Video Clips
Quoted moments from Alaska public meetings, hearings, and press conferences.
Nick Begich
“The underlying cause is straightforward. IHS does not have explicit statutory authority to provide or fund the basic veterinary services—rabies vaccination, spay and neuter, parasite and disease prevention—that stop zoonotic disease before it reaches a person and prevent the bite that puts a child in an emergency room.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“This committee should give members the opportunity to ask IHS questions about the current barriers to eliminating rabies. We should get to ask what would be needed to successfully implement the new authority in H.R. 8473.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 9, 2026
Hurd
“If our goal is tribal economic development, responsibility should rest with the department that works with tribal governments every single day. The Department of the Interior is the central federal agency for government-to-government relations with the tribes, promoting tribal economic development and administering federal programs throughout Indian Country.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 9, 2026
Rodney Butler
“There wasn't the resources, there wasn't the funding, and in 25 years, absolutely nothing happened. Doesn't mean that's not important. It's clearly— it shows the level of importance Commerce and to various administrations, but that was the main hurdle for it not moving forward. And so without resources, I mean, it's just an empty promise.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 9, 2026
Rodney Butler
“In 2000, in the year 2000, Congress passed the Indian Tribal Regulatory Reform and Business Development Act with a clear mandate to comprehensively review federal regulations that impede investment in business development on Indian lands and recommend their removal. The legislation established a 21-member authority with 12 seats reserved for tribal representatives, and it directed it to report to Congress within one year. That authority was never convened. 25 Years later, the mandate remains unfilled.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 9, 2026
Nick Begich
“Rabies is not a historical threat in northern and western Alaska. It's enzoonotic, meaning it is consistently present in the wildlife, and our communities live with the risk of an exposure event every single year.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“Chairman Hurd's H.R. 8954, The Tribal Regulatory Reform Regulatory Reform Act takes an important step to boost economic opportunities in Indian Country. It transfers all administrative responsibilities and jurisdiction of the Indian Tribal Regulatory Reform and Business Development Act from the Department of Commerce to the Interior.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 9, 2026
Speaker C
“when the Department of Commerce originally testified on this bill in— yes, it was 1999— the official stated, since the cost of the authority could be significant, I believe it is important to emphasize that the department cannot currently perform the work required.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 9, 2026
Hurd
“This legislation amends the Indian Tribal Regulatory Reform and Business Development Act of of 2000 to transfer administrative responsibility for the Act's regulatory reform authority from the Department of Commerce to the Department of the Interior.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 9, 2026
Hurd
“The lack of veterinary services in rural communities has disproportionately impacted tribal communities, particularly children. In some areas of the United States, communities experience 365 dog bites a year, or essentially one dog bite every day. That alarming number is an unacceptable standard that communities have faced for far too long. Currently, IHS does not have the authority to provide care or funding related to zoonotic disease prevention or veterinary care, despite this care being important to reducing the public's risk of disease transmission or injury.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 9, 2026
Brian Berube
“Furthermore, in Alaska, rabies remains an ongoing and ever-present public health issue. Rabies is enzoonotic— excuse me— in our fox populations in northern and western Alaska, meaning it is always present, and it poses a persistent and continual risk of transmission from wildlife to domestic animals and to people.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 9, 2026
Hurd
“H.R. 8473, Introduced by Representative Begich of Alaska, which would authorize HHS to utilize funds for public health veterinary services through direct service care or under Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act contracts and compacts. There's a correlation between unreliable veterinary services and high rates of rabies and zoonotic diseases. In a 5-year span between 2019 and 2024, 24,000 patients received ambulatory care from dog bites throughout IHS service areas.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 9, 2026
Sandra West
“The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, known as NEHRP, is one of the most successful pieces of hazards legislation ever, coming up on its 50th anniversary. It coordinates the efforts of 4 agencies: the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Science Foundation, FEMA, NIST.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources (Begich): Leg Hrg on the following bills · May 20, 2025
Sandra West
“Just 3 states so far have the USGS's ShakeAlert system, which is capable of providing warning before shaking even starts. 4 Months ago, the USGS published a ShakeAlert plan for Alaska.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources (Begich): Leg Hrg on the following bills · May 20, 2025
Stauber
“These bills would authorize important programs that help save lives and protect our communities, including the National Landslide Hazard Reduction Program, or NILHRP, the 3D Elevation Program, or 3DEP, the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, or NEHRP, and the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System, NVIEWS.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources (Begich): Leg Hrg on the following bills · May 20, 2025
Doug Helton
“After 33 years of service, I retired alongside more than 1,000 other NOAA employees who left amid the Trump administration's effort to gut the agency. Together, we represented 27,000 years of experience— it's an irreplaceable loss that endangers Americans' health, safety, and the economy.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources (Begich): Leg Hrg on the following bills · May 20, 2025
