Murkowski: Bush Speaks to Health Care, Energy Proposals in State of Union Address

MURKOWSKI: BUSH SPEAKS TO HEALTH CARE, ENERGY PROPOSALS IN STATE OF UNION ADDRESS

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski today welcomed comments from President Bush who proposed improved health care and a new energy policy designed to increase domestic energy production through the use of new technology.

Murkowski supports the President's proposal to expand Health Saving Accounts to help low-income Americans afford to buy health insurance. "When 45 million Americans, including 122,000 Alaskans, are without health insurance at some point during the year - 19% of Alaska's population - it is clear that we need to find an economically affordable way to promote quality health care," said Murkowski.

Murkowski in 2004 proposed her SAVE Act - the Securing Access, Value and Equity Health Care Act - that also included tax deductions to help low-income residents and small businesses to utilize Health Saving Accounts to help them obtain health insurance. Murkowski's bill also would help small business owners provide health insurance for workers and their families through providing them tax credits, would have expanded state high-risk pool insurance for workers and established voluntary choice cooperatives to also help small businesses - provisions she hopes also will be considered as Congress reviews the President's health proposals this year.

She supported the President's proposal to make it easier for workers to switch jobs and have their health insurance follow them - the issue of portability. And she welcomed the President's call for better use of electronic medical records to reduce dangerous medical errors and his call for medical liability reform to reduce insurance premiums facing doctors.

On energy, the President focused on new technology to reduce the nation's addiction to foreign, imported energy.

"We do need to increase energy through technological change and I support the President's call for increased research into clean-energy technologies in the production of electricity to power our homes and businesses and in new automobile technology such as better batteries for hybrid cars and development of pollution-free hydrogen cars," said Murkowski.

"I support the President's call to reduce our oil imports from the volatile Middle East by 75 percent within two decades. To meet that goal, however, I also believe we must produce more conventional oil from domestic sources, which is why I believe we must renew our efforts to open the Arctic coastal plain to oil and gas development.

"We have a host of new technology for Arctic oil development that guarantees that we can open ANWR without damage to the environment or wildlife. Everything from directional-extended reach drilling to 3- and 4-D seismic that guarantee that ANWR can be opened safely. Opening ANWR is vital for us to have a balanced energy program that will allow us to meet the President's goal to reduce our foreign dependence on oil," said Murkowski.

She praised the President's support for increased spending for zero-emission coal-fired plants, noting that Alaska, which holds the nation's largest coal supplies, could be a major beneficiary of an increase in integrated, combined-cycle coal gasification plants - similar to ones under consideration for development in the Kenai Borough. She also praised him for his proposal to increase ethanol production from wood chips, noting that harvesting of Alaska's dead and dying spruce bark beetle-killed timber could also be helped by additional funding of cellulosic biomass.

Murkowski said she was pleased by the President's support for efforts to improve the nation's competitiveness in the global economy, especially supporting the President's calls for improved aid to teaching of math and science in schools.

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