ICYMI: Murkowski Delivers 2026 Address to Alaska State Legislature

ICYMI: Murkowski Delivers 2026 Address to Alaska State Legislature

Juneau, AK - Today, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) delivered her 2026 address to the Alaska State Legislature during a joint legislative session at the Alaska State Capitol Building in Juneau.

During her remarks, Senator Murkowski praised the steadfast partnerships that have led to meaningful progress across sectors around the state. Senator Murkowski reaffirmed her commitment to advocating for Alaskans at the federal level-and called on state legislators to continue their diligent work alongside the congressional delegation to secure a more prosperous future for Alaska.

Click here to watch the speech.

Full transcript of Senator Murkowski's remarks, as delivered:

"Wow. Okay, it is good to be back. I know I'm not supposed to start with a little bit of a tease, but we were waiting for the Senate. Senates around the world, I swear, are just notoriously bad at telling time, and so Speaker Edgmon and I decided that we would maybe just go into the Senate gallery and sit down to watch the debate. We missed our opportunity-maybe next time.

But Speaker Edgmon, it is good to be back with you. And to President Stevens, thank you. Members of the legislature, it's good to be back with you as we continue our annual conversation about the future of Alaska. You know, I love being back in this building. I think it shows because I get just kind of animated about the energy. Sometimes it's really hard; sometimes it doesn't feel very good, but there's a lot of energy that goes on here. It takes me back to my time in the legislature-a time that really helped shape me and taught me a lot of really important lessons. Know that the lessons learned here are ones that continue to guide me in another body across the country, in the United States Senate.

Because it does feel like home, I always start with giving a little bit of a family update. I just had an opportunity over the weekend to spend time with my parents. It was Dad's 93rd birthday, so they send their best. Yeah, thank you. Dad said, 'What's the registration fee for running for governor?' Like Dad, he's still rattling cages, let me just tell you, but he's doing well. Verne and the boys are well also; they continue to be my strongest supports, and I appreciate them a great deal.

I also travel with some good, strong supports. I've got some members of my team that are back in the gallery there. Logan is holding up the wall to the right-Logan, anybody that's interested in transportation, he's your man there. Sam Hiratsuka is with me on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee; a great man who's been serving Alaska well. Angelina Burney-many of you know Angelina, not only from my office, but when she spent time here in Juneau. Kate Williams is next to her. Kate handles my election matters and my judiciary matters; she's my General Counsel in the office and a local Juneau girl. The other local Juneau woman is Kara Hollatz, who is my Northern Southeast Regional Coordinator. I've got folks that are sprinkled around the building today, so as you see them, know that we're here as a resource to you today and really going forward.

As I'm looking out, there's some new faces-good, it's great. But as I look out, I'm just reminded of how things do change with time. You are not really approaching the end of session yet. Unfortunately, all you need to do is look out the window there and say, 'Okay, we're gonna be here for a bit.' But you've got some retirements that are coming up that are more than a little bit bittersweet. It's always been kind of comforting, President Stevens, to know that you have my back, literally; but knowing that this is the last time that you'll be behind me for this address-and Senator Hoffman in the back, he always sits tucked way there in the back-this is probably going to be the last time in this forum that you're going to be able to grill me about what I have done to bring down the price of energy in rural Alaska. I know that you're not going to stop delivering that message to me going forward, but maybe not from the place that you're sitting just now.

When you think about these contributions-Barry, it's been 25 years, and Lyman, you have given nearly 40 years. All throughout these decades, you have kept your passion for Alaska. You have led. You have delivered for Alaskans. And so to both of you-truly to both of you-thank you for everything, including your decades of counsel and your friendship to me. I value it enormously. But also to the women and the strong supports in your life-to Lillian and to Rita-we owe them eternal thanks and gratitude.

Over the years, these two gentlemen have built strong partnerships with every member of your federal delegation, with administrations on both sides of the aisle, and with so many of you and others who preceded you. That's what I want to speak to today: how we can follow that good example to work together as legislators and as partners for Alaska.

I'm kind of the closer this year. You've already heard from Dan and Nick about the legislation that we have been successful in advancing for Alaska, including the highlights from the budget reconciliation bill from last year. I'm not going to take our time this morning and repeat much of that, but I would only observe that our accomplishments are not solitary; they're the result of teamwork where we all do our part to pull that sled along for the state of Alaska.

