SC Alaska News

U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan to discuss Alaska’s growing role in national security, energy production, and Arctic strategy following last week’s summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During the interview, Sullivan addressed speculation about potential Russian investment in Alaska's natural resources. He rejected these reports, emphasizing American and allied interest in the state’s resources: “We have plenty of American investors and our allies who want to invest in Alaska’s natural resources,” Senator Sullivan said. “We're having a boom here. We don't need Russian investments. We don't need Russian money. They're a competitor of ours when it comes to energy and natural resources and critical minerals... I would not support that.”

Sullivan highlighted President Trump’s recent executive order focused on reversing policies from the previous administration that limited resource development in Alaska: “The Biden administration put out 70 executive orders exclusively focused on shutting down Alaska, shutting down our resource development economy,” Sen. Sullivan said. “Our own federal government, the Biden administration, sanctioned my state more than they sanctioned Iran. What we're seeing with President Trump and his administration is a complete 180 on that. Unleashing Alaska's resource potential has been a huge focus of the President since day one.”

He also pointed to environmental standards for resource development within the state and its impact on local communities: “Alaska has an incredible record of being able to develop our resources and protect the environment,” Sen. Sullivan said. “You walk around here, you see what a pristine, beautiful environment we have here. But we know we need jobs. We need natural resource development. So, we can do both. The entire North Slope of Alaska, the Iñupiat community, across the board, was against what the Biden administration did, which was lock up the entire National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska, which was set aside by Congress to develop our resources. Then, he had the audacity to say, hey, I did this on behalf of the Native people. That was not true at all. It was an outrage.

“There's no place on the planet that has higher standards on protecting the environment than us. If we need American energy, why would we go, like the Biden administration did, begging from Iran, Venezuela, places that have no environmental standards, when you can get it from America, from American workers, with the highest environmental standards of any place on the planet. Secondly, when you have resource development, particularly in our rural communities, you see life expectancies increasing.”

Sullivan discussed military investments outlined in recently passed legislation known as One Big Beautiful Bill Act aimed at strengthening U.S presence in the Arctic amid increased joint military activity by Russia and China: “We're an Arctic nation because of Alaska,” Sen. Sullivan said. “We’re rebuilding our military. Alaska exudes military might. We're the cornerstone of missile defense... We are building up our military... but also building out our Arctic capabilities.”

He detailed funding included for Coast Guard expansion as part of this bill: “The One Big Beautiful Bill has an almost $26 billion investment in the Coast Guard... 16 icebreakers coming with that... A lot of that's going to be in Alaska to defend the Arctic.” According to Sullivan’s remarks during Face The Nation interview.

Sullivan warned about rising security risks posed by Russian and Chinese activities near Alaskan waters and airspace: “Alaska is already becoming a flash point,” Sen. Sullivan said...“They don't do joint operations anywhere else on America's borders.” He called for sustained increases in defense spending and upgrades to missile defense systems anchored in Alaska.

Sullivan concluded by underscoring how current events reinforce his view that maintaining strong defenses centered around Alaskan installations is essential for national security moving forward: “Alaska is the cornerstone of all missile defense right now and will continue to be so.”