II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4736 

To enhance United States standing as an Arctic nation by facilitating greater 

maritime accessibility, strong trading partners, and reliable infrastructure. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2022 

Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. KING) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To enhance United States standing as an Arctic nation by 

facilitating greater maritime accessibility, strong trading 

partners, and reliable infrastructure. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Arctic Commitment Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Defined term. 

Sec. 3. Arctic Shipping Federal Advisory Committee. 

Sec. 4. Arctic Executive Steering Committee. 


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Sec. 5. Implementation of Arctic strategy at Port of Nome. 

Sec. 6. Report on establishing persistent presence of Navy or Coast Guard in 

the United States Arctic. 

Sec. 7. Report on eliminating the Russian monopoly on Arctic shipping. 

Sec. 8. Expanding investment by the United States International Development 

Finance Corporation in Arctic countries. 

Sec. 9. Partnership with Iceland. 

Sec. 10. Amendment to Deepwater Port Act of 1974. 

Sec. 11. Amendments to the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984. 

Sec. 12. Crosscut report on Arctic research programs. 

Sec. 13. Pribilof Island transition completion actions. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINED TERM. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate committees of 

3 Congress’’ means— 

4 (1) the Committee on Armed Services of the 

5 Senate; 

6 (2) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

7 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

8 (3) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

9 Senate; 

10 (4) the Committee on Energy and Natural Re11 sources of the Senate; 

12 (5) the Committee on Armed Services of the 

13 House of Representatives; 

14 (6) the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

15 House of Representatives; 

16 (7) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

17 House of Representatives; and 

18 (8) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

19 the House of Representatives. 


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1 SEC. 3. ARCTIC SHIPPING FEDERAL ADVISORY COM2 MITTEE. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

5 Transportation shall establish the Arctic Shipping Federal 

6 Advisory Committee, as required in section 8426 of the 

7 Elijah E. Cummings Coast Guard Authorization Act of 

8 2020 (division G of Public Law 116–283). 

9 (b) FUNDING.—The Secretary of Transportation 

10 shall make available to the Arctic Shipping Advisory Com11 mittee, from amounts appropriated to the Office of the 

12 Secretary of Transportation, such funds as may be nec13 essary for the operation and sustainment of the Com14 mittee. 

15 SEC. 4. ARCTIC EXECUTIVE STEERING COMMITTEE. 

16 The Arctic Executive Steering Committee, which was 

17 originally established by Executive Order 13689 (80 Fed. 

18 Reg. 4191; relating to enhancing coordination of national 

19 efforts in the Arctic), is reauthorized for the 10-year pe20 riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

21 SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTATION OF ARCTIC STRATEGY AT PORT 

22 OF NOME. 

23 The Secretary of the Navy, in consultation with the 

24 Commandant of the Coast Guard, shall engage in a con25 sultation with the Chief of Engineers of the Army Corps 

26 of Engineers to ensure that the Port of Nome is usable 


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1 for the implementation of the National Strategy for the 

2 Arctic Region and the Arctic strategy of the Department 

3 of the Navy, as described in the strategic blueprint for 

4 the Arctic of the Department of the Navy entitled ‘‘A Blue 

5 Arctic’’. 

6 SEC. 6. REPORT ON ESTABLISHING PERSISTENT PRESENCE 

7 OF NAVY OR COAST GUARD IN THE UNITED 

8 STATES ARCTIC. 

9 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact10 ment of this Act, the Commandant of the Coast Guard 

11 and the Secretary of the Navy shall jointly submit a report 

12 to the appropriate committees of Congress that— 

13 (1) describes the requirements necessary to es14 tablish, and the feasibility of establishing, a per15 sistent, year-round presence of the Navy and the 

16 Coast Guard in the Arctic region at— 

17 (A) the Port of Nome; 

18 (B) the natural deepwater port of Un19 alaska; 

20 (C) the former Coast Guard Station at 

21 Port Clarence; 

22 (D) Point Spencer (as defined in section 

23 532 of the Pribilof Island Transition Comple24 tion Act of 2015 (subtitle B of title V of Public 

25 Law 114–120)); 


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1 (E) the port on Saint George Island in the 

2 Bering Sea; 

3 (F) the Port of Adak; 

4 (G) Cape Blossom; 

5 (H) ports in the Northeastern United 

6 States, including Eastport, Searsport, and Port7 land, Maine; and 

8 (I) any other deepwater port that the Com9 mandant determines would facilitate such a 

10 presence in the places described in subpara11 graphs (A) through (H); and 

12 (2) provides an estimate of the costs of imple13 menting the requirements described in paragraph 

14 (1), after taking into account the costs of con15 structing the onshore infrastructure that will be re16 quired to support year-round maritime operations in 

17 the vicinity of the Bering Sea and the Arctic region. 