What the two of my colleagues shared-that there is plenty of room for optimism-is absolutely right. We have kept federal income taxes low. We made the child tax credit permanent. We provided tax relief for everyone from waitresses to whaling captains. We made historic investments in aviation safety and, of course, for our Coast Guard. We're going to be homeporting the newest ship in our growing icebreaker fleet. Over the years you've heard me say, perhaps a little cynically, that you cannot call one ship a fleet. Well, we are changing that dynamic, and it is exciting to have the Storis homeported here in Juneau. Soon, in October, we're going to be commissioning a new guided missile destroyer that is aptly named the USS Ted Stevens.

Thank you to so many who've been working on that. On the national security side, we have strengthened enormously through strategic investments across our state-at JBER, Eielson, Fort Wainwright, Greely, the Pacific Spaceport Complex, and more. We secured over $465 million for military construction in Alaska this year alone, including for new barracks at Fort Wainwright and the runway expansion at JBER; there's $40 million for Arctic facility sustainment, renovation, and maintenance. The investments that we're making in this space are considerable. I've shared with some of you, but I think it is exciting news and belongs in the bucket of things we need to get ready for: a major project on the way for JBER is a state-of-the-art fighter campus recapitalization that will support multiple platforms. This is coming, and it's coming soon to our state.

Of course, national security relies on more than funding or technology. Above all, it requires the courageous men and women who risk their lives on our behalf. I want to recognize the active duty and the Guard members who carry the weight of that service. To all those who are serving now-from the 11th Airborne to those who respond to Russian incursions in the 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (so proud of those guys), the 168th Refueling Squadron, the 176th Air Defense Squadron, and the 210th, 211th, and 212th Rescue Squadrons-thank you for keeping us safe.

As we recognize those who are serving now, it's always appropriate to thank those who have served us in times prior. I know that there are many of you here who have committed a level of service to our nation, and I would just ask that you rise briefly so that we can publicly acknowledge you today.

As we're meeting this morning, nothing is going better for Alaska than resource development. Our state is no longer the 'special' on the menu; we are the heart of the plan. Just think about it: Willow is on track. Pika is nearing first oil. We've restored access and mandated lease sales. We'll soon keep a greater share of the revenues from our petroleum reserve, the coastal plain, and Cook Inlet. When you think about the good news-and not just the news Alaskans are looking at-consider that first NPRA lease sale about 10 days ago. It was the best ever. Fully half the revenues-more than $80 million for Alaska-with rightful priority for the North Slope. We are seeing companies returning to the state, like Shell, in a significant way. This is real, meaningful, and happening now. In light of global geopolitics and supply disruptions, this is a great opportunity to finally bring our natural gas to both Alaskans and to Asia.

"Think about where else we are making headway. We put billions of dollars on the table to help rebuild our mineral security through projects like Graphite One up in the Nome area. We've got the King Cove road-I noticed a couple people had a King Cove pin on today. To the patient and the persistent people of King Cove: they now own the land for their life-saving road. That road is going to be built after decades and decades and decades; that's good news for us.

Another highlight for Alaskans is one that you don't hear discussed necessarily in these legislative speeches, but I raise it today, and that is Congressionally Directed Spending. We used to call them earmarks, but we call them Congressionally Directed Spending. They make up less than 1% of the discretionary budget and they don't increase spending on a net basis. But this is a part of what we've seen come to Alaska that is making a difference. I'll tell you, as an appropriator, it takes a lot to wade through the hundreds of requests that we receive every year, and I get why some offices choose not to participate. But for me, as far as I'm concerned and my team, this work is entirely worth it. Over the past five years, my team and I have secured just over $2 billion for the state of Alaska.

I'm just going to point out to my good friends in the back there, Lyman and Bert: it's comparable to the state's share of the capital budget over that same period. I was hoping that this might even actually impress Lyman! But seriously, these projects make a difference in your districts. Looking at Representative McCabe over here and Senator Rauscher: your constituents in Caswell, Sunshine, Trapper Creek, and Willow are going to have some help on childcare through the funding for the Sunshine Station Child Care Center. Representative Moore and Senator Giessel-I saw where she was sitting here-Senator Young back there: we directed funding to Wasilla's Set Free Alaska to build recovery residence facilities. This is going to help expand their capacity to help Alaskans heal and recover from substance abuse. To our Speaker and to Senator Hoffman: with federal dollars, Chignik will gain a new water distribution system. I happen to think that Alaskan communities deserve to have clean drinking water. We have hundreds of examples like this for clean water, heavy equipment, workforce development, housing, and public safety.

