Murkowski Tours Borough During Congressional Break

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, right, talks with Steven Honnold and Robin Gardner at the new Alaska Department of Fish and Game building in Kodiak.

Jay Barrett/KMXT
Alaska senior Senator Lisa Murkowski is spending several days around Kodiak Island this week. She arrived Tuesday, just missing Crab Fest, but she missed the rain, as well. Like her junior colleague, Senator Mark Begich, who visited over the weekend, Murkowski was taking advantage of the Memorial Day congressional break to return to Alaska.
“We … walked up to the reservoir and dam, talked about some of the issues they have. Then we took another boat over to Port Lions and I had a chance to just kind of gain a sense of some of their priorities,” she said.
The senator spent much of Wednesday in Old Harbor where she got to observe the archeology dig the Alutiiq Museum is doing near the airport expansion there.
“To be out on a site, looking out over the water and realize that what you’re looking down on is a smokehouse that dates back to about 7,200-years old,” she said. “It just really gives you a sense of perspective.”
Murkowski met with Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge personnel upon returning to Kodiak, as well as folks from KEA. She said it was good to spend an extended amount of time in a community, rather than just dropping in for a few hours.
“I’ve seen the Power-Points, I’ve seen the schematics, but there’s nothing like boots on the ground and actually looking to where the needs are and how we can help our smaller communities develop some local economy.”
A reception at the Kodiak Island Brewing Company was held late Wednesday afternoon where she announced her support for a tax relief act for craft brewers. Murkowski had run into owner Ben Millstein in Washington D.C. a couple weeks ago and he talked to her about the “Small Brew Act.”