18 SEC. 7. REPORT ON ELIMINATING THE RUSSIAN MONOP19 OLY ON ARCTIC SHIPPING. 

20 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, the Committee on the Maritime Trans22 portation System, in coordination with the Arctic Shipping 

23 Federal Advisory Committee, shall submit a report to the 

24 appropriate committees of Congress that— 


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1 (1) describes the control and influence of the 

2 Russian Federation on shipping in the Arctic region; 

3 (2) analyzes the effect of such control and in4 fluence on ongoing efforts to increase the presence, 

5 capacity, and volume of United States shipping in 

6 the Arctic region; and 

7 (3) includes a plan for eliminating the Russian 

8 monopoly on shipping in the Arctic region to enable 

9 an increase United States presence in the Arctic 

10 shipping domain. 

11 SEC. 8. EXPANDING INVESTMENT BY THE UNITED STATES 

12 INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FINANCE 

13 CORPORATION IN ARCTIC COUNTRIES. 

14 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT16 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com17 mittees’’ means— 

18 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

19 the Senate; 

20 (B) the Committee on Armed Services of 

21 the Senate; 

22 (C) the Select Committee on Intelligence of 

23 the Senate; 

24 (D) the Committee on Energy and Natural 

25 Resources of the Senate; 


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1 (E) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

2 the House of Representatives; 

3 (F) the Committee on Armed Services of 

4 the House of Representatives; 

5 (G) the Permanent Select Committee on 

6 Intelligence of the House of Representatives; 

7 and 

8 (H) the Committee on Energy and Com9 merce of the House of Representatives. 

10 (2) ARCTIC COUNTRIES.—The term ‘‘Arctic 

11 countries’’— 

12 (A) means the United States, Canada, 

13 Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Fin14 land, which are permanent members of the Arc15 tic Council; and 

16 (B) does not include the Russian Federa17 tion. 

18 (3) ARCTIC INDIGENOUS ORGANIZATIONS.—The 

19 term ‘‘Arctic indigenous organizations’’— 

20 (A) means the Aleut International Associa21 tion, the Arctic Athabaskan Council, the 

22 Gwich’in International Council, the Inuit Cir23 cumpolar Council, and the Saami Council; and 

24 (B) does not include the Russian Associa25 tion of Indigenous Peoples of the North. 


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1 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con2 gress that— 

3 (1) Arctic countries are important partners of 

4 the United States; and 

5 (2) the United States International Develop6 ment Finance Corporation should make investments 

7 in Arctic countries to facilitate technologies that— 

8 (A) strengthen energy security and reli9 ability; and 

10 (B) provide durable, sustainable opportuni11 ties for indigenous entities. 

12 (c) AUTHORIZATION.—The United States Inter13 national Development Finance Corporation is authorized 

14 to provide financing to entities in Arctic countries, includ15 ing Arctic indigenous organizations, for projects that— 

16 (1) involve the responsible extraction, proc17 essing, development, and recycling of critical min18 erals (as defined in section 7002(a) of the Energy 

19 Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a))); or 

20 (2) the Chief Executive Officer of the United 

21 States International Development Finance Corpora22 tion, in coordination with the Secretary of State, de23 termine to be in the strategic interest of the United 

24 States. 

25 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

3 Chief Executive Officer of the United States Inter4 national Development Finance Corporation, in co5 ordination with the Secretary of State, shall submit 

6 a report to the appropriate congressional committees 

7 that— 

8 (A) identifies the countries in which fi9 nancing by the United States International De10 velopment Finance Corporation could be most 

11 impactful for responsibly producing critical min12 erals needed for energy security; 

13 (B) explains the interests of the United 

14 States and of partner countries that are served 

15 when the United States provides support for 

16 such projects; 

17 (C) describes any support provided by 

18 other United States allies and partners to ex19 pand the projects described in subsection (c); 

20 and 

21 (D) describes any support provided by the 

22 People’s Republic of China in support of the 

23 projects described in subsection (c). 

24 (2) FORM OF REPORT.—The report required 

25 under paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassiVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:24 Aug 08, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4736.IS S4736

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1 fied form, but may include a classified annex, if nec2 essary. 