It's not my team and I that are sitting and dreaming up these projects. They come from you. They come from legislators. We hear from mayors, from city council members, from community leaders. The state of Alaska asked for help, and we then work to lock in the requests and bring them home. Know that when we're talking about partnerships, this is one way that we can help you, but we need to hear from you. We need to have that coming from home.

We made some good progress on legacy legislation-bills that we have written and have worked out over multiple Congresses. You all know legislating takes some time; we'd like it to move quicker. With icebreakers, we've been working on those for 15 years, but you've got to get things teed up and ready to go so that when you can move, you move. Many of the measures the delegation has passed over the last year reflect Alaska Native priorities, whether it was extending the Vietnam Veterans Allotment Program, returning control of ANCSA lands, as well as ensuring that elders and individuals with disabilities are not inadvertently excluded from federal assistance programs. So, we've made some good progress there.

We've also enacted Bruce's Law in memory of Bruce Snodgrass. I think we have Bruce's uncle up in the gallery, Mr. Ashlock, a friend of ours. I'll tell you, this bill would not have become law were it not through the force of a woman, Sandy Snodgrass, whose determination to stop fentanyl from taking additional innocent lives carried that measure to the President's desk. It's individuals like Sandy Snodgrass working with you and working with us that make a difference in our laws, but more importantly, make a difference for individuals.

So, we're working on what's coming up next. What do we have on the legislative horizon? I've got my Working Waterfronts Act. Many of you have weighed in with commentary on this; it is designed to help our coastal communities. We've got measures to streamline permitting for hydropower projects and advancing new technologies. We've got so much potential around our state when it comes to hydro and marine hydrokinetics, so we're working to advance that. We've got a big measure that we're working on to convert the recommendations from the Commission on Native Children into legislation that addresses child welfare, behavioral health, nutrition, education, housing, and more. We're going to be introducing this in the next month or so. This is substantive and really goes to the heart of what we see in so many communities regarding the health of our children.

I say there is so much that we should be positive about right now. Again, it's based on partnership, not necessarily personal triumph. I can stand up here and say, 'I got you that,' but you know what? We all got it. We're all working together to do good things for the state of Alaska. Just as we talk about the good things, I think it's also important to not just talk about the good stuff. I'm not going to stand here and tell you everything is fine in the world and all is right, because you know that's not the case. This is a moment for optimism, and we should take pride in all that's going well, but we should also recognize that this is a time that demands realism, where we acknowledge our challenges and what it takes to address them.

As I delve into this part of it, part of my purpose this morning is to help perhaps translate some of what is happening outside our state and the implications for us here in Alaska. We can start with the crises around the world that are impacting Alaskans now-from military service members who are deployed abroad to rural residents who are already feeling the echoes of war through higher fuel prices, shipping surcharges, and certainly more expensive groceries. We pray for those who have been lost and for the safety of those in combat. In Iran now, there's no question the world would be better off without a fanatical, terror-spreading regime in charge there, but it's not necessarily clear at this moment that that's going to be the case.

Here at home, people are confronting volatility and economic hardship. I mentioned fuel prices. I'm worried about the impact of higher fuel prices, but I'm also worried about shortages of our ability to get refined product. This is something we all need to be paying attention to. This is why, also, for years, I've warned against LNG imports. We have to ask the question: how would we be feeling right now if Southcentral was competing against most Asian nations for cargoes of LNG? We need to be thinking about that now. Most of our focus right now is on the Middle East, but we must not lose focus on Ukraine. We stand with President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people. This is now their fourth year of war. They're still holding their own, even after an awful, deadly winter, against Russian aggressors. There's no ambiguity here. Russia has chosen Iran over regional stability. You've seen the reporting out there; it's public. Russia is helping Iran to target our troops and military assets. Meanwhile, Ukraine is sending teams to the Middle East to help knock Iranian drones out of the sky even while they are engaged in their own battle. They are saying, 'This matters over here.'

