[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 73 (Tuesday, June 9, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5781-S5782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES FOR KING COVE, ALASKA

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I lend my strong support to Senator 
Murkowski and Congressman Young in their efforts to provide better 
access to emergency medical services for the people of King Cove, 
Alaska. Senator Murkowski's bill, S. 1092, and its companion bill in 
the House will put an end to the recent string of deaths resulting from 
emergency medical evacuation efforts out of King Cove.
  King Cove is one of the most prolific fishing communities in the 
nation and has the largest fish processing operation in Alaska. It sits 
at the tip of the Alaska Peninsula, 600 miles southwest of Anchorage in 
the North Pacific Ocean.
  King Cove is served by a small dirt runway. The runway has no lights 
and no instrument capability, and has no personnel manning it. It sits 
in a valley between two large mountains. The weather and the 
surrounding terrain create winds that are described as ``venturi 
effects''--under these conditions the wind can blow in opposite 
directions at opposite ends of the runway. The winds aloft over the 
runway create wind shears that have flipped planes and thrown them into 
mountains. King Cove's airstrip is closed roughly one out of every 
three days, often for many days at a time.
  Cold Bay also lies on the tip of the Alaska Peninsula. It is a 
community built entirely around the third largest nonmilitary runway in 
the state. Cold Bay is a ten minute plane ride from King Cove, just on 
the other side of a wildlife refuge. The main runway at Cold Bay is 
over ten thousand feet long. The crosswind runway is over five thousand 
feet long. Both are paved. Cold Bay's airport has runway lights and 
supports full instrument approaches. It is a designated landing site 
for the space shuttle, and is closed an average of two days a year.
  The people of King Cove need emergency access to Cold Bay when the 
weather turns bad. Ferry service is not a viable option. The same wind 
that shuts down King Cove's runway can drive forty foot seas on Cold 
Bay. Recently, state officials looking into King Cove ferry service saw 
a one hundred twenty foot fishing boat fail to make it into the harbor 
because the seas were too rough.
  The people of King Cove want to build a single lane gravel road to 
Cold Bay, but they need an easement through seven miles of federal land 
to do it. Many people who have never been to Alaska don't want to see 
this road built. They cite the cost of the road, the precedent of 
granting a right of way, and the availability of other options. What 
they don't cite is the eleven people who have died in recent years 
trying to fly out of King Cove.

[[Page S5782]]

  Senator Murkowski's bill does not authorize a single dollar of 
federal funds to build this road. It merely provides a land exchange in 
which the refuge gains five hundred acres of wilderness area.
  The bill does not establish any precedent with respect to land use in 
wildlife refuges. There are currently 42 miles of road in this refuge, 
about a third of which are in wilderness areas. The Fish and Wildlife 
Service already encourages people to use these roads for bird-watching. 
Congress frequently allows a number of uses in wilderness areas. Just 
last Congress we allowed the use of all-terrain vehicles in the 
Anaktuvuk Pass land exchange.
  Some people say that telemedicine is the answer to King Cove's 
emergency medical needs. I am a strong supporter of telemedicine, but I 
know that it is a diagnostic tool. Once a diagnosis is made, patients 
still need to get to a hospital. Telemedicine cannot reattach limbs or 
provide prenatal care.
  Alaska is used to being micromangaged by Washington, but we will not 
sit by and listen to specious arguments made to raise funds for extreme 
environmental groups. We have a simple bill to fix a simple problem, 
and if we don't do it more people will die.
  The people of King Cove deserve reasonable access to medical 
facilities. They have made a generous land exchange offer in return for 
the right of way. I strongly support Senator Murkowski's efforts and 
urge my colleagues to support him as well when the bill comes to the 
floor. I ask that I be added as a cosponsor to the King Cove Health and 
Safety Act.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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