King Hails Creation of Federal Arctic Steering Committee

Statement

U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, released the following statement in response to the President's Executive Order today establishing an Arctic Executive Steering Committee aimed at coordinating Arctic policy across different federal government agencies:

"With emerging commercial transit waterways and valuable natural energy resources, including gas and oil reserves, the Arctic is of increasing strategic importance to the United States," Senator King said. "I applaud the President for taking action to recognize and prioritize this region through the creation of the Arctic Steering Committee, which will only grow more important as the United States assumes the Chairmanship of the Arctic Council. It's critical that we coordinate our federal policy accordingly and this is a strong first step in that effort. I look forward to working with the President in the future on issues concerning the Arctic."

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