Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, last night tens of millions of Americans watched the Super Bowl, a game that has become a national tradition, something of an American holiday--and for good reason. Competition, grit, and hard work can bring out the best in all of us. But not all Americans were watching.

Last night, just like every other night of the year, there were young American men and women, humbly and without complaint, shouldering the burden of protecting their follow citizens from harm. Some were doing this overseas, in places both familiar and unfamiliar to us. Others were here in America doing the hard training that is necessary to hone their warrior skills to protect us.

I had the privilege of being with thousands of these fine young Americans last night at the Army's National Training Center, the NTC, at Fort Irwin, CA. Just as in the Super Bowl, they were on the field engaged in fierce competition, force-on-force operations, as part of some of the best, most challenging military training anywhere in the world.

But unlike the Super Bowl, there were no winners or losers last night--just winners. Among the participants at NTC are 3,000 soldiers from a battle-hardened Army Stryker brigade based in Fairbanks, AK, along with hundreds of paratroopers from other military bases across Alaska. I felt immense pride in watching them train last night.

These young men and women, volunteers all, selflessly stand ready to fight and give their lives for our great country. With all due respect to my distinguished colleagues from New England who are deservedly celebrating today, it is very important to keep in mind that America's true patriots were on the field last night in places such as Fort Irwin, Baghdad, and Kabul.

We have an important opportunity to honor their service tomorrow as we prepare to vote on a bipartisan bill to make sure the patriots in our military have the resources and care that can help them fight the despair of suicide. Tomorrow we vote on the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, which I was proud to cosponsor and help pass out of the Veteran's Affairs Committee.

This bill is named for a true American hero, a decorated Marine who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq and who struggled with despair and ultimately took his own life. This bill will start to bring greater awareness and services to the devastation that too many of our finest fall sway to. I encourage all of my distinguished colleagues to vote for this bill tomorrow so we can get it on the President's desk for his signature as soon as possible.

A vote tomorrow will be a vote for Clay Hunt, for his courageous family, and for all the families and their loved ones who have lost someone to the national tragedy of suicide.

This will be a vote for my State, Alaska, which proudly boasts the highest number of veterans per capita in the United States but, sadly, has the highest rates of suicide in our country. This is also a personal vote for me. It is a story I do not share often or lightly. As an officer in the Marine Corps, both on Active Duty and in the Reserve, I have personally witnessed the struggles, at times tragic, that some of our service men and women undergo.

The suicide of a young Alaskan marine under my command still haunts me. You always wonder: Could I have done more? With the proper awareness and resources this marine might be alive today. That is why we need legislation such as the Clay Hunt bill. When I cast my vote tomorrow, it will be a vote for all of our veterans but particularly for the families who have suffered the unspeakable pain of suicide.

This is a good bill. It is a good start. As my distinguished colleague from Connecticut calls it, this bill is a downpayment on our debt to our veterans. It will not solve all the problems they face, including rates of suicide among veterans that are far too high in this country. But it is an important beginning. I ask my colleagues to vote for this bill tomorrow.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, today I stand in support of the Keystone Pipeline project. As an Alaskan, I feel it is important to talk about this bill and the importance of American energy infrastructure.

I live in a State with one of the world's largest pipelines. In 1973, after bitter debate--similar to the debate about Keystone--Congress passed a bill that led to the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System--what we in Alaska call TAPS. It almost didn't happen. The Vice President at the time, serving as the President of the Senate, cast the tie-breaking vote. Then, like now, opponents howled. They said TAPS would be an environmental disaster. They said bird and caribou populations would be decimated.

But none of that happened. In fact, birds and caribou flourished, showing we can develop energy infrastructure responsibly with the highest standards in the world. Alaska proves this every day. TAPS was completed in 1978. It has carried almost 17 billion barrels of oil to energy-thirsty American markets. It is a technological and environmental marvel and a critical component of America's energy infrastructure. It has been a resounding success for this country and for my State. It is the engine of growth for Alaska's economy. The proven safest, most environmentally responsible way to transport oil is through a pipeline. I am certain Keystone will also prove a success.

In supporting Keystone, I am also standing for a larger, more important principle--the ideal that the Federal Government should be a partner in opportunity, a partner in progress, not an obstacle. I am standing in support of what has defined this country for centuries--the idea of the American dream.

The American dream is still alive in my home State. Yes, we have major challenges, like all States. But in Alaska, we still have hope. We still dream

big dreams, and TAPS helps fuel these dreams.

