U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer and U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Karl Schultz are touring the state in an effort to push for national security in the Arctic.
Their visit Monday in Nome coincides with the National Defense Authorization Act, which was scheduled to be signed by President Donald Trump.
Funds for the construction of six new icebreakers are included in the bill.
“The era of asking our military to do more with less is over,” Sullivan said of the implications for that bill in the Arctic. “And a lot of that money is coming to Alaska.”
Sullivan said the U.S. has been slow to keep up with national security matters in the Arctic.
As Arctic waters open, so does the potential for security threats.
The construction of a deep draft port in western Alaska would allow the Coast Guard and Navy to have a strong presence in the U.S. Arctic.
Spencer said the Russians have already opened up six additional airstrips. China also has put out an Arctic strategy.
“We have to have a plan up here because we are going to be one of the major stabilizing factors of how the Arctic plays out,” Spencer said about Alaska’s role.
Concerns are not limited to national security but also include economic sovereignty, Schultz said.
“Presence equals influence in the Arctic. And we absolutely need to assert our national interest,” he said. “About 13 percent of the untapped fossil fuels remain at the ocean’s floor up here — about a third of all the natural gas — and then you’re looking at a trillion dollars of minerals. And the U.S. wants to assert our sovereign rights over those resources.”
Ultimately, Sullivan stressed that security in the Arctic is a matter of urgency.
His office has had correspondence with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and he expressed concern over their pace with the deep draft port process.
“Trust me, when we get back to D.C., we’re going to reiterate our message to the Corps: ‘No more foot dragging here, let’s finish this study,” Sullivan said. “It’s important for Alaska, it’s important for Nome, it’s important for the country. And again, I think having the top leaders in the country on these issues here on the ground in Nome is going to help us make that point.”