[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 106 (Friday, July 31, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9541-S9542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HEALTH CARE DELIVERY IN ALASKA

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, this is a picture of a gentleman, 
Walter Samuelson. Walter Samuelson was 60 years old when he died 
February 1, 1992, as a consequence of a heart attack from complications 
he suffered in February of that year. Because of the weather in King 
Cove, AK, Samuelson waited 3 days after his heart attack before he 
could be removed out of King Cove to a hospital in Anchorage. By that 
time, his heart had been so severely damaged he eventually had to have 
a heart transplant. The Samuelson family believes that had Walter been 
able to get out of the village of King Cove a little earlier, he would 
not have had the major complications that led to his heart transplant.
  Mr. Samuelson was born and raised in King Cove, AK. He served in the 
military in the Korean war. He was a fisherman all his life, fishing 
with his father and brothers while growing up. And after serving in the 
military, he moved to Sitka and married. He and his wife, Freda, had 
four boys. During the summer, he would fly his plane 1,000 miles back 
to King Cove where his boat was and where he could continue his 
livelihood, fishing for salmon. He later moved back to King Cove to 
live and later remarried. He and his second wife, Tanna, had two more 
children.
  Mr. Samuelson was a dedicated patron of the school in King Cove and 
devoted much of his time and effort there, so much so that he was 
honored in the dedication of the school's yearbook to him as ``a great 
friend of King Cove schools,'' an honor which he certainly cherished.
  He is survived by his wife Tanna and children: Carl, Walter, Jr., 
Charles, John, Axel, and Tanna. His surviving brothers and sisters are: 
Anna Poe, Marion Walker, Thelma Hutton, Christine Christiansen, and 
Alex, Eugene, John, Frank, and Eric Samuelson.
  Mr. Samuelson required a heart transplant and died because there is 
no road between King Cove and Cold Bay.
  We wonder how many more people have to die before we do something 
about it. Eleven residents have perished in aircraft accidents being 
medevaced out of King Cove a short distance to Cold Bay, where there is 
a year-round crosswind runway, as opposed to the gravel strip in the 
village of King Cove, where sometimes the windsock is blowing at 
opposite ends of the runway in opposite directions because of the 
severe turbulence in what is classified as one of the three worst 
weather areas identified in the world.

  The point is the people of King Cove have an alternative, and that is 
a short, 7-mile road connection which would necessitate a gravel road 
of 7 miles on the edge of a wilderness area. The people of King Cove 
are willing to

[[Page S9542]]

give approximately 700 acres of their land to enlarge the wilderness 
for access through 7 miles of wilderness. This is being objected to by 
the Department of Interior and by many of the environmental community.
  I hope, as we return from our recess, we can reflect on the human 
merits, so we do not have to address additional obituaries of people 
who died because of their inability to get medical care and have simple 
access that every American enjoys with the exception of people in the 
village of King Cove, AK.
  Mr. President, let me take this opportunity to wish you a very 
pleasant recess, and the other officials who are here in the Senate 
Chamber.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The 
Senator from Alaska is recognized.

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