In Alaska, the very air we breathe is bathed in promise. The people still speak the language of bold ideas and rugged adventure. It is these people of all colors and creeds who make up the tapestry of Alaska that give us our strength. It is the enormous opportunities of our natural resources--whether world-class fisheries or oil and gas reserves--that drive the economic engine of my State.

But despite this promise and opportunity, I also see anxiety and frustration, and even fear, in the eyes of my fellow Alaskans, just as I know others are seeing this across the country. Despite what we are hearing from this administration, Americans have real reasons to feel this way.

Business startups are at a 35-year low, as is the percentage of Americans actually looking for work. More small businesses failed than were started this past year. Over three-quarters of Americans now believe their kids' future will be less promising than their own.

Believing that we will leave our children a better tomorrow is the essence of the American dream. But for many, that dream is starting to fade. This does not have to be. We live in a State and a country with so much untapped potential, so many opportunities, and so much promise that can bring limitless possibilities for our kids and our grandkids. Yet, in Alaska and throughout America, people are feeling that the heavy hand of the Federal Government is not working in their interests.

The boldness of America is being bludgeoned by bureaucrats, with new Executive orders and regulations arising everywhere. And every time another one of those unneeded, often absurd, regulations is promulgated, a little bit of hope dies.

A little bit of hope dies every time a doctor's office is shuttered or someone loses health care because of the complexities and costs of ObamaCare.

A little hope dies when a rural community wants to build a road that will protect its citizens and is told by the Secretary of the Interior that birds are more important than their lives.

And a lot of hope dies when the people in my State are told that the resources that are rightfully theirs can't be developed, and their lands and waters can't be fished and hunted to put food on their table.

I support the Keystone Pipeline. It will create thousands of jobs. That is why it has the overwhelming support of American labor unions. It will enhance America's energy infrastructure and contribute billions to our economy. That is why it has the support of the American people.

But just one bill, one pipeline, one project is not enough. It is not nearly enough.

Since the founding of this country we have had important debates right here, on this floor, about the role of the Federal Government in our lives. Judging from what Americans are telling us, the reach of the Federal Government has hit its limits, it has exceeded its limits. Our citizens are telling us that their government--and it is their government--has gone well beyond deriving its powers from the consent of the government. What the American people are telling us, what Alaskans are telling me is they want a Federal Government that helps ignite their hope, not smother it.

We have a job to do. We must work to address the anxiety and frustration of the people we serve. We must work to once again unleash the great potential that is Alaska and America. And we must work to reinvigorate faith in the American dream.

How do we do this? Let me suggest two ideas.

First, we must stop delaying economic projects that benefit our citizens. Purposeful delays and roadblocks have been the hallmark of this administration's approach to infrastructure projects that benefit Americans, and Alaska has been ground zero for such delays. Bridges, roads, mines that take years simply to permit, not to build; oil wells that cannot be drilled on Federal lands despite billions of dollars of leases from the private sector to the Federal Government; a state-of- the-art clean coal plant that sits idle for over a decade despite the dire need for lower cost energy throughout Alaska.

The Keystone Pipeline, a project that has been studied for 6 years, is just the latest example of the willful delay that has been the weapon of choice for this administration for killing projects they don't like.

Enough is enough. We are Americans. We know what we are capable of. We built the 1,700-mile Alaskan-Canadian Highway, the Alcan Highway, through some of the world's most rugged terrain, in less than a year. We built the Empire State Building in 410 days. The Pentagon was built in 16 months. There is no reason that Keystone should have been studied for 6 years.

If the executive branch continues to dither on America's economic future, Congress can and should act to expedite such projects. That is what we are doing with Keystone, and that is what I will be pressing the Congress to do for Alaska's and America's next great energy infrastructure project--the Alaska LNG project--which will create thousands of jobs and provide clean and affordable energy to Americans and our allies for decades.

Second, we need more, not less, access to our Federal lands. As Americans, these are our lands. We own them. They are not the Department of the Interior's or BLM's lands. Yet this administration is adamant on keeping us from responsibly developing them. Once again, Alaska is ground zero for their efforts.

Through Executive orders of various dubious legal merit, this administration locked up half the National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska. This isn't a national park. NPRA is an area specifically set aside by Congress for oil and gas development. And just this weekend, in another brazen action, the Obama administration announced they are working to lock up millions of acres of land on Alaska's coastal plain, some of the Nation's richest oil and gas prospects.

This is an affront to Alaskans and Americans who cherish security-- energy security--the rule of law, and the strength of our Nation, and it is an affront to Members of Congress regardless of party. How we develop Alaska's lands is an area where Congress, not the Executive, has preeminent authority.