3 SEC. 9. PARTNERSHIP WITH ICELAND. 

4 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING A FREE

5 TRADE AGREEMENT WITH ICELAND.—It is the sense of 

6 Congress that the United States should enter into negotia7 tions with the Government of Iceland to develop and enter 

8 into a comprehensive free trade agreement between the 

9 United States and Iceland. 

10 (b) NONIMMIGRANT TRADERS AND INVESTORS.—For 

11 purposes of clauses (i) and (ii) of section 101(a)(15)(E) 

12 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

13 1101(a)(15)(E)), Iceland shall be considered to be a for14 eign State under such section if the Government of Iceland 

15 offers similar nonimmigrant status to nationals of the 

16 United States. 

17 SEC. 10. AMENDMENTS TO DEEPWATER PORT ACT OF 1974. 

18 The Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (33 U.S.C. 1501 

19 et seq.) is amended— 

20 (1) in section 4 (33 U.S.C. 1503)— 

21 (A) in subsection (c)(9), by inserting ‘‘(ex22 cluding any State that developed a coastal zone 

23 management program pursuant to section 305 

24 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 

25 (16 U.S.C. 1454) that was approved by the 


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1 Secretary pursuant to section 306 of such Act 

2 (16 U.S.C. 1455) and withdrew such plan be3 fore January 1, 2012)’’ after ‘‘connected by 

4 pipeline’’; and 

5 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(j) EXPORT LICENSE FOR ALL FORMS OF HYDRO7 GEN.—The Secretary may issue a license in accordance 

8 with the provisions of this Act for the export of hydrogen 

9 in all of its forms, including as liquefied natural gas, hy10 drogen, and ammonia.’’; and 

11 (2) in section 9(c), (33 U.S.C. 1508(c)), by in12 serting ‘‘(excluding any State that developed a coast13 al zone management program pursuant to section 

14 305 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 

15 (16 U.S.C. 1454) that was approved by the Sec16 retary pursuant to section 306 of such Act (16 

17 U.S.C. 1455) and withdrew such plan before Janu18 ary 1, 2012)’’ after ‘‘connected by pipeline’’. 

19 SEC. 11. AMENDMENTS TO THE ARCTIC RESEARCH AND 

20 POLICY ACT OF 1984. 

21 (a) FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.—Section 102(a) of 

22 the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 

23 4101(a)) is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and home25 land’’ after ‘‘national’’; 


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1 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through 

2 (17) as paragraphs (6) through (18), respectively; 

3 (3) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(4) Changing Arctic conditions directly affect 

6 global weather and climate patterns and must be 

7 better understood— 

8 ‘‘(A) to promote better agricultural man9 agement throughout the United States; and 

10 ‘‘(B) to address the myriad of impacts, 

11 challenges, and opportunities brought about by 

12 such change. 

13 ‘‘(5) Since a rapidly changing climate will re14 shape the economic, social, cultural, political, envi15 ronmental, and security landscape of the Arctic re16 gion, sustained, robust, coordinated, reliable, appro17 priately funded, and dependable Arctic research is 

18 required to inform and influence sound United 

19 States domestic and international Arctic policy.’’; 

20 and 

21 (4) in paragraph (6), as redesignated, by insert22 ing ‘‘and climate’’ after ‘‘weather’’. 

23 (b) ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMISSION.—Section 103 of 

24 the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 

25 4102) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (b)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (1)(B)— 

3 (i) by striking ‘‘who are’’ and insert4 ing ‘‘who is a’’; and 

5 (ii) by striking ‘‘who live in areas’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘who live in an area’’; and 

7 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘chair8 person’’ and inserting ‘‘Chair’’; and 

9 (2) in subsection (d)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

11 (i) by inserting ‘‘or her’’ after ‘‘his’’; 

12 and 

13 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, or in the case of 

14 the Chair, not to exceed 120 days of serv15 ice each year’’; and 

16 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Chair17 man’’ and inserting ‘‘Chair’’. 

18 (c) ADMINISTRATION OF THE COMMISSION.—Section 

19 106(4) of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (15 

20 U.S.C. 4105(4)) is amended— 

21 (1) by inserting ‘‘, and other Federal Govern22 ment entities, as appropriate,’’ after ‘‘with the Gen23 eral Services Administration’’; and 


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1 (2) by inserting ‘‘, or the heads of other Fed2 eral Government entities, as appropriate,’’ before the 

3 semicolon. 

4 (d) INTERAGENCY ARCTIC RESEARCH POLICY COM5 MITTEE.—Section 107(b)(2) of the Arctic Research and 

6 Policy Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4106(b)(2)) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (L) as sub8 paragraph (P); 

9 (2) in subparagraph (K), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

10 the end; and 

11 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (K) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(L) the Department of Agriculture; 

14 ‘‘(M) the Marine Mammal Commission; 

15 ‘‘(N) the Smithsonian Institution; 

16 ‘‘(O) the Denali Commission; and’’. 

