Standing up for Alaska can’t wait

Senate decorum once dictated that a U.S. senator wait a long time, sometimes years, to give his or her first floor speech. Colloquially it’s called a “maiden speech.”

Things have changed. Freshman senators are more often speaking when they feel they need to speak.

Last week, I felt the need, and so I took a cue from my Valley constituents and spoke my mind about the principles that I, and many Alaskans, hold dear.

It couldn’t wait. There is so much happening in Washington, D.C., that will affect us all. As I’m sure you all know, President Barack Obama has unleashed what I described as a “war” against Alaska. He’s proposing to lock up millions of acres of land, and with those acres potentially billions of barrels of oil.

There are some who might agree with the president, (though I suspect not many in the Mat-Su.) Those people need to know that as their U.S. senator, my door is always open, and I represent them, too.

However, the vast majority of Alaskans understand that responsible resource development, including oil and gas, is the fuel that drives Alaska’s economy, and it is fuel that keeps our country strong.

If the president has his way, an additional 12.3 million acres of oil and gas rich land in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will be designated as “wilderness,” which prevents responsible oil and gas development, and possibly even motorized access. That acreage constitutes the last sliver of hope to explore in ANWR, and it will be taken off the table, perhaps forever.

He’s also taking millions of acres of offshore leases off the table, and is trying to render uneconomic ConocoPhillips’ project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, an area specifically set aside for oil and gas development.

As he’s done throughout his presidency, the president is overreaching, without a basis in law, and without meaningful consultation with Alaskans.

This can’t be allowed to stand, and I will work with all Alaskans and members of Congress to fight back against this assault on the state.

In my maiden speech, I summarized the principles that will guide me as we go forward in the 114th Congress. At the top of the list is the need to bring to a halt the overtly political practice of delaying beneficial economic projects to satisfy the demands of special interest constituencies. Purposeful delay and roadblocks have been the weapons of choice this administration has used to kill infrastructure projects that it doesn’t like, and Alaska is taking the brunt of it.

We also must challenge the conventional wisdom that has existed in D.C. 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 federal regulatory thicket that strangles our future. Studies, including by the president’s own Small Business Administration, indicate that federal regulations impose an annual burden on our economy of anywhere between $1.75 trillion to $2 trillion.

That’s as much as $15,000 per year, per American family. That’s more than some Alaskan families make in a year!

This leads me to a broader topic: the necessity to get back to the rule of law.

The rule of law, carefully constructed and nurtured for centuries in America, is a fundamental pillar of our great nation. Most countries don’t have it. We do. It’s a gift. But if we continue to erode the rule of law, we ultimately undermine what it means to be American. And it will be hard to get back.

But I have hope. There are still enough of us in the Senate who see the U.S. 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 they can be repaired. I’m working closely with other members of Alaska’s federal delegation and other members of Congress to do just that. And I intend to work closely with the state legislators to give them the help they need in Washington, D.C.

If we get back to the rule of law, we can get our lands back, and with those lands come security, hope and dreams for all of us.

Further, although I believe in a limited government, I also believe that the federal government has a role to play in helping the most vulnerable in our country.

This is especially true when it comes to honoring the sacred trust of responsibility we have toward our veterans. That’s why I co-sponsored the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Act, named for a Marine who took his life, which was recently passed by the Senate. I hope the president will sign it quickly.

It’s a very personal issue for me. As an officer in the Marine Corps, both on active duty and in the reserves, I have witnessed the struggles — at times tragic — that some of our best and bravest undergo while serving their country. The suicide of a young Alaska Marine under my command still haunts me. With the proper awareness and resources, we can do more to avert such needless and devastating loss of life.

We have to do better for our best and bravest, and I pledge to do everything in my power to ensure that they receive the debt of honor we all owe them.

Finally, let me leave you with this: as members of the new Congress in Washington take their seats, there are big issues to be resolved, big legislative battles to be fought. But there is no greater issue, no greater battle, than our fight to take our land and our country back. Because it’s our country. It’s our land. And it’s our Alaska.

Dan Sullivan is the junior member of Alaska’s Senate delegation.