Stauber
“NHERP established the ShakeAlert application, which provides earthquake early warnings to Americans living and working on the West Coast of the United States. NVIEWS monitors and warns communities near and around volcanoes when volcanic activity is imminent.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources (Begich): Leg Hrg on the following bills · May 20, 2025
Stauber
“in the waning days of his administration, President Biden announced a withdrawal of over 625 million acres on the Outer Continental Shelf. The Biden administration's offshore energy lockups, along with their onshore mineral withdrawals, have cost Americans thousands of good-paying, often union jobs”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources (Begich): Leg Hrg on the following bills · May 20, 2025
Speaker G
“11 Years ago, on March 22nd, 2014, Washington experienced one of our nation's worst natural disasters. In a matter of seconds, the side of a mountain, a tragic massive landslide near Oso, Washington, killed 43 people, destroyed an entire neighborhood of over 40 homes, and severely damaged public infrastructure and private property.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources (Begich): Leg Hrg on the following bills · May 20, 2025
Sandra West
“The problem is that most U.S. volcanoes aren't monitored like SPUR. Fully implementing NVIEWS would fix this.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources (Begich): Leg Hrg on the following bills · May 20, 2025
Sandra West
“Landslides. Good numbers on landslides are hard to come by. That's something the bill before you would actually help address. But even 20 years ago, annual costs were estimated above $2 billion. They affect nearly every state anywhere that there's steep terrain and heavy rainfall.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources (Begich): Leg Hrg on the following bills · May 20, 2025
William Gibbons-Fly
“China has long understood that engagement with the Pacific islands on oceans and fisheries issues is the single most important vector for establishing commercial and political ties. They have been expanding their influence across the Pacific by investing in shoreside facilities, building wharfs.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 3, 2026
William Gibbons-Fly
“Within two years of the expansion of the monument, one of the two canneries operating in American Samoa at the time closed, resulting in the loss of 800 jobs.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 3, 2026
Hageman
“By contrast, fishing in nearly all of the US EEZ is regulated under the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and management Act. For 50 years, the act has propelled the United States to the forefront in terms of being the gold standard for fisheries management.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 3, 2026
William Gibbons-Fly
“In just the past few years, the US tuna purse seine fleet has been reduced from 34 vessels to just 15 vessels operating today. The remaining vessels supply most of the tuna being processed in American Samoa and otherwise support the local economy there.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 3, 2026
William Gibbons-Fly
“When you're banning commercial fishing from 50 to 200 miles, there's very, you're, you're putting, you know, very significant strain on the fishing industry, putting people out of business, harming the economy of American Samoa with very little, very little conservation benefit.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 3, 2026
Kyle Huffman
“While I'm open to finding solutions to sea otter management in particular regions, this bill inappropriately shifts the response responsibility to subsistence harvest and disadvantages Alaska Native artisans who carefully process pelts into arts and handicrafts. The bill also circumvents the Indigenous Peoples Council for Marine Mammals.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 3, 2026
Hageman
“The bill at the heart of this hearing is sponsored by Representative Radawagan of American Samoa. Her bill states that within the boundaries of a marine national monument, fishing shall be regulated under the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management act, not the Antiquities Act.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 3, 2026
William Gibbons-Fly
“Because these monuments are established under the Antiquities act, the process is exempt not only from the requirements of Magnus and Stevens, but also the requirements of the Administrative Procedures act, the National Environmental Policy act and other legislation, all of which are established by Congress to ensure fair, transparent and most importantly, science based decision making for the management of our nation's fisheries.”House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries (Begich): Legislative Hearing · Jun 3, 2026
Paul O'Connor
“And we've also seen uncertainty in our weather forecasts, which for us represents danger on the daily. So we're making big decisions on whether we want to go out in 10 foot seas in a 22 foot skiff or not. And we need to know what the weather's going to do and we need that to be accurate.”House: Oversight Hearing titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” · Jun 4, 2025
Paul O'Connor
“It adds uncertainty in a way that can both lead us into a fisheries disaster we don't see coming or leave fish in the water that we could have otherwise safely harvested.”House: Oversight Hearing titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” · Jun 4, 2025
Rick Bellavance
“Anytime there's a compromise to the quality of the data that we use to make those decisions or the personnel that we need to promulgate those regulations, publish them in the Federal Register and so on, it's just more difficult for us to do our job.”House: Oversight Hearing titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” · Jun 4, 2025
Paul O'Connor
“NOAA's budget underpins virtually every part of the US seafood supply supply chain. Cuts aren't just numbers on a spreadsheet. They are delayed surveys, outdated stock assessments, long waits for permits, loans and disaster relief, weakened enforcement and failure to modernize. Without timely science and vigorous oversight, we can't make good decisions and we risk losing one of the last wild protein industries on earth.”House: Oversight Hearing titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” · Jun 4, 2025
