ANCHORAGE — U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan’s latest campaign literature actively bends the truth with a complete misrepresentation of Mark Begich’s legislative record. Sullivan continues to play fast and loose with facts in an attempt to distract from his own failed record as attorney general.

“Another day brings another false attack paid for and endorsed by Dan Sullivan. Sullivan isn’t able to run a campaign on his own record, he’s turned his back on Alaskans so repeatedly that he’s resigned to lying about Mark Begich’s record and leaning on the Koch brothers for millions of dollars worth of support,” said Max Croes, Communications Director for Alaskans for Begich. “From securing veterans care closer to home, to passing his traditional foods bill and increasing the compensation rate for 4.5 million veterans nationwide, Mark Begich has a record of accomplishment and gets results for Alaska.”

The latest false attack paid for and endorsed by Dan Sullivan:

Mark Begich has a record of delivering legislative victories for Alaska:

• Restored pension benefits for the Alaska Territorial Guard.
• Secured access for National Guard and National Reserve members to Space-A seating on military flights.
• Passed Coast Guard Reauthorization legislation that delivers three new Fast Response Coast Guard Cutters to Southeast Alaska.
• Passed language to advance air permitting for Arctic drilling.
• Secured passage of legislation allowing traditional foods in schools and hospitals.
• Waived copayments for veterans telehealth and telemedicine visits.
• Guided language in bipartisan VA reform legislation allowing rural veterans to receive health care closer to home.

Senate Passed Defense Appropriations Bill Including Begich/Murkowski Pension Fix For Alaska Territorial Guard Veterans. Reported the Anchorage Daily News in October 2009, “A military spending bill passed the U.S. Senate Tuesday with a provision intact that would pay the pensions of about two dozen elderly members of the World War II-era Alaska Territorial Guard.” [Anchorage Daily News, 10/7/09]

Begich Helped National Guard And Reserve Retirees Secure Access To Seats On Military Planes. Reported the Anchorage Daily News in March 2013, “For Alaskans, Begich has spent much of his time in Washington away from the Senate floor glare of controversial votes, focused on more local and regional issues of vital importance to his state. Begich crafted an accord that enables Indian Health Service clinics to treat non-Native veterans, and he helped members of the National Guard or National Reserve gain access to seats on military planes, a perk previously limited to active-duty soldiers.” [Anchorage Daily News, 3/31/13]

Begich Sponsored The ‘Coast Guard Authorization Act For Fiscal Years 2012 and 2013’ And Corresponding House Resolution 2838 Became Law. Senator Begich sponsored S. 1665 the Coast Guard authorization act for fiscal year 2012 and 2013. House Resolution 2838 the ‘Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation act of 2012’ the corresponding House resolution became public law on December 20, 2012. [Congress.gov, Accessed 4/24/14]

2011: Begich & Murkowski Successfully Inserted Language In Appropriations Bill To Move Air Permitting For Arctic Drilling From EPA To Department Of Interior. Reported the Anchorage Daily News in December 2011, “Pollution emitted from drilling ships and support vessels in Arctic waters would be regulated by the Interior Department instead of the Environmental Protection Agency under language inserted into a spending bill by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski. . . . Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, said he had pushed for the change with the White House and the Senate Democratic leadership. ‘This is an issue of fairness and is long-overdue,’ Begich said. ‘Companies with projects in the Arctic are at a competitive disadvantage under the EPA. It’s time to move all air permitting under the Interior Department.’” [Associated Press, 12/15/11]

Kendall-Miller: Begich Secured Passage Of Subsistence Legislation Allowing Traditional Foods In Schools, Hospitals, & Elder Care Facilities. In August 2014 Alaska Dispatch op-ed, Alaska Native advocates Heather Kendall-Miller and Lloyd Miller wrote, “Begich’s record here runs deep. He developed and secured passage of a subsistence bill that overruled federal prohibitions against serving donated traditional foods in schools, hospitals and elder care facilities.” [Kendall-Miller, Alaska Dispatch, 8/31/14]

Begich Provision Waiving Copayments For Veterans’ Telehealth Visits Included In Comprehensive Veterans Law. Reported the Army Times in July 2012, “An omnibus veterans bill chock-full of two years’ accumulation of health, benefits, education and administrative provisions is on its way to the White House for President Obama’s signature. The Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act passed the House on July 31 by voice vote after passing the Senate on July 18. . . . There are more than 50 other provisions, including a new ban on protesting or disrupting military funerals, tighter rules for tracking and preventing sexual assaults on VA property, waiver of copayments for veterans in rural areas who used telehealth or telemedicine to receive Veterans Affairs Department care, a requirement that trained service dogs be allowed on any VA-controlled property as long as the animal was obtained from an accredited source and an expansion of rehabilitative service for veterans with traumatic brain injuries.” [Army Times, 7/31/13]

KTVA: “Veterans Reforms, Championed By Senator Mark Begich In Alaska Will Become US Law.” KTVA reported, “Veterans reforms, championed by Senator Mark Begich in Alaska, will become US law. The reform bill has now passed both the House and Senate, and heads to the President to be signed… Senator Begich was a member of a Veterans Committee charged with negotiating a compromise bill. In Alaska eligible veterans in rural areas can get care from qualified facilities where they live instead of flying to a VA facilities in Anchorage or Seattle.” [KTVA, video, 7/31/14]