ms. murkowski: thank you, mr. president. before i begin my comments, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that christina nelson, my coast guard fellow, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of her fellowship. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: thank you, mr. president. i didn't come to the floor to speak to the nominee that is before us this afternoon, but following the very impassioned comments by my colleagues, in fairness on both sides of the aisle, and recognizing the vote that i just took about an hour ago to advance vanita gupta to this position, i will take just a moment to explain where i'm coming from and why i will be supporting her final confirmation in just an hour. i have looked at her record. i have had an extensive sit-down with her. i'm impressed with not only her professional credentials, but really the level of experience, but more to the comments that we just heard on the floor, the passion that she carries with her with the work that she performs. i think it's fair to say w

ms. murkowski: i continue the reading of the letter from a birmingham jail.you may well ask, "why direct action? why sit-ins, marches, and so forth? isn't negotiation a better path?" you are quite right in calling for negotiation. indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. it seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. my citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. but i must confess that i am not afraid of the word "tension." i have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. just as socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonv

ms. murkowski: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. kowski: to just wrap this discussion -- and i really appreciate the comments from my colleague, senator sullivan, because i think you have, you've really keyed in on where we are today. the alaska tourism restoration act is such a narrowly defined end scope initiative to again create this very brief period of time to allow for what is left or what will remain of a tourist season to proceed. but we are faced with bigger issues. and these issues clearly evoke great passion and debate, whether it's consumer protection or to senator lee's concerns, he has raised overall about jones act and pvsa. so those are significant issues that will be debated in committees, as we move forward, further debate on the floor. but i think at this point in time, the recognition from our colleagues from connecticut and from utah that this effort that we are trying to make in alaska to redeem a small segment of our tourist season, those who come to us by cruise ship, that just perhaps the strength of cooperat