Every day for us here in Alaska, I'm reminded of the geostrategic position that this state holds for our nation's national security-whether it's intercepting Russian air bombers or knowing that American troops can deploy more quickly to the Middle East out of Alaska than anywhere else in the country. Beyond the geostrategic importance, the opening of the Arctic presents incredible opportunities for us. I think we recognize that, whether it's resource development, maritime shipping, or tourism. But we're also seeing the region drawing unprecedented attention, not all of which is welcome or good. I don't think that Alaska is better off, or that the region is more secure, when the U.S. threatens allies like Greenland; that pushes them away instead of reinforcing the partnerships that protect our mutual interests. This is something that I've been deeply engaged with. I think we're going to be fine, but we need to remember that these relationships matter.

In the midst of everything that is happening abroad, let's bring it back to here in the United States. In the Congress, the Senate has been debating a measure known as the SAVE Act. Count me in. I strongly agree with the premise that only citizens should vote, and it's reasonable that voters should have to show their ID. The problem here is with implementation. Under the Act, it requires that original documentation to prove your place of birth and your citizenship has to be presented in person. Right now, it's clear that it can be presented to your Division of Elections offices. We have six of them in Alaska, a state that is one-fifth the size of America. We have six offices; four of them are on the road system, and the others are here in Juneau and up in Nome. What this effectively does is say that if you were required to present in person and you're living in Ketchikan, you've got to come here to Juneau. If you're in Barrow, you've got to go down to Fairbanks. If you're in Unalaska, you're coming into Anchorage. Registering to vote is going to be harder, and it will certainly be more costly for many in Alaska. The other concern I have is that this has an immediate effective date, with no time for voters to figure out what's going on or to present documentation for registration. It doesn't provide any resources to the state to help with implementation. This bill, while well-intended and built on a strong premise, was not intended to disenfranchise Alaskans who can rightly vote, but I fear that could be its effect.

As we're talking about electoral reforms, I want to commend this legislature for doing things the right way. Senator Wielechowski, I visited with you earlier back there. Representative Vance, thank you-you and so many others have worked for multiple sessions to build a bipartisan consensus for a legislative package. I think what you put together will fundamentally improve Alaska's elections.

As you are working at the state level to address that, I hope you're also paying attention to the SAVE Act, which would impose costs and change how elections are conducted here. I hope you're also tracking a case moving through the Supreme Court-they just heard this a couple weeks ago-called Watson v. RNC, that would prohibit states from accepting ballots after Election Day. That would change a great deal of how we approach our elections. These things are important and they are coming at all of us, so eyes are on them.

A different sort of threat to Alaska is emerging as the administration and some members in Congress are targeting the Small Business Administration's 8(a) contracting program. Those who don't understand 8(a) are trying to tear it down, even though it delivers value to the federal government and helps fulfill the promise of ANCSA. I want to be unequivocal: we need to protect 8(a). The Native Corporations who utilize it employ tens of thousands of Alaskans; it serves as an unheralded economic engine for our state. When they're under attack, Alaska's economy is also under attack.

Another concern is federal spending. The federal debt is projected to reach a shocking level of $64 trillion in a decade. It's not Alaska's fault, but it's also not sustainable. We're going to have to address it, and Alaska will need a legitimate fiscal plan as the federal budget inevitably tightens. We're all watching the price of oil-it's higher right now, sitting at over $100 a barrel-but higher oil prices are no substitute. The windfall will only go so far and last so long, and it's much better to get revenue from volume than it is from price. I want to thank the House Majority here for calling for fiscal restraint. Good for you, because we can't count on anyone or anything to bail us out of our fiscal woes. Only a long-term plan will truly end the cycle of boom and bust. We're all thinking: how can we take advantage of this moment in time? But we also need to be thinking long-term and thinking wisely.

Now, I'm telling you some of the things that I think you all want to do, and I'm not going to stand here and say, 'You guys have work to do; we're just fine in Congress.' Not so. The federal government is often beset by chaos these days-that's a nice way to put it. Lisa, we're looking at the situation with the Department of Homeland Security being shut down now for 46 days. We have seen workers, whether they be TSA, FEMA, or some in our Coast Guard, working without paychecks. We've seen many of our Alaskan families impacted as they move through long delays in airport security lines.