17 (e) 5-YEAR ARCTIC RESEARCH PLAN.—Section 

18 109(a) of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (15 

19 U.S.C. 4108(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘The Plan’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘Notwithstanding section 3003 of the Federal 

21 Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995 (Public Law 

22 104–66), the Plan’’. 


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1 SEC. 12. CROSSCUT REPORT ON ARCTIC RESEARCH PRO2 GRAMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

5 the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

6 shall submit a detailed report to Congress regarding all 

7 existing Federal programs relating to Arctic research, in8 cluding— 

9 (1) the goals of each such program; 

10 (2) the funding levels for each such program for 

11 each of the 5 immediately preceding fiscal years; 

12 (3) the anticipated funding levels for each such 

13 program for each of the 5 following fiscal years; and 

14 (4) the total funding appropriated for the cur15 rent fiscal year for such programs. 

16 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Not later than 3 days after sub17 mitting the report to Congress pursuant to subsection (a), 

18 the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

19 shall submit a copy of the report to the National Science 

20 Foundation, the United States Arctic Research Commis21 sion, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. 

22 SEC. 13. PRIBILOF ISLAND TRANSITION COMPLETION AC23 TIONS. 

24 (a) EXTENSIONS.—Section 524 of the Pribilof Island 

25 Transition Completion Act of 2015 (subtitle B of title V 

26 of Public Law 114–120) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (b)(5), by striking ‘‘5 years’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘6 years’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (c)(3), by striking ‘‘60 days’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘120 days’’. 

5 (b) QUARTERLY ACTUAL USE AND OCCUPANCY RE6 PORTS.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the en7 actment of this Act, and every 3 months thereafter, the 

8 Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is 

9 operating shall submit a report to the Committee on Com10 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

11 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 

12 House of Representatives that describes— 

13 (1) the degree to which Coast Guard personnel 

14 and equipment are deployed to St. Paul Island, 

15 Alaska, in actual occupancy of the facilities, as re16 quired under section 524 of the Pribilof Island 

17 Transition Completion Act of 2015 (subtitle B of 

18 title V of Public Law 114–120); and 

19 (2) the status of the activities described in sub20 sections (c) and (d) if such activities have not been 

21 completed. 

22 (c) AIRCRAFT HANGER.—The Secretary of the de23 partment in which the Coast Guard is operating may— 

24 (1) enter into a lease for a hangar to house de25 ployed Coast Guard aircraft if such hanger was preVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:24 Aug 08, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4736.IS S4736

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1 viously under lease by the Coast Guard for the pur2 poses of housing such aircraft; 

3 (2) enter into an agreement with the lessor of 

4 the hanger referred to in paragraph (1) in which the 

5 Secretary may carry out repairs necessary to sup6 port the deployment of such aircraft; and 

7 (3) offset the cost such repairs under the terms 

8 of the lease entered into pursuant to paragraph (2). 

9 (d) FUEL TANK.— 

10 (1) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 30 days 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec12 retary of the department in which the Coast Guard 

13 is operating shall determine whether the fuel tank 

14 located on St. Paul Island, Alaska, that is owned by 

15 the Coast Guard is needed for Coast Guard oper16 ations. 

17 (2) TRANSFER.—Subject to paragraph (3), if 

18 the Secretary determines the tank referred to in 

19 paragraph (1) is not needed for Coast Guard oper20 ations, the Secretary, not later than 90 days after 

21 making such determination, shall transfer such tank 

22 to the Alaska Native Village Corporation for St. 

23 Paul Island, Alaska. 

24 (3) FAIR MARKET VALUE EXCEPTION.—The 

25 Secretary may only carry out a transfer described in 


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1 paragraph (2) if the fair market value of such tank 

2 is less than the aggregate value of any lease pay3 ments for the property on which the tank is located 

4 that the Coast Guard would have paid to the Alaska 

5 Native Village Corporation for St. Paul Island, Alas6 ka, had such lease been extended at the same rate. 

7 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec8 tion may be construed to limit any rights of the Alaska 

9 Native Village Corporation for St. Paul Island, Alaska to 

10 receive conveyance of all or part of the lands and improve11 ments related to Tract 43 under the same terms and con12 ditions as prescribed in section 524 of the Pribilof Island 

13 Transition Completion Act of 2015 (subtitle B of title V 

14 of Public Law 114–120). 

Æ 


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