Then there was the other end of the spectrum--those times when John and I were voting together, sometimes against the majority of our own party. Heal… - Lisa Murkowski

Freedom comes from strength and self-reliance.

I spent more time evaluating and considering the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh than I have with any of the previous nominations to the United States Supreme Court that I've been privileged to review. I've had the opportunity to vote on five Justices prior to this. And I took my time. I was deliberate, thoughtful. Some accused me of being too deliberate, too thoughtful, taking too much time. But this is important to me. It should be important to all of us. And I know that it is important to all of us. And so I studied the record.

From that or as a jump-off from that, I am introducing my Strategic Energy and Minerals Initiative Act, which we call the SEMI Act. This legislation will enable U.S. companies to better compete in global markets, and it promotes the responsible domestic production of our oil, gas, and minerals. I think these are initiatives that are good for us to be looking critically at, again, as we move forward with this administration's priorities on not only how we can build infrastructure--build it better, build it cleaner, build it with a renewable future--but we have to recognize that when we build things, we need base elements. Know that Alaska is ready, willing, and able to play a role on all of these fronts. We have tremendous stores of resources, but equal to those tremendous stores of resources is the responsibility that I believe Alaskans feel to be good stewards as we access those resources to allow for a level of sustainability, whether it is with our fisheries or whether it is with the subsistence, the livelihoods of those who rely on the food and animals on the land. We believe that we can contribute to our national security and our global competitiveness, while at the same time working to protect the environment, but what we need is a chance to be able to do that.