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Murkowski's December 2011 Newsletter to Alaskans

Murkowski December Newsletter 2011 “Arctic Tough” 4/25th Deploys to Afghanistan Excerpt from Lisa Murkowski’s Newsletter – click on image to go to Lisa’s website. Last week, I had the honor of attending the deployment ceremony of the 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.   As 3,500 soldiers prepare to spend up to a year in Afghanistan, I joined with our Alaskan community to thank them for their service and wish them success in their upcoming mission. Below are some excerpts from my remarks to the Spartans. “Every American soldier is an ambassador of American exceptionalism. You are a cut above the rest. Arctic tough, resilient and brave. Blessed with strong officers and NCOs, you fight with your hearts and you fight with your brains.” “I have a few words for our Spartan families. We all appreciate that life does not stop while your loved ones are on deployment. Over the next year you will have your share of blessings and your share of challenges. Sometimes these challenges will seem overwhelming. But there’s help at hand no matter how great the challenge seems. To watch my full remarks click here, for pictures from the deployment ceremony click here.

Murkowski’s December 2011 Newsletter to Alaskans

Murkowski December Newsletter 2011 “Arctic Tough” 4/25th Deploys to Afghanistan Excerpt from Lisa Murkowski’s Newsletter – click on image to go to Lisa’s website. Last week, I had the honor of attending the deployment ceremony of the 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.   As 3,500 soldiers prepare to spend up to a year in Afghanistan, I joined with our Alaskan community to thank them for their service and wish them success in their upcoming mission. Below are some excerpts from my remarks to the Spartans. “Every American soldier is an ambassador of American exceptionalism. You are a cut above the rest. Arctic tough, resilient and brave. Blessed with strong officers and NCOs, you fight with your hearts and you fight with your brains.” “I have a few words for our Spartan families. We all appreciate that life does not stop while your loved ones are on deployment. Over the next year you will have your share of blessings and your share of challenges. Sometimes these challenges will seem overwhelming. But there’s help at hand no matter how great the challenge seems. To watch my full remarks click here, for pictures from the deployment ceremony click here.

Begich Newsletter to Alaska for December 2011

Begich December Newsletter

Excerpt from Mark Begich’s Newsletter – click on image to go to Mark’s website.

Americans got good news Friday when the Department of Labor announced unemployment has dropped to 8.6 percent, the lowest since March 2009. I want to keep that trend going so I welcome the scheduled vote this week by the Senate to extend the payroll tax cut. I support keeping this cut because this is no time to put an additional financial burden on working families who are continuing to struggle to make ends meet.

While in Alaska for the Thanksgiving break, I was honored to attend the deployment ceremony for the 4/25 from Joint-Base Elmendorf Richardson. An estimated 3,500 service men and women began their deployment to Afghanistan, where they will serve for the next year. They will join the 5,000 members of the 1/25 from Fort Wainwright already serving in Afghanistan. In my comments to the troops, I promised to continue to work hard to make sure our service members have what they need to meet the challenges overseas and at home. Part of my commitment is to the families, too; we have to make sure they have the support and services they while their loved ones are deployed.

The Senate last week also passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. Nearly $400 million in investments for facilities in Alaska will come to the state once the measure is finalized through conference and signed by the President (see details below). With so many of our military members serving overseas, the timing of this legislation couldn’t be more appropriate.

I hope your holidays are going well and I’ll see you home in Alaska soon.
Sincerely,

Senator Mark Begich