[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8494-8497]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             ARCTIC COUNCIL

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I often come to the floor of the U.S. 
Senate to discuss issues of the Arctic. Since the United States is an 
Arctic

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nation, it seems that it is only appropriate to give updates when there 
have been items and events that are noteworthy in this space.
  Several weeks ago, we hosted in Alaska the Arctic Council Ministerial 
Meeting, an event duly of note and an event upon which I would like to 
spend a few moments this afternoon updating colleagues on all that took 
place at this ministerial and provide a little bit of a recap of the 
role of the United States as chairman of the Arctic Council for these 
past 2 years.
  This opportunity today to congratulate those in the State Department, 
the people of Fairbanks, AK, and the Alaska Arctic Council Host 
Committee for a successful Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in 
Fairbanks is certainly timely.
  I have also come to review the accomplishments and the challenges of 
the Arctic Council during the recent chairmanship by the United States 
and I think also to look ahead at what I hope and expect will be our 
Nation's continued leadership in the Arctic.
  As I mentioned, for the past 2 years now, the United States has been 
chair of the Arctic Council. This is an international forum for the 
eight Arctic nations. That includes the United States, Canada, Denmark, 
Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden. It also includes six 
permanent participant organizations that represent the indigenous 
peoples of the Arctic, as well as dozens of interested observer nations 
and international organizations.
  I think it is important to recognize that while you would understand 
and assume that the Arctic nations are clearly interested in happenings 
in the Arctic, the interest in being an official observer as part of 
the Arctic Council has grown steadily in these recent years as nations 
around the world are recognizing the opportunities that are presenting 
themselves in this portion of the globe.
  The Arctic Council was established in 1996, and it focuses its work 
on sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic. 
When we speak at these council meetings, as Arctic Parliamentarians, we 
always refer to the Arctic as a zone of peace. It is that way now; we 
would like to see it remain so.
  Back in April of 2015, the United States took over as chair from 
Canada, and at that time, the United States proposed three thematic 
areas that we would focus on during this 2-year chairmanship. Those 
three areas were improving economic and living conditions in Arctic 
communities; Arctic Ocean safety, security, and stewardship; and the 
third issue area was to address the impacts of climate change.
  While there were many who believed that the previous administration 
focused most of its attention on climate change--sometimes at the 
expense of the other two areas and most notably the focus on economic 
and living conditions for the people who live and work and raise their 
families in the Arctic--I believe we saw a good outcome from this 2-
year chairmanship.
  I would like to note today and acknowledge the work of Julie Gourley 
as the U.S. Senior Arctic Official; the work of Ambassador David Balton 
as the chair of the Senior Arctic Officials; and ADM Robert Papp, who 
served as the U.S. Special Representative for the Arctic. All three of 
these individuals served to facilitate the U.S. chairmanship and worked 
to increase public awareness and knowledge of the Arctic. I thank them 
for that.
  I also commend the City of Fairbanks and the Fairbanks North Star 
Borough, which hosted the ministerial meeting. I think it is important 
to recognize that most assumed that when the United States hosted the 
ministerial, it would be in Alaska's largest city. Anchorage certainly 
has the ability to accommodate just about any conference, anywhere, at 
any time, but I think it was significant that we chose to host in a 
city that--while it is not above the Arctic Circle, it is getting 
pretty close up there.
  The people of Fairbanks went all out to embrace our friends from 
around the world. Their efforts were matched by the tremendous work of 
the Alaska Arctic Council Host Committee and particularly of Nils 
Andreassen, who connected the Arctic Council with the host communities 
during its numerous meetings.
  In the past, what we had seen at these Arctic Council meetings was 
folks would fly into an Arctic location, and more often than not, we 
would be in a large conference hall, typically with no windows and 
closed doors, and then everyone would fly out without having any real 
interaction with the community. They wouldn't have an opportunity to 
engage with the public, and sometimes it made the work of the Arctic 
Council a little bit of a mystery.
  I think we missed some opportunities to build support for the Arctic 
Council and its work and also to learn and to hear from those who live 
in our Arctic communities what matters are of concern to them. The 
Alaska Host Committee worked to break down that barrier by organizing 
side events. There were dozens of different side events and receptions 
that allowed for critical interaction.
  The City of Fairbanks and the North Star Borough provided incredible 
hospitality. They always do that, but I think this time they went above 
and beyond in rolling out the red carpet to ensure the success of the 
meeting for all who were involved.
  During the U.S. chairmanship, there were a number of successful 
activities that I would like to highlight briefly.
  First, there was an agreement on enhancing international arctic 
scientific cooperation. This was signed by all eight Arctic nations at 
the Fairbanks ministerial. It is now the third legally binding 
agreement among the Arctic nations. We have already done an agreement 
on search and rescue and a second one on oil spill preparedness. This 
is now the third, focusing on scientific cooperation. This new 
agreement will allow scientists to more freely and assuredly work 
across political borders to develop scientific knowledge about the 
Arctic.
  What I think is significant about this particular document is that 
the process to develop the agreement was co-chaired by the United 
States and Russia. This demonstrates that while our nations clearly 
have a good number of disagreements and disputes around the world, the 
Arctic can be that place of cooperation. I think we demonstrated that 
with this particular scientific cooperation.
  Another area of focus was on telecommunication. For the first time, 
we have assessed telecommunication infrastructure in the Arctic. For 
anyone who has been there or who has been to any very remote location, 
you know well the importance of dependable communications. Those 
familiar with the Arctic know that we have significant gaps. We have 
significant challenges in this area. Finland, which has now assumed the 
chairmanship, will take this issue with them and work with the private 
sector to do what they can to improve telecom in the Arctic.
  The Arctic Council also launched an Arctic ship traffic data 
cooperative agreement. The intent is to have a better understanding of 
the ships that are operating in the Arctic.
  As we all know, we are seeing sea ice recede. We are seeing shipping 
lanes in areas where we have not had an opportunity to have ships or 
any level of commerce. With this project, we are seeking to collect 
information from each Arctic nation about the shipping activity in the 
Arctic for traffic trend analysis.
  This is important because we are seeing an increase in shipping 
levels in the U.S. Arctic--an increase by nearly 60 percent over the 
last 8 years. It is clearly expected to increase with every passing 
year, as we are seeing sea ice diminish. As we are seeing this 
increased volume of shipping traffic, I think it is important to keep 
in mind that when it comes to charting, when it comes to mapping, less 
than 5 percent of the U.S. Arctic has been charted to modern standards.
  Again, think about what is happening. We are seeing increased 
shipping traffic. We still don't know as much as we need to know about 
the charting and the mapping, so it is vital for homeland security, for 
local security, and for navigational necessity that we have an accurate 
understanding of who is transiting when and where within the region.

