Today is important for Alaska and partisanship should be shelved to celebrate U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan’s poignant and first Senate floor speech which drew accolades from Senate leadership. Well done Senator.
Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) delivered his maiden address to the U.S. Senate today, expressing his support of the Keystone XL Pipeline, his outrage over the Obama administration’s latest actions on ANWR, and highlighted his agenda for the 114th Congress.
“Mr. President, in supporting Keystone, I’m also standing for a larger, more important principle, said Sen. Sullivan. “The ideal that the federal government should be a partner in opportunity, a partner in progress, not an obstacle. I’m standing in support of what has defined this country for centuries: The idea of the American dream. Mr. President, the American dream is still alive in my home state. Yes, we have major challenges like all states. But in Alaska, we still have hope, we still dream big dreams.”
Sullivan noted that simply passing one infrastructure and job bill isn’t enough. Congress must stop project delays, increase access to federal lands, respect the rule of law, and begin to roll back job-killing regulations.
“Since the founding of this country, we’ve had important debates right here on this floor about the role of the federal government in our lives,” Sen. Sullivan said. “And judging from what Americans are telling us, the reach of the federal government has hit its limits. It’s exceeded its limits. Our citizens are telling us that their government – and it is their government – has gone well beyond deriving its powers from the consent of the governed. What the American people are telling us—what Alaskans are telling me—is that they want a federal government that helps ignite their hope, not smother it.”
Sullivan also discussed his amendment to the Keystone XL Pipeline bill that would disarm Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) personnel from carrying firearms.
“I’m all for a country with an armed citizenry. As a Marine, I’ve taken an oath to defend and fight for this Constitutional freedom,” said Sen. Sullivan. “However, I am not for a country with an armed bureaucracy.”
He also addressed the recent action by the Obama administration to designate millions of acres of Alaska’s coastal plain in ANWR as wilderness.
“I will use all my power to protect the economic growth and prosperity of Alaska,” Sen. Sullivan said. “That is why I have already filed amendments with Sen. Murkowski to rescind the Obama administration’s ANWR order.”
Sullivan’s speech was attended by many of his Senate colleagues, and after completion of his speech, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) all spoke on the Senate floor and congratulated him on his maiden speech. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) presided over the Senate during Sullivan’s address, and afterward Sen. Cruz congratulated him on the speech, particularly his emphasis of “Alaska sized dreams.”
Download Sen. Sullivan Maiden Floor Speech 1.27.1
Senator Sullivan Tells the President to Respect the Constitution Regarding Land Rule-making at Minute 10:58