The problem that we're dealing with here is that shutdowns are becoming far too routine, and too many policymakers are just becoming numb to their impacts. These impacts are real; they are harmful. We cannot use a shutdown as a form of a political football. It's not great in Congress right now, but we have to admit-we've got to look at ourselves honestly here. I'm just going to say it out loud: there are areas where the state also is perhaps not meeting expectations.

One of those areas I'm going to offer up here is matching funds. When the delegation secures a federal allocation, we really need you to come through with your share in a timely manner. We need you to meet the match. It's not just the big ones, the obvious ones like transportation; it's some of the smaller ones too, like for USGS to bring ShakeAlert to Alaska to give us some early warning on earthquakes. Sometimes it's not even a match; sometimes it's hiring a couple of employees to unlock federal dollars for our state. That's what we've seen with the Micro-Grants for Food Security Program. Within just a few years, we've been able to see projects that are feeding thousands of Alaskans. Again, it's not a match; it's just a couple of staff that are needed there.

You know it's coming, so here it is: the Alaska Marine Highway. I can't stand in front of you all without reinforcing and reminding you of the priority for Alaska's coastal communities. This is our transportation system-or certainly one of them-and a very key one that's important not only for Southeast, but it's important for our state and our state's economy. It's statewide. We have to recognize that when one region benefits, other regions in our state benefit. I made the Alaska Marine Highway System a priority in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law five years ago, and through that bill, you've heard me say we've received about $700 million over the past five years, and there's more on the way. But the fact of the matter is, federal funding for MHS is a lifeline; it's not an entitlement. There's no guarantee that we're going to be able to renew it at any level, and so it's not a good strategy to rely on a temporary, competitive federal grant program to cover 45% of our state's operating costs, all of which used to be paid for by the state.

That's the case that we're facing right now. I don't want to lecture-I'm not-but I think you know my passion for this as a transportation system and how it gets into our broader statewide system.

Healthcare: a worry for me, and I know a worry for you all. I mentioned the reconciliation bill earlier in my speech. I held my vote out from the reconciliation package-it was not a pleasant time-but I needed to make sure that Alaska would see the adjustments and the flexibilities built in, whether it was delays or exemptions, but basically I think what was needed to minimize the harm to Alaska. Even with all that we gained with that, I worry about those Alaskans who may fall through the cracks as requirements change.

That was again one of the reasons why I held firm as we negotiated the Rural Health Transformation Fund, pushing to double that funding and demanding that Alaska be a priority within it. As a result, Alaska will receive the second-most dollars of any state and the most per capita-about $1.3 billion in all. But the state needs to do dramatically better on this five-year effort than we did on ferries, just putting it out there. If we don't, Alaska's funds can be redirected elsewhere, and we will miss a generational opportunity to improve care.

I'm going to do a shout-out-I don't mean to signal just to Lori Wing-Heier-but Lori, you, Senator Giessel, and Representative Mina on the Advisory Task Force: you know the big job that we have in front of us. It is considerable, and we need to stay on this in order to secure the full benefits to our state and do right by healthcare for Alaskans. So, thank you for your work on that as well.

Representative Jimmie, since I'm singling out folks here, I want to recognize you because I read the statement that you made when Congresswoman Peltola was here about the human toll that Typhoon Merbok continues to take months afterwards. You're absolutely right. Hundreds of Alaskans have lost everything, and it only adds to that devastation that some have lost hope and they've taken their own lives. My commitment to you is that we will not forget those who were devastated by the storm. I mentioned that I'm going to be chairing a field hearing of the Indian Affairs Committee on this in Bethel in May. We need to keep pushing our federal officials to provide the relief we have to demand. I will certainly demand that it will be Alaskans who have been impacted by this storm that determine their futures going forward. We will work on this together.

Our fisheries also remain in crisis. We know when salmon runs collapse, it threatens the food security, the culture, and the way of life of so many Alaskans. The reality is that these declines cannot be attributed to one factor alone. There's no silver bullet out there to solve a very complex problem. But when faced with causes beyond our immediate control, like climate change, I think it's understandable why the discourse focuses on what we can control: bycatch. Don't get me wrong on this-there is absolutely more that we can do to reduce bycatch, and we need to do it. Senator Sullivan has a bill that I'm a co-sponsor on, the Bycatch Reduction and Research Act. But I think we also need to be cautious about demonizing one sector of Alaska's fisheries at a time where we need to be working together to find solutions.

