Murkowski, Burgum Discuss Alaska Successes, Priorities

Murkowski, Burgum Discuss Alaska Successes, Priorities

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, today convened a hearing with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to discuss the Department's budget request for Fiscal Year 2027. The Senator reiterated her appreciation for Secretary Burgum's dedication to advancing Alaska priorities throughout his first year at Interior and her commitment to working with him and the Department to continue making progress on these issues.

In her opening comments and questions, Senator Murkowski discussed permitting, delayed grants, the probate backlog, contaminated lands, resources for Alaskans impacted by Typhoon Halong, fuel constraints in rural communities, and an interagency agreement to transfer Native education programs from the Department of Education to the Department of Interior, among other topics.

Watch the Senator's opening statement here.

Read Senator Murkowski's full opening statement below.

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Senator Murkowski: It's good to have you back before the committee, and I really appreciate your visits to Alaska. I know you've got another one coming up, so thank you very much for that.

When we held this hearing just a year ago, the fact of the matter is, there was a lot of confusion going on. We were dealing with DOGE, we were dealing with efforts to really reorganize and consolidate at the Department. It was just really hard to kind of keep on top of all that was happening. I hope that we're past those days now. I truly appreciate the increased communication that we have seen from the agency, so thank you for that.

And I also want to personally recognize the very substantive work that you and the administration are doing to advance Alaska's immense natural resource opportunities. You and your team have lifted part of Public Land Order 5150 to help complete the state's land entitlement. Thank you for that. You've gotten the Ambler Access Project back on track. You're pushing very hard on AKLNG, as well as the Coastal Plain. You repealed an unlawful management rule for our petroleum reserve, and you just held the best ever lease sale there, raising $183 million. That was fabulous.

And you also have focused, as you promised me you would, on completion of the land exchange with the very good, very patient people in King Cove for the life-saving road that they have been fighting for decades now. So, thank you for that.

The members of this panel have widely divergent views about Interior's mission and what its bureaus and agencies should be doing on a daily basis. But we did some really good work-and I want to acknowledge my Ranking Member here-we worked hard last year to bridge those gaps and to pass what I thought was a good, a thoughtful, and, of course, a bipartisan bill for FY26, and now we get to do it all over again.

Our starting point here is the President's request, and I always say that, "while the President proposes the budget, Congress holds the power to dispose of it." Once again, there are things that many of us like and support, and there are some things that we won't agree with, that will not make it into our bill.

From a high-level perspective, the President is proposing a slight increase for the Department, but that relies on some significant structural shifts, including the establishment of a new Wildland Fire Service. I'm eager to explore that, to learn more details as we brace for what I am fearful of, which is expected to be a bad fire season across the western U.S. Another notable proposal is for a new Marine Minerals Administration. There are valid reasons to consider that, as well-although the projected cost savings raise some eyebrows as we prioritize the continued safety of offshore operations. Safety relies, in part, on adequate staffing on the regulatory side.

I'm also less enthused about the budget cuts for just about every bureau, including major reductions for hazards. The USGS account is cut 37%, we've got a 26% cut for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 32% cut for the National Park Service, and a 35% cut for the Bureau of Land Management. I also note, while we're seeing reductions there, we are seeing increases in a couple different areas that again get your attention: $10 billion in mandatory funding for beautification here in the District of Columbia. Not that we don't need to beautify, but I think many of our National Parks could also use some support here. So, working through some of that. I also note the $1 billion for a new program for the Great Salt Lake. So, obviously, much more to learn there.

Ultimately, my goal is to make sure that our FY27 bill again puts the Department in the best possible position for the year ahead. And that includes the funding that you need to permit domestic resource production. And this is everything from oil and gas to minerals, and including renewables, which we can't arbitrarily exclude from our nation's energy portfolio.

Addressing some of the things that are important within my home state, I think that we must address BIA Tribal Community Resilience grants. We continue to hear that those funds remain frozen, and your budget again proposes to eliminate this critical program which Tribal communities rely on to prepare for and respond to natural disasters and other environmental threats.

We need to build out our work on contaminated lands in Alaska, expedite allotments for Alaska Native Vietnam veterans, ensure the new offshore program focuses on the right basins. And then, as we're talking about offshore, we must ensure our obligations to our U.S. territories, something that we don't talk [about] often enough.

Again, as we discussed last week, I really appreciate the efforts that you have made, Mr. Secretary, so far-but, when it comes to the probate backlog, I think you and I agree we have much more that needs to be done. This probate backlog that impacts Indian Country is just not acceptable.

We need you to focus on getting culturally competent permanent staff in place because even if all the vacant positions were suddenly filled, it's still going to take eight years just to resolve the existing cases, not including their adjudication. And you're going to hear in my questions this morning a real focus on the staffing. Because it's not just within the probate accounts; you need appropriate staffing across the board so the Department can do the work on time and in a legally defensible manner.

I think this is one of the areas within the Department of the Interior-people look at this massive department and think it's all about administering our lands, whether it's BLM or the Park Service. They think about it from the land perspective, but we can't manage these unless we have the people there. It just takes a lot of good people doing good things to turn it into sustained success.

You've got a lean team and they are darn good, and I appreciate them. However, we keep hearing, not just from Alaska but other Western delegations, that there's a concern that if we're going to execute on the President's executive orders, we need the men and women to do just that.

So, we've got a lot to discuss on this busy day. Again, I thank you for being here, thank you for your leadership, and I look forward to working with you and your team as we on the committee here work to craft another good bill with my counterpart, Senator Merkley.

Now, I'll turn to you, sir.