I think the Obama administration needs a reminder of what article 4, section 3 of the Constitution states:

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all

needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or

other Property belonging to the United States . . .

This brings me to my third point: We must get back to the rule of law. The rule of law, carefully built up and nurtured for centuries in America, is a fundamental pillar of our great Nation. Most countries don't have it. We do. It is a gift. But if we continue to erode this rule of law, we ultimately undermine what it means to be an American, and it will be hard to get it back.

But I hope, because there are still enough of us here who respect the rule of law and see the Constitution not as a mere suggestion but as the foundation for the structure of our government and our individual liberties. There have been cracks in the foundation recently, but the people sent us here to repair those cracks.

Fourth, while I believe in a limited Federal Government, it is important to recognize where the Federal Government does not have responsibilities, it needs to carry out its duties with more efficiency and compassion, particularly toward the most vulnerable in society. This is especially true when it comes to honoring the sacred trusts of responsibility we have toward our veterans.

That is why I cosponsored the Clay Hunt suicide prevention bill. I am confident my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will quickly vote on this important measure and move it on to the President's desk.

It is also why I will support effective programs where the Federal Government and States can work together to address our problems throughout this country with regard to sexual assault and domestic violence.

Fifth, and finally, we must challenge the conventional wisdom that has existed in this town for decades that the Federal Government's power and intrusiveness should always be expanding like some inevitable force of nature. Nowhere is this more important than reforming the overgrown regulatory thicket that strangles our future.

According to the President's own Small Business Administration, Federal regulations impose an annual burden on our economy of close to $2 trillion. That is roughly $15,000 per year per American family. Federal regulations are sapping our strength as a Nation. So many of them don't make sense, and others are not authorized by law or the Constitution as they must be. And, increasingly, those who promulgate and enforce them are showing less and less restraint for the well-being of our citizens.

The recent Obama administration ANWR assault is the latest example, and I will use all of my power to protect the economic growth and prosperity of Alaska. That is why I have already filed amendments with Senator Murkowski to rescind the Obama administration's ANWR order.

I have also filed an amendment that seeks to check another abuse of Federal power. When the EPA was initially authorized in 1970, no one thought it necessary to arm its employees with weapons. But today, in a classic case of Federal Government power creep, close to 200 armed EPA agents are roaming our country. It is a disturbing fact.

But it was particularly disturbing for a small group of miners who, during the summer of 2013, prospecting for gold in Chicken, AK, were swarmed by armed EPA agents.

This wasn't some huge mining conglomerate. This was a small mining operation in interior Alaska--sluice boxes with specks of Alaska gold, and EPA agents armed with rifles, body armor, a helicopter overhead, looking for Clean Water Act violations. They found none. And apart from terrifying the miners, they accomplished nothing.

As Alaska's former attorney general and commissioner of Natural Resources, I have worked with many fine Federal agents, and I understand the importance of sensible regulations that are based on the directives of Congress. But problems arise when regulations become excessive--and big problems arise when regulators are given guns to enforce these regulations. It is our responsibility to say: Enough; to stand up for those we serve, and to roll back Federal power when necessary.

I am all for a country with an armed citizenry. As a marine, I have taken an oath to defend and fight for this critical constitutional freedom. However, I am not for a country with an armed bureaucracy.

Let's give my State and the rest of the country a little hope that we are doing the jobs they sent us here to do. One concrete step in that direction would be to pass this simple amendment I am offering to disarm the EPA. They can certainly do their job without having guns. They have done so in the past, and they should be able to do so in the future.

Finally, I will close with a few words on how I view my mission here. I suspect it doesn't differ greatly from what most of us hope to accomplish. We all want the best for the people we serve and the States we represent. We want to be strong here at home, which will help us be respected once again by our allies and feared by our adversaries. We want our children to be safe and secure, and we want the same for our neighbor.

We want to live in a country of unlimited opportunity--a country of Alaska-sized dreams. We want a government that holds dear what our Founding Fathers knew--that all powers are derived from the consent of the governed. I think most of us can agree that we must unleash our country's enormous economic potential once again.

I believe our government should be helping us, not hindering us from achieving these efforts. I believe unlocking our country's vast energy potential is one of the best ways to reignite the American dream.

Despite challenges, despite big government's creep into our lives, and despite armed EPA agents, we continue to live in the greatest country in the world--in the history of the world. There is no doubt about that. The people who sent us here still have big dreams and big hopes. Let's help those dreams grow and their hopes flourish.

I thank the Presiding Officer.

I yield the floor.

I wish to thank the majority leader for his kind words and all my other colleagues who came to witness a new Senator's maiden speech.