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- By Native News Online Staff
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was formally recognized as chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Wednesday. She succeeds Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), who held the position for the past four years.
The passing of the gavel took place at the first meeting of the Committee of the 119th Congress.
“I want to thank my colleagues for being a part of the Indian Affairs Committee. I’ve had the opportunity to speak with folks about their priorities, and I think we share a desire to accomplish good things and make good use of the Committee to serve the people that we represent,” said Chairman Murkowski. “It was a true pleasure to serve as Vice Chair with Senator Schatz. He had a great run as Chair and the Committee did good things. He ran the Committee as a partnership, and the bipartisan cooperation that we saw is exactly what we need to do to accomplish big things. We have a lot of good work ahead – whether it’s housing, public safety or any of the other important issues that the Committee has worked on. The 119th Congress is going to be a good one.”
“None of our achievements in the last two Congresses would have been possible without this Committee’s bipartisan commitment to Native people in Hawaiʻi, in Indian Country, and in Alaska,” said Vice Chairman Schatz. “Our longstanding tradition of bipartisanship is our strength, so I am truly proud to serve, for the third consecutive Congress, in leadership alongside my good friend, Senator Murkowski.”
Following remarks from Chair Murkowski and Vice Chairman Schatz, the Committee unanimously agreed to the rules of the Committee and the funding resolution for the Committee for the 119th Congress.
A full video of the business meeting can be found here.
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