, ensuring that Alaskans stay connected and informed through local news. Since his retirement, Boyce has worked as a writer and public information officer at the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Senator Sulli… Continue Reading
03.24.21
SPEECH: Sullivan speaks on U.S.-China relations - March 24, 2021
Mr. President, I wanted to come down to the Senate floor for a couple reasons, but first I want to talk a little bit about what happened in Alaska last weekend--actually, a really important meeting between the United States and China, our senior diplomats, their senior diplomats. It took place in Anchorage, and let's just say the meeting was as frosty as the Alaska air. It was a tough meeting. The Chinese came out, kind of took a little advantage of being extra verbose in their opening st… Continue Reading
03.24.21
For Senate die-hards, no sweeter sound than ‘Alaskan of the Week’
by Chris Cioffi
When Sen. Dan Sullivan comes up on C-SPAN with his familiar sunset poster, a sigh of relief runs through Washington. "It's that time again," he says, standing next to a mountain scene aglow with orange, pink and purple. This is "Alaskan of the Week," the only speech in the Senate that elicits gleeful tweets from jaded floor watchers. They know what it means for the chamber - and pre-pandemic, their evening plans. Business is usually done and almost everyone is gone. The last thing left to … Continue Reading
03.23.21
Sullivan’s POWER Act Leads to 75 Pro Bono Legal Summits Reaching 43,000 Americans in 2020
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) today welcomed a report from the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, which detailed 75 events promoting pro bono legal services for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault that were held in 2020 in 75 judicial districts across the country, reaching over 43,000 Americans. These summits were organized pursuant to the Pro Bono Work to Empower and Represent (POWER) Act, Sullivan's legislation that was signed into law in 2018. T… Continue Reading
03.22.21
Sullivan Reacts to U.S.-China Diplomatic Meetings in Anchorage
WASHINGTON-On Friday, U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) spoke with Mike Ross on Alaska's News Source to give his reaction to the senior-level diplomatic meetings that took place in Anchorage between Chinese and U.S. officials. Senators Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) were briefed on the discussions by Secretary of State Tony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan immediately following the meetings. Transcript ROSS: Senator Dan Sullivan was briefed by Secretary of… Continue Reading
03.19.21
Alaska Congressional Delegation Welcomes Decision to Add New KC-135 Tankers for Eielson
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, and Congressman Don Young, all R-Alaska, today sent a letter to Acting Secretary of the Air Force John Roth and Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Q. Brown, Jr. welcoming an announcement by the Air Force that four KC-135 refueling tanker aircraft will be added to the existing squadron at Eielson Air Force Base. The plan adds an active duty component to the unit, bringing the squadron's total KC-135s to 12, and will also bring up to … Continue Reading
03.18.21
Alaska Congressional Delegation Welcomes U.S. Army’s First-Ever Arctic Strategy
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, and Congressman Don Young, all R-Alaska, today commended the U.S. Army for releasing its first-ever strategy for the Arctic this week, the third service-specific strategy document released for the region. The strategy, titled "Regaining Arctic Dominance," comes as a result of a provision Sen. Sullivan, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), included in the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) requiri… Continue Reading
03.18.21
U.S. Department of Commerce Invests $2.28 Million in CARES Act Recovery Assistance to Aid Reopening of Alaska's Tourism Economy
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced that the Department's Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $2.28 million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to the Alaska Travel Industry Association, Anchorage, Alaska, to implement emergency efforts needed to aid in the reopening of the state's tourism economy. This EDA grant will be matched with $570,566 in local investment. "President Biden is committed to unleashing the full power of the federal gove… Continue Reading
03.17.21
NORAD Commander “Extremely Concerned” About U.S. Missile Defense Capacity
WASHINGTON-The Commander of U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), General Glen D. VanHerck, yesterday expressed concern about the nation's capacity to defend itself against a nuclear missile attack from a rogue threat, like North Korea, in the coming decade. Gen. VanHerck acknowledged that reducing the budget for the next generation interceptor (NGI) program-the replacement for the existing ground-based interceptor (GBI) technology-could weaken th… Continue Reading
03.15.21
Sullivan Statement on Confirmation of Congresswoman Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Interior
I. Introduction Every vote I take in this Chamber, I try to cast based on what I think will be best for the constituents I represent, my state and our country. Sometimes, of course, that's not always so easy to discern. The vote to confirm Congresswoman Deb Haaland was one of the most difficult I have made during my time in the U.S. Senate. In normal times, I would have firmly opposed the confirmation of Congresswoman Haaland. As a congresswoman, Haaland took positions publicly-cosponsoring… Continue Reading
03.12.21
Alaska Delegation Welcomes $2 Million CARES Act Grant for Pipeline Training Center
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young, all R-Alaska, welcomed an announcement yesterday by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo that a $2 million Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Recovery Assistance grant is being awarded to the Fairbanks Pipeline Training Center Trust. The grant, authorized by the Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration (EDA), is to acquire heavy-duty equipment needed to expand workfor… Continue Reading
03.11.21
Sullivan Votes “No” on Regan EPA Nomination
WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, yesterday voted against confirming Michael Regan as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In a speech on the Senate floor shortly after the vote, Sen. Sullivan lauded Mr. Regan for his experience, qualifications, approach to the job, and the productive exchanges they have had both in the EPW committee and in meetings. But Sullivan expressed deep concerns tha… Continue Reading