Update: Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security -- Arctic Presence Field Hearing

Updated: You can read some coverage of the hearing here.

Written testimony for today's Senate Appropriation's Subcommittee on Homeland Security on the Coast Guard's Arctic presence available here:

/ArcticPresenceTestimony.doc

Tweets from the hearing (newest to oldest):

Sen. Murkowski: Most in the U.S. do not think of our nation as an Arctic nation.

? from Senator Murkowski about Healy's support to Extended Continental Shelf Project http://ow.ly/kMyU

Several Arctic Awareness blogs this week at http://ow.ly/kMye

View pictures from the interagency Arctic Awareness trip from this week http://ow.ly/kMxI

Extraordinary work being done in Nome by Mayor Michels.

Sen. Murkowski: Existing operational infrastructure in Arctic region is limited at best, and non-existent in some areas.

What we need to do is build a balanced set of requirements based on our greater awareness of what is going on in the Arctic.

Hope to start putting our resource requirements document for Arctic operations in about the next 6 months.

Our small boats don't operate well off the North Slope, we have things to learn from the traditional Eskimos there and are doing that.

Provided overview of Operation Arctic Crossroads. http://ow.ly/kMvo

Sen. Murkowski appreciates Gov. Parnell pointing out need for Senate to ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty.

Gov. Parnell supports ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty.

Gov. Parnell: "The Arctic literally needs to be put on the map." We need updated and accurate maps, both land and sea.

Alaska's Governor Parnell says, "Alaska is America's Arctic Guardian...and requires additional Coast Guard presence."