WASHINGTON — An all-women delegation of eight U.S. senators departed for the Arctic on May 22, a bipartisan mission designed to reassure allies in northern Europe and North America after months of strained relations under President Donald Trump’s administration. The group, led by Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, includes not only the senators but also their staff and military liaison officers, all women. Murkowski said the composition was intentional, aimed partly at giving the lawmakers a firsthand experience of the region’s strategic and environmental importance.
“I want them to experience, first of all, the awesomeness of the Arctic,” Murkowski told the Associated Press before the departure.
The other senators on the trip are Republican Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, and Katie Britt of Alabama, along with Democratic Sens. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.
The weeklong tour will take them to Norway, Greenland, Iceland, and the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. In Svalbard, the delegation will observe the challenges militaries face in the extreme environment and will require armed escorts to guard against polar bears, according to the trip’s organizers.
The mission comes at a moment of heightened unease among traditional U.S. partners. The Pentagon announced this week that it would pause U.S. participation in the Permanent Joint Board on Defense with Canada, a body that has coordinated continental defense since World War II.