Hageman
“In April, he signed an executive order titled Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness, which is intended to reduce regulatory burdens and restrictions to ensure that the American fishing industry can thrive. President Trump's executive order directed the Secretary of Commerce to work with the eight regional fishery management councils to make the necessary changes to reduce regulatory burdens to adopt new technologies to improve management and work with stakeholders across this community.”House: Oversight Hearing titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” · Jun 4, 2025
Paul O'Connor
“we must have the best available science, but not only that, we must be consistent improving it and improving the science that we are relying on for our decision making.”House: Oversight Hearing titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” · Jun 4, 2025
Dustin Delano
“I can't preach enough. The need for better data collection and collaboration between scientists and fishermen. I think that's extremely important.”House: Oversight Hearing titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” · Jun 4, 2025
Dustin Delano
“I believe, you know, some of this has been mentioned, that it's important that we continue the work that needs to be done to assure that fisheries are permitted, and that is through surveys that are existing and continuing those time series. It's important to have the funding to do that.”House: Oversight Hearing titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” · Jun 4, 2025
Brock Hunter
“Alaska Seafood is struggling to compete against non market economies like China and Russia. The Russians are massively subsidizing new fishing fleets. They even require their fishing companies to buy these new vessels if they want quota. As a result, the Russian pollock harvest has increased from 1.75 million tons to 2.46 million tons since2021 while the US harvest level remains steady and sustainable.”House: Oversight Hearing titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” · Jun 4, 2025
Dustin Delano
“The weak links in our ropes can snap under tension, sometimes in our faces, creating serious safety risks.”House: Oversight Hearing titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” · Jun 4, 2025
Rick Bellavance
“Cancelled or scaled back stock assessments threaten economically important fisheries like groundfish, monkfish, and scallops in New England. Proposed cuts could further erode NOAA's ability to provide critical science for management decisions.”House: Oversight Hearing titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” · Jun 4, 2025
Rick Bellavance
“NOAA budget cuts and staffing reductions have hindered fish surveys, stock assessments, and have resulted in prolonged delays in the publications of regulations that allow fishermen to fish.”House: Oversight Hearing titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” · Jun 4, 2025
Speaker B
“Fishing communities in my state and many fishing communities around the country have been thrown into chaos due to these DOGE cuts. You're not going to make our seafood industry more competitive by firing staff at noaa, canceling research, banning NOAA staff from traveling to meetings with or by instigating trade wars with erratic and unstrategic tariff policies. Over one third of the NOAA fisheries positions are now vacant. Fishery science centers across the country are bleeding talent and key NOAA fisheries staff have been fired.”House: Oversight Hearing titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” · Jun 4, 2025
Paul O'Connor
“But without a fully resourced noaa, these investments won't reach our decks, your dinner plates, or the American economy.”House: Oversight Hearing titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.” · Jun 4, 2025
Speaker A
“The Railway Safety Act protects rail workers and communities that railroads travel through, requires the placement of wayside defect detectors, strengthens penalties on railroads for safety violations, and removes older, dangerous tank cars from service sooner.”House: H.R. 8870, Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America's 250th Act (BUILD America 250 Act); and other matters cleared for consideration · May 21, 2026
Speaker A
“a key piece of this amendment is the two-man crew mandate. I find it absolutely fascinating that in a world where we have autonomous vehicles, no driver, autonomous trucks with no driver, we have aircraft with no pilot, and here it is, we have the only mode of transportation operating on a rail, and we say we got to have two individuals in the cab to, uh, to prevent something. The fact is there were 3 people in the cab in East Palestine.”House: H.R. 8870, Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America's 250th Act (BUILD America 250 Act); and other matters cleared for consideration · May 21, 2026
Speaker A
“since 2024, the NTSB has been on the scene of 53 rail accidents and incidents that resulted in 17 fatalities and 10 injuries. 27 Investigations are worker-related. In fact, listen, the NTSB has increased its number of rail investigations each year by 33% in 2025 over that of 2024. In 2025 alone— this is a big number, folks— 2025 alone, There was a total of 9,836 rail accidents and incidents, of which there were 969 fatalities and 6,291 injuries.”House: H.R. 8870, Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America's 250th Act (BUILD America 250 Act); and other matters cleared for consideration · May 21, 2026
Speaker A
“As the NTSB Chairwoman Hammoudi said in her letter to urge this committee dated 2 days ago, May 20th, She reinstated the urgent need for a comprehensive approach to address critical rail safety issues, which are included in my bipartisan rail safety amendment before us today.”House: H.R. 8870, Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America's 250th Act (BUILD America 250 Act); and other matters cleared for consideration · May 21, 2026
Speaker A
“Our committee has an opportunity today to deliver on President Trump's call for stronger rail safety protections and to ensure that the tragedy we witnessed in East Palestine, Ohio, never happens again.”House: H.R. 8870, Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America's 250th Act (BUILD America 250 Act); and other matters cleared for consideration · May 21, 2026