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  I have talked with Native whaling captains, those who are engaged in 
a level of subsistence, particularly in the Bering Straits area. 
Understanding when and where and who is transiting is very important 
for those subsistence hunters as well.
  Another item that came from the Arctic Council ministerial--and this 
was not a direct outcome from this meeting but the prior one--a new 
fund, the Algu Fund, was established to help the indigenous peoples of 
the Arctic more fully participate in the decision making of the Arctic 
Council and its working groups.
  The permanent participants and the indigenous peoples who make up 
these representatives are a critical piece of the discussion in these 
significant meetings with Foreign Ministers. To have that local 
knowledge, to have the voices of the local people of the Arctic 
speaking up is important. Think about it. They don't necessarily have a 
formal government, a fund that can help send them to these meetings, to 
be part of these working groups. And so oftentimes, their participation 
is not present, and not because they don't wish to be but because they 
lack the resources.
  So this Algu Fund was established. The goal is to raise $30 million 
for the fund, which will benefit the Aleut, the Athabaskan, Gwich'in, 
Sami, and over 40 Russian indigenous groups.
  Of the other work that was conducted, seven new observers were added 
to the Arctic Council, including the country of Switzerland. There were 
additional organizations that were added, but we are now up to a total 
of 39 observers, 13 of these being from non-Arctic nations. So again, 
the interest in all things Arctic, regardless of where you are on the 
globe, is really increasing.
  On the sidelines of the ministerial meeting, there were 12 mayors 
from Arctic communities in Alaska, Canada, Finland, Iceland, and 
Norway. They held their own forum to look at the challenges to local 
governments in the Arctic. Issues such as economic diversification with 
benefits to local populations, infrastructure investment, energy 
independence, efforts to adapt to a changing climate, and the 
incorporation of traditional and local knowledge in the decisionmaking 
were discussed. These mayors from across the region saw the value of 
attending the ministerial meeting, even though they were not part of 
the official meetings. But they also felt that it was important to 
ensure that the people of the Arctic, those who actually live there, 
work there, and raise their families there, were heard in the 
discussions, as well.
  Even after all that I have highlighted, there are many other 
documents from the ministerial meeting that I could mention here, but 
one that I would like to draw particular attention to is the Fairbanks 
Declaration. This is the statement signed by all eight Arctic nations 
coming out of the 10th Arctic Council Ministerial. I think it is 
significant to note that, in these issue areas that the United States 
focused on--Arctic Ocean safety, security, and stewardship, improving 
economic and living conditions, and addressing the impacts of climate 
change--the statements coming out were good, strong statements of 
agreement, and there was true cooperation and collaboration.
  I think I would be remiss in stating that there was some speculation 
that, with a new administration taking over right at the end of the 
United States' term, there was some discussion as to this: Well, how is 
this declaration going to be coming about, because it is the United 
States that ultimately, as the chair, holds the pen there?
  I know there has been a lot of discussion around this town about the 
administration's position on the Paris Agreement. The President is 
still determining how he wants to proceed there. But I do think it is 
noteworthy--very noteworthy--that the Fairbanks Declaration, which was 
signed by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, speaks directly to climate 
change in the Arctic. Specifically, it notes the entry into force of 
the Paris Agreement. But in looking specifically to the language 
relating to climate change, it states, and I will quote here:

