The Capitol Dome and the West Front of the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C.(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
This is a message to Alaska’s congressional delegation — Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Nick Begich.
I urge you to set aside partisan politics and do your part to restrain the damage President Trump is doing daily to Alaska and American democracy. To be clear, Trump deserves credit for identifying many of America’s biggest challenges, like chaos at the border, too much identity politics, paralyzing rules and regulations, high prices, and the inability for regular working people to make ends meet.
But instead of taking practical steps to address those issues, Trump is running a blind bulldozer through the federal government, striving for king-like power, and dismantling democracy. So, I ask you, please:
· Take control and show Trump that money approved by Congress — including hundreds of millions of dollars designated for Alaska – cannot be arbitrarily stripped away by presidential action. For 250 years America has survived and thrived because of the separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution. Please honor your pledge to defend Congress’s role as the controller of the nation’s purse.
· Please keep amateur, anti-science advocates out of the administration. Neil Jacobs is the wrong person to lead NOAA. More than any other state, Alaska requires objective, fact-based science and monitoring. Diminishing NOAA’s capacity for honest science poses a huge risk for Alaska’s pilots, businesses, communities and future.
· Stand up and demand that America stop acting like a schoolyard bully on the international scene. Yes, the world is a tough neighborhood, and all nations need to do their part. But that’s why it’s so important to sustain and build global friendships, not to tear them down. And as the stock market and business leaders have made clear, draconian tariffs directly harm American shoppers and businesses. Killing USAID is simply heartless, a refutation of Christian values.
· Yes, we need to better control the southern border. But it is undeniable that America greatly benefits from immigration. Look at the names and heritage of America’s most successful businesses and cutting-edge scientists, the people that now generate millions of U.S. jobs and billions of dollars for U.S. pockets. Many in that group are first- and second-generation immigrants. Recklessly labeling immigrants as thugs is ugly, immoral and flat wrong.
I know people voted for change. Changes are needed, and people will squawk as excessive federal spending is cut. But we’re going backwards when the administration usurps Congress’s role in setting budgets, randomly fires experienced non-partisan federal workers, and sides with dictators and trashes friends. If an aging house is slumping, or leaking, you fix what’s broken. Walk through with your AR-15 blazing, pitching grenades, and you’ll end up with no house.
Leaders who emphasize common ground goals are the ones who get things done and endure. Leaders who vilify half the population get the opposite result. Putting unelected billionaires in charge of the government, throwing out consumer and anti-corruption watchdogs, and operating with a winner-take-all, “off with their heads” mentality saps our nation’s capacity to work together, and doesn’t address the heart of the challenges that got Trump elected.
I know your job is far from easy, and I appreciate the sacrifices you make to serve in Congress. And that politics requires compromise. But democracy in America has never looked so fragile. Alaska is watching and waiting. I urge members of the Delegation to use your voice and role in Congress to stand up, support the division of powers set forth in our constitution, and defend the rights and interests of Alaskans and all Americans. And I urge all Alaskans to contact our delegation and demand the same, including, most urgently, the need to ensure federal jobs and dollars promised to Alaska are delivered, and the federal budget now working its way through Congress doesn’t strip Medicaid and other dollars from Alaskans, to deliver a big tax break to the billionaires now running the government.
Thank you.
Chris Beck is a 40-year Alaska resident, and a recently retired owner and founder of small business.
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Publish date : 2025-02-27 14:21:00
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