[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 6 (Tuesday, February 1, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S186-S187]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       ALASKA AIRLINES FLIGHT 261

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I am here because I am deeply saddened to 
report to the Senate a very serious loss, as far as the country is 
concerned and a real sad loss for myself personally. I was saddened 
last night when my wife and I received a call about the loss of Alaska 
Airlines Flight 261 on a flight from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to San 
Francisco.
  Eighty-eight people were on board that plane, many of them apparently 
employees or relatives or friends of employees of that airline. While 
the search continues, we have been told now that no survivors have been 
found. My thoughts and prayers and I hope all of our thoughts and 
prayers are with the families of these people who have perished.
  Among those on the plane were at least five Alaskans. We think there 
were more. One was one of my very close and dear friends, Morris 
Thompson--we called him Morrie--his wife Thelma and their daughter 
Cheryl.
  Morrie Thompson has been a respected leader of the Native community 
of our State and a businessman. Just last fall, he retired as the chief 
executive officer of Doyon Limited, which is one of 12 regional 
corporations for our Alaska Native people. Because of Senate business, 
I was unable to attend that retirement dinner in Fairbanks, but my 
granddaughter Sara went as my representative.
  Morrie had a tremendous background. He was not only a great leader 
for the Native people of Alaska, but he was a leader in his own right 
nationally. He was a member of the University of Alaska's Board of 
Regents. He served as president of the Alaska Federation of Natives. 
During the Nixon administration, he was the Commissioner of the Bureau 
of Indian Affairs for our Nation in Washington, DC, and a special 
assistant to the Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs in the 
Department of the Interior. He was president of the Fairbanks Chamber 
of Commerce and in 1997 was named Business Leader of the Year by the 
University of Alaska.

  He is going to be remembered for his work on the Alaska Native Claims 