Findings

Congress finds that— (1)Theodore Ted Fulton Stevens, who began serving in the Senate 9 years after Alaska was admitted to Statehood, represented the people of the State of Alaska with distinction in the Senate for over 40 years from 1968 to 2009 and played a significant role in the transformation of the State of Alaska from an impoverished territory to a full-fledged State through the assistance he provided in building energy facilities, hospitals and clinics, roads, docks, airports, water and sewer facilities, schools, and other community facilities in the State of Alaska, which earned him recognition as Alaskan of the Century from the Alaska Legislature in 2000; (2)Ted Stevens distinguished himself as a transport pilot during World War II in support of the Flying Tigers of the United States Army Air Corps, 14th Air Force, earning 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses and other decorations for his skill and bravery; (3)Ted Stevens, after serving as a United States Attorney in the territory of Alaska, came to Washington, District of Columbia in 1956 to serve in the Eisenhower Administration in the Department of the Interior, where he was a leading force in securing the legislation that led to the admission of Alaska as the 49th State on January 3, 1959, and then as Solicitor of the Department of the Interior; (4)in 1961, Ted Stevens returned to the State of Alaska and, in 1964, was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives, where he was subsequently elected as Speaker pro tempore and majority leader until his appointment on December 24, 1968, to the Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator E.L. Bartlett; (5)Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican Senator in the history of the Senate, served as President pro tempore of the Senate from 2003 through 2007 and as President pro tempore emeritus from 2008 to 2009, and over the course of his career in the Senate, Ted Stevens served as assistant Republican leader, Chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics, Chairman of the Committee on Rules and Administration, Chairman of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, and Chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; (6)Ted Stevens worked tirelessly for the enactment of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), which provided for the conveyance of approximately 44,000,000 acres of land in the State of Alaska to the Aleut, Eskimo, and Indian peoples and created Native Corporations to secure the long-term economic, cultural, and political empowerment of the Native peoples of the State of Alaska; (7)Ted Stevens was a leader in shaping the communications policies of the United States, as he helped to establish the spectrum auction policy, negotiated the Telecommunications Act of 1996, authored the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 (47 U.S.C. 309 note; Public Law 109–171), and passionately advocated for the connection of rural America to the rest of the world and to improve the lives of the people of the United States through the use of telemedicine and distance learning; (8)Ted Stevens was a conservationist who championed the safe development of the natural resources of the United States, as illustrated by his authorship of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act (43 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.), the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), which established the 200-mile exclusive economic zone and led to a reduction in the dominance of foreign fishing fleets in the fisheries of the United States, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–479; 120 Stat. 3575), which established conservation measures designed to end overfishing, and the High Seas Driftnet Fisheries Enforcement Act (16 U.S.C. 1826a et seq.), which provided for the denial of entry into ports of the United States and the imposition of sanctions on vessels carrying out large-scale driftnet fishing beyond the exclusive economic zone of any nation; (9)Ted Stevens was committed to health and fitness in his personal life and in his legislative accomplishments, as illustrated by his authorship of the Ted Stevens Amateur and Olympic Sports Act (36 U.S.C. 220501 et seq.), his encouragement of providing equality to female athletes through the enactment of title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), and his leadership in improving physical education programs in schools through the Carol M. White Physical Education Program (20 U.S.C. 7261 et seq.); (10)Ted Stevens unconditionally supported the needs of the Armed Forces of the United States through visits to soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and Coast Guardsmen in every major military conflict and war zone where United States military personnel have been assigned during his service in the Senate, including Vietnam, Kuwait, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and in his role as Chairman and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations for more than 20 years; (11)Ted Stevens was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather who worked to promote family-friendly policies in the Federal government; (12)Ted Stevens was well-respected for reaching across the aisle to forge bipartisan alliances and enjoyed many close friendships with colleagues in both political parties and with his staff, who were deeply loyal to him; and (13)the designation of the unnamed highest peak in the State of Alaska, along with an icefield in the Chugach National Forest in that State, in honor of Ted Stevens would be a fitting tribute to his honorable life and legacy.