Commercial fishing provides good jobs; it's the economic backbone of dozens of our coastal communities. While it's often easy and often appropriate to point fingers at Seattle, I think it's important that we remember that many Alaskan towns and villages are suffering after losing their fleets and their processing plants, so life isn't necessarily better without them. We need to have sound science as the foundation of sound management, and we need constructive dialogue that respects the needs of communities upriver while also recognizing the benefits of the industry. We need to focus on what it is that unites us so that we can conserve and responsibly harvest one of our most precious and irreplaceable resources.

That brings me to education. This legislature's decision to increase the Base Student Allocation was a great step, so thank you for that. But I find it just appalling in certain cases that we have, to this day, so many Alaska schools that remain in such disrepair. I've been in the schools; I've seen the black mold, shown where the asbestos is, the bathrooms that don't function, and the roofs that are literally collapsing. That's one part of the problem.

Another part of it is who's in the building: how we are able to hire and retain good teachers. That requires districts to be able to pay teachers enough to live here. It requires municipalities to build housing that is affordable on a teacher's salary, and it requires competitive retirement benefits that aren't falling behind the Lower 48. Right now, the fact is-and you know it-Alaska doesn't produce enough of our own, and so we're seeing many of our teachers that are hired from abroad. You know what doesn't work for that? The President's $100,000 fee on H-1B visas. That may work in places like New York City, but it doesn't work in Kodiak. It doesn't work in Kivalina.

It will devastate our ability to recruit. I've introduced a bill to exempt teachers and I'm pressing our new Secretary of Homeland Security for an administrative fix, so we're working on the federal side of it. But Representative Galvin, I want to thank you for raising awareness and advancing the resolution on this in the legislature; that helps us, and I appreciate that.

We need to have great teachers to help train our workforce. That's another area where we are back to this whole issue of partnership. Non-residents now make up almost a quarter of our non-government workers, and it's compounded by an unprecedented 13 straight years of net out-migration of working-age adults. We're not growing enough of our own, and when we do, we're not keeping them. Now, this is not a slight to the university; I think they're our best engine to reverse these trends. We know that kids who graduate from our university are far more likely to stay here, so that's good for us. Pat Pitney has done a great job. We're going to miss her; she's leaving the university in good shape. I'm excited about what we're seeing with the recent rebranding of UAF as 'America's Arctic University.' It's great. Enrollment continues to grow there. We need to support our university system, but that's not enough either. Ultimately, this goes back to making Alaska the best place to work and to raise families. We do this through improvements in public safety, housing, childcare, schools, and community services-all of those things that make life here so special.

And yet, as we think about our workforce, Alaska has always been a state that relied on newcomers to fill out our workforce and to move our biggest projects and our industries forward. I think it is undeniably good that President Trump has closed the southern border to control it, and I credit him for doing that; it is important for our security. But when the extension of these policies results in a mother in Soldotna and her three children being taken into custody-with the mother deported and the oldest put in jail-I think it's time for serious reflection and reform of our legal immigration policies in this country.

My point in raising these topics is that Alaska has big needs that demand strong leadership. We've got a lot going for us, but we have to be clear-eyed about our challenges. We need to tackle them head-on and remember we are in this together. We are a state that is one-fifth the size of the country-I remind people about this all the time-and so it is understandable that oftentimes we think about our needs regionally.

It's Southeast versus the Interior versus Southwest versus Southcentral. No, there should be no 'versus.' There should be no 'us against them.' Our economies are interdependent, and we need to avoid the temptation to break down by region or by party, because neither of those best serves our state. When Alaskans support one another, we all rise together. I think this is an opportunity for us now. We are in the semiquincentennial-our nation's 250th birthday. It's hard to say 'semiquincentennial,' but I've been practicing all year, so I'm glad I didn't trip it up!

There's no better time for unity than as our nation recognizes this moment. This is a reminder of how incredibly fortunate we are to be Americans and to be Alaskans. We are blessed to live in this great state and even more blessed to be able to represent it. We get to wake up and work for Alaska, but we also know that is a responsibility and that people are counting on us. So, let's make the most of our time. Let's set aside the politics and the regionalism. Let's focus on partnerships for all of Alaska to achieve as much as we can for every part of our state and for every person in it. Thank you for the honor and the privilege to be in front of you and with you again today."