       Note again that the Arctic is warming at more than twice 
     the rate of the global average, note with concern that the 
     pace and scale of continuing Arctic warming will depend on 
     future emissions of greenhouse gases and short-lived climate 
     pollutants, reiterate the importance of global action to 
     reduce both greenhouse gases and short-lived climate 
     pollutants to mitigate climate change.

  Then, it calls for the Arctic Council to undertake additional 
analysis. So I think that is significant as well. It is an important 
recognition, and, while this administration has not yet determined 
where they may end up when it comes to the Paris Agreement, I think it 
is telling to look to this document--again, that was not only signed by 
the United States, but, ultimately, it was drafted by the United 
States--as an indicator of the realities that we face with climate 
change and, particularly and most noteworthy, in the U.S. Arctic, where 
we are seeing that impact most pronounced.
  I mentioned the aspect of climate change, but the Declaration is 
broader than that. It also recognizes the importance of the 
contributions of the Arctic indigenous peoples, the importance of 
healthy Arctic communities, the impact of maritime activity in the 
region, and the emergence of the Arctic Economic Council, which is an 
issue that I feel very strongly about.
  We had an extraordinary Alaskan woman who was chairing the AEC 
throughout these past 2 years, and she did a fabulous job standing that 
up. Her contributions were quite remarkable.
  There is the need to improve the access of Arctic communities to 
clean, affordable, and reliable energy sources. So, again, I would 
commend to anyone's reading the Fairbanks Declaration. If you are 
interested in Arctic issues or if you are interested in just a sense of 
the breadth and the depth of the issues and challenges facing the 
Arctic region, I think it is an important document.
  With our handing the gavel now to Finland, the obvious question 
request is this: What happens next for the United States in the Arctic? 
I am encouraged by Secretary Tillerson's comments in Fairbanks that the 
United States will remain engaged and remain a leader on Arctic policy. 
That has got to be key. We have made great headway in recognizing that 
we are an Arctic nation. At every appropriations hearing that I have 
been to thus far, I think I have reserved my questions to ask about 
Arctic-specific issues--whether it is the status of where we are on 
infrastructure, such as icebreakers, or whether it is a recognition and 
an understanding that, with decreasing sea ice up north, you have 
people in ships up there, which we have never seen before. Quite 
honestly, we now have an area of exposure. We focus a lot on the 
southern border. We now have a northern border that is open. What might 
that mean?
  We were able to query Secretary Kelly this morning about possibly 
partnering with Canada as we look to how we can provide for sharing of 
information about who is coming and who is going and knowing what we 
have in front of us. We will have an opportunity--again, as we move 
forward with legislative initiatives, appropriations, and reviewing the 
President's budget--to make sure that the leadership that the United 
States has demonstrated these past 2 years as we have been chairing the 
Arctic Council continues and that it continues in a strong and a 
prominent way.
  With that, I thank the Chair.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
  Mr. FRANKEN. Mr. President, I would like to commend my colleague from 
Alaska. Closer to the Poles, you see the effect of climate change more 
starkly. I am glad that she spoke on this issue. She is a real champion 
for her State, which means recognizing that climate change is having an 
effect on the Arctic and on those villages up there. It will have a lot 
of consequences going forward.
  I say thank you to Senator Murkowski.

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