Frank Murkowski

America cannot drill its way to energy independence, as Alaskan Sen. Frank Murkowski suggests ("Let Alaskan Oil Help the State, Nation," Commentary, Feb. 17). Even if more oil development were allowed off California's coast and in the ecologically sensitive Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the U.S. would still import more than half its oil. After all, our nation has less than 2% of the world's known reserves. If Murkowski really cared about California consumers or oil imports he wouldn't have voted against raising our nation's fuel economy standards.

In response to Sen. Frank Murkowski's (R-Alaska) column "Don't Shut Alaska's Oil Spigot," Op-Ed Page, April 2: I am appalled that the senator tells us how fortunate we are that not all of the oil contained on the Exxon Valdez tanker spilled into Prince William Sound. He further states that Exxon has now accepted full responsibility and has committed to pay for the cleanup and full reimbursement for the damages. Does the senator really believe that Exxon's dollars will restore the lives of the countless birds and marine mammals which have died and will die, restore the damage to the ecosystem, the fishing industry so vital to the people of this area, or the pristine beauty of the sound itself?

The state of Alaska plans to strip oil companies of their leases on the Point Thomson oil and gas field after finding the primary leaseholder, Exxon Mobil Corp., in default for failing to come up with a viable plan for developing the field's vast North Slope gas reserves. Gov. Frank Murkowski, with Natural Resources Commissioner Mike Menge, announced the decision Monday, just one week shy of the end of his administration.

The Soviet Union has acknowledged that it has in custody a San Francisco man who wandered across the U. S.-Soviet border on the Bering Sea ice pack last week, a U. S. Senate aide said Thursday. The Soviets said John Weymouth is in good health, and will be released at Little Diomede Island next week, said Steve Hansen in the Washington office of Sen. Frank Murkowski of Alaska.

In July 2008, Sarah Palin was upset when a reporter inquired about state payment for family travel. On July 3, Palin's deputy press secretary, Sharon Leighow, emailed Palin a note saying she had spoken "at length" with Anchorage Daily News reporter Kyle Hopkins "about First Family travel. " "He asked about the Barrow trip and why the state should pay for Piper's travel expenses," wrote Leighow, referring to Palin's youngest daughter and a trip to Barrow on the state's remote North Slope.

Two children released to a U.S. congressional delegation by the government of Vietnam were reunited today with their mother, who had to leave them behind when she fled that country in 1980. The mother, Xuan Thi Nguyen, fell to her knees in the aisle of an Air Force jet, crying and throwing her arms around Tran Thanh Quynh, 9, and Nguyen Vu Chinh, 10, after they arrived at Elmendorf Air Force Base. The Vietnamese had turned the children over to Sen. Frank H.

Lisa Murkowski was certified as the winner of the Senate race in Alaska on Thursday, ending two months of legal wrangling over the seat she has held since 2002. Murkowski has scheduled a swearing-in reception on Jan. 5 in Washington, according to her website. Murkowski will become the first senator to be elected in a write-in campaign since Strom Thurmond in 1954. Joe Miller, a "tea party" movement favorite, won the GOP primary over Murkowski in August, forcing the incumbent to wage her successful write-in campaign.