chairman murkowski, appreciative to testify before the committee and i look forward to answering questions. >> thank you, mr. cason. ms. pfleeger, welcome. >> chairman murkowski, ranking member cantwell, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. the federal permitting improvement steering council, known as the permitting council, was created by title 41 of the fast act, known as fast 41. past anyone brings accountability and transparency to what has been for too long and uncertain and unpredictable process. fast 40 what upholds existing environmental laws and statutory responsibilities of the 16 permitting counsel agencies. additionally asked 41 is a voluntary program in which project sponsors apply to become covered projects. as acting executive director of the privy council my office and the counselor bringing about a new way of doing business to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal permitting process for complex infrastructure projects in our nation. the permitting counsel is comprised of top leadership, deputy secretary or equivalent, so they can ensure

ms. murkowski: mr. president, i was proud to be a conferee for h.r. 1, the tax cut and jobs act. i'm pleased to join many of my colleagues in strong support for the conference report for it. i think, really, the title, the title says it all. this bill will deliver tax cuts and new jobs for hardworking americans. i think it will be good for our economy. it will be good for jobs and for growth and good for families and our businesses. as a starting point, we have tax reform, a huge and a complicated undertaking that really happens once in a generation around here. it's been 31 years since we have successfully reformed the tax code. i think we would all say that's long overdue, but this bill reduces taxes in every income bracket, letting americans keep more of their money. it doubles the standard deduction to put even more money back in the pockets of hardworking americans. it doubles the child tax credit, which is so important, making more of it refundable to help parents and our families. it helps our small businesses. in the state of alaska, about 99.6% of the businesses in alask

ms. murkowski: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i strongly oppose this motion to strike. this is our opportunity. this is our opportunity to not only provide jobs, to create revenues, resources, to protect an environment that as alaskans we know how to protect. we are seeking with this energy title, we are seeking to develop 2,000, 2,000 acres out of 19.3 million acres. 110,000th of all of anwr, and we're seeking to do it with a smaller, limited footprint, using the technologies that have come available over the decades that we have been seeking to advance these opportunities, opportunities for alaska, opportunities for the nation. mr. president, i would implore colleagues, for 40 years now, we have been looking for the opportunity to best protect our long-term energy and national security. this is our chance. mr. president, the pending amendment 1717 would cause the underlying legislation to exceed the energy and natural resources committee section 302-a allocation of new budget authority or outlies. therefore, i raise

ms. murkowski: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: i request the proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: thank you, madam president. last night was a -- last night -- i guess it was actually early this morning, a pretty historic time for us. our final vote to approve the tax cut and jobs act, i believe, was a historic moment for america, and it was clearly an historic moment for my state of alaska. for the first time in 31 years, since president reagan was in office, we passed tax reform that will make our tax code work better for american families and businesses, but after 37 long years -- yesterday i said it was 38. i stand corrected. it was 37 years. that's been a long time. a long time that we have been working to advance the opportunity to open a small portion of the nonwilderness 1002 area in northeast alaska, up on our north slope, to open it to responsible energy development. many of us in the state believed that this would happen in the early 1980

ms. murkowski: thank you. mr. balash was considered by thoat of us on the energy committee in early september. he was reported out two weeks later with strong bipartisan support. he has done everything that members on both sides of the aisle have asked him to do. he's waited patiently over the course of nearly three months as we seek to confirm him. now, it was just mentioned by the ranking member that he has concerns about his ability and the recusal process. madam president, it was made very clear in committee to questions to mr. balash as well as the follow-on with questions for the record about some of the issues that senator cantwell has raised. and i think it's important to note that he pledged -- mr. balash pledged very clearly to consult with and follow the counsel of agency ethics office. he did that in committee, in statement. he provided the same response in his qfr's. he said i will consult with the department's designated agency ethics official regarding this matter and fully comply with the ethics ru

ms. murkowski, proposes an amendment numbered 1855 to amendment number 1618. mr. mcconnell: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be called up en bloc and reported by number. sanders 120 -- 1720, brown 1854, rubio 1850. i further ask consent the senate now vote in relation to the sanders amendment and that following disposition of the amendment, the senate vote in relation to the above amendments in the order listed. finally, that there be two minutes equally divided between the managers or their designees prior to all further votes tonight and that they be ten minutes in length. the presiding officer: objection? without objection so order. mr. mcconnell: sow so, madam president the next three amendments will be in relation to the sanders amendment 17 20, the brown amendment 1854 and the rubio amendment 1850. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendments en bloc by number. the clerk: the senator kentucky, for oh, proposes amendments numbered 1720, 1854, and 1850 to amendment number 1618. the presiding officer: there a