With the emotionally charged issue of same-sex marriage in the national spotlight this week during U.S. Supreme Court arguments, where does Alaska’s congressional delegation stand?
They are split. The lone Democrat, Sen. Mark Begich, is the only one to step forward as a supporter of gay marriage, what supporters often call a civil rights issue of marriage equality.
Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) late Monday night added his voice to the growing chorus of Democratic senators announcing support for gay marriage ahead of Tuesday’s hearing at the Supreme Court.
“I believe that same-sex couples should be able to marry and should have the same rights, privileges and responsibilities as any other married couple,” the Alaskan senator said in a statement obtained by Buzzfeed.
“Government should keep out of individuals’ personal lives—if someone wants to marry someone they love, they should be able to. Alaskans are fed up with government intrusion into our private lives, our daily business, and in the way we manage our resources and economy,” he continued.
Begich says that Alaska is home to more than a third of the nation’s untapped hydropower. He adds that the proposed legislation would help develop fish-friendly hydro sites.
The act would allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend preliminary permit terms, and explore a faster process for hydropower development. The act also would direct the Department of Energy to further study hydroelectric power generation.
A voter ID bill that drew sharp criticism from U.S. Sen. Mark Begich on his recent visit to the Alaska Legislature is moving forward, with its sponsor denying the senator’s claims about the bill.
Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage, said his House Bill 3 was the victim of “misinformation” spread by Begich, D-Alaska.
“Nothing whatsoever in House Bill 3 prevents anyone from voting if they are registered and motivated to vote,” he said Thursday, while chairing the House State Affairs Committee hearing his bill. Those who don’t have photo ID can present other forms of identification or cast questioned ballots, he said.
U.S. Sen. Mark Begich on Monday called on the Parnell administration and state lawmakers to make strong commitments to education, give greater support for children’s health insurance and eliminate any obstacles to voting.
He said he’s also worried about what he sees as trends to make voting more difficult in Alaska, particularly for Alaska Natives and other minority groups. The state last year sued over provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act, arguing, in part, that the requirement that the Justice Department approve redistricting plans or proposed election changes is unwarranted. That case is on hold pending the outcome of a U.S. Supreme Court case.
This week Alaska Senator Mark Begich introduced a bill that seeks to stem the tide of mislabeled seafood in the American marketplace. He says such actions hurts Alaska fishermen and cheats consumers.
He said his bill gives government agencies, such as NOAA Fisheries and the FDA better tools to deal with the huge pirate fishing industry.
Begich says Alaska has the right procedures in place to assure consumers that they are getting what they paid for, but he wants to shut down pirates passing off farmed salmon and Russian crab as being from Alaska.
Alaskans are making a strong presence at the annual Boston Seafood Show going on this week. Stopping by to check in with them for a second year is Alaska’s junior senator, Mark Begich. He took a few minutes yesterday to also check in with KMXT, live from the convention floor.
As of lunchtime Monday, Begich had yet to run across Aqua Bounty at the convention. They are the company which hopes to bring genetically engineered farmed salmon to American markets.
He noted that last week the supermarket chain Whole Foods announced it will require all genetically engineered, or “G-E,” foods to carry a label identifying it as such. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration does not require such labeling, and if Aqua Bounty’s salmon is approved, it will be the first meat product allowed to be sold to the public.
The National Weather Service Employees Organization is pleased to announce its endorsement of Mark Begich for Senator of Alaska.
“Senator Begich strongly supports the lifesaving mission of the NWS to protect the people who work and live in Alaska,” said NWSEO President Dan Sobien.
Senator Begich, as chairman of the Senate oceans subcommittee overseeing NOAA, pushed the agency to work with the Interagency Working Group for Alaska, a consortium of federal agencies organized by President Obama to work together to streamline permitting for oil and gas development in the Arctic.
The sparring over whether U.S. Sen. Mark Begich was correct in his assertions last week that the Parnell administration and some legislators seek to suppress Native voting may foreshadow a larger battle in the 2014 election.
That conflict would follow a story line of the 2012 presidential election: Did some Republican-governed states attempt to place roadblocks in front of traditional Democratic voters, such as the elderly and minorities, to tip the field in favor of Mitt Romney? That question ended up in several courts before the November election and was seized as an issue by President Barack Obama’s supporters.
Pioneer Mary Joyce was inducted into the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame last week, according to Michael Ward, manager of the Taku Glacier Lodge.
Joyce was a Southeast Alaska entrepreneur and adventurer during the 1930s until her death in 1976. In 1935, Joyce successfully completed a 1,000-mile, three-month solo sled dog trek from the Taku Lodge, south of Juneau, to Fairbanks that earned her a place in Alaskan history, and the Taku Lodge a designated place on the National Registry of Historic Places.
