FAIRBANKS - Lisa Murkowski on ... Immigration Murkowski said she believes the first thing that needs to be done to stop the flow of illegal immigrants in the country is to secure the border.

This can be accomplished by utilizing a fence, the National Guard and technologies such as video cameras in more remote areas, she said.

Another part of the problem, she said, is the “catch and release” approach used by border agents who do little more than issue a citation for a deportation hearing when they catch someone entering the U.S. illegally.

“We haven’t put the funds into detention hearings and facilities to move them back,” she said.

That is an aspect there hasn’t been a lot of focus on. We have laws in place, we need to enforce them, and we have to make sure there’s real teeth in them. Giving someone a notice to show up at a deportation hearing just doesn’t work.

The senator opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the country, calling amnesty an “affront” to everyone who comes to the U.S. legally.

On the topic of repealing the 14th Amendment or adding a new amendment to the constitution to deal with the issue of so-called “anchor babies,” the children of illegal immigrants who gain American citizenship after being born on U.S. soil, Murkowski said she has not yet formed an opinion.

“When you’re talking about amending or repealing any aspect of our Constitution, I take that seriously, so we need to be doing that thoughtfully,” she said.

Abortion

In the past, Murkowski has not supported overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling granting women the right to an abortion, but she believes that abortions should happen as seldom as possible.

“Federal funding should not be used for abortions, and I have been quite consistent in my approach to that,” she said. “I also recognize, as the Supreme Court did that while the courts have ruled abortion beyond a certain stage is lawful, there are situations when there should be restrictions on abortion and I have strongly supported a ban on partial birth abortion.”

Murkowski also supports certain restrictions on abortions, such as a measure scheduled to be on Alaska ballots this fall which would require parental notification for minors seeking abortions.

Health care

Murkowski said she believes that the Democrat-sponsored health care bill signed into law earlier this year is seriously flawed and needs to be repealed, however, she said she believes a better bill needs to be ready before repealing the Obama bill.

“In my version of health care reform, we reduce not only the cost of care, but the cost of providing for coverage and we increase access,” she said. “The health care bill the president signed in March does not do that.”

The senator believes a better health care package would include medical malpractice reform, curtail defensive medicine and increase competition by allowing people to buy insurance across state lines.

“When it comes to insurance, we’re not a very attractive market here in Alaska, because we’re a small market.” she said. “... When you don’t have competition, you’re not going to see your costs reduced.”

Murkowski also takes issue with the current bill forcing most Americans to purchase health insurance, and said she believes that requirement is unconstitutional

Federal spending in Alaska

As a member of the Senate appropriations committee, Murkowski and her Republican colleagues have worked to rein in spending, something she says Democrats have been disagreeable toward.

While Murkowski acknowledges the ballooning deficit and said the overall budget needs to be reduced, she said budget cuts should have less of an impact on Alaska than other places.

The federal government owns most of the land in Alaska, and most federal spending in the state goes toward the military, veterans and Alaska Native programs.

“When you talk about federal dollars coming to us, keep in mind why they come to us,” Murkowski said. “It’s not just because we’ve had very successful statesmen who have been bringing those dollars to us. It comes because of the state that we are.”

Defense spending

With calls across the board to reduce federal spending, even the annual $700 billion defense budget isn’t immune.

However, Defense Secretary Robert Gates came under fire earlier this month when he announced the first major budget cut, the closing of a Joint Forces Command in Virginia.

Murkowski said she has not yet determined the necessity of shutting down the command in Virginia, but said all parts of the budget should come under more scrutiny for possible cases of waste, fraud and abuse.

“I am very cognizant though that we’ve got an obligation to the men and women serving us,” she said. “I don’t want to shortchange them for the job we have tasked them with. Let’s not jeopardize the safety of those serving and protecting our freedoms.”

Tribal authority

Earlier this month, Alaska’s Democratic senator, Mark Begich, introduced the Alaska Safe Families and Village Act which would “set up tribal courts, establish tribal ordinances, and ... impose sanctions on those people who violate the ordinances.”

Begich says the act is necessary to combat drug and alcohol problems and deal with the issues of domestic violence and child abuse in rural Alaska.

Murkowski recently co-sponsored the Tribal Law and Order Act, which will help village public safety officers get additional training in the Lower 48, but disagrees with the bill proposed by Begich.

“I made very sure that with these amendments (to the Tribal Law and Order Act) there was no expansion of jurisdiction whether criminal or civil as it relates to Alaska Natives and tribes,” she said.

Climate change

Murkowski said she is unsure about the extent of the effect humans are having on the climate, but supports efforts to reduce emissions when possible.

“I think it’s good for our health, I think it’s good for the planet and I think that is responsible,” she said. “I am not prepared to argue with scientists or others whether man is causing 2 percent of the impact when it comes to climate change or 20 percent or 40 percent. I have no idea. I’m looking at it from the perspective if man’s impact in terms of our level of commerce is causing emissions that we can responsibly reduce, let’s work to reduce it.”

Murkowski opposes cap-and-trade legislation proposed by President Obama, but has previously voiced support for a cap and trade plan that she believes would do less damage to the economy.

However, the senator noted that some technologies, such as “clean coal,” continue to advance and reduce emissions without the need for any legislation.

The final word

“There are a lot of folks that want to distill it down to black and white or yes and no, but when we’re talking about things like how do you answer immigration, how do you deal with something like climate change ... there really are no black-and-white answers,” Murkowski said.

“This is tough stuff that our nation is dealing with and we need to all be working hard together to solve the problems.”

Contact staff writer Chris Freiberg at 459-7545.