ANCHORAGE, AK – Just hours after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck near Unalaska—triggering tsunami alerts and causing families to seek shelter—Senator Dan Sullivan voted to defund the public radio station that helped keep them safe.

As KUCB broadcast critical alerts and updates to Alaskans throughout the emergency, Sullivan was in D.C. voting against the very funding that makes that service possible. 

See for yourself:

Alaska Public Media: U.S. Senate votes to defund CPB, rejecting Murkowski’s effort to spare station money

• The U.S. Senate has passed a bill to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and cut billions from foreign aid programs.

• Before the bill passed, Senator Lisa Murkowski […] read her colleagues a text she’d received from the general manager of KUCB in Unalaska after Wednesday’s 7.3 magnitude earthquake. When the tsunami sirens sounded in Unalaska, the loudspeakers directed people to tune into the local radio station, the text said, and Murkowski relayed that KUCB kept the community updated on air and social media until the all-clear.

• “They say, ‘This is the work that we do to keep Unalaska safe,’ And it’s only possible with federal funding,” Murkowski said, as the debate stretched into the wee hours of Thursday. 

• Sen. Dan Sullivan voted against the public media amendment and helped Republican leaders pass the $9 billion rescission package, which is a high priority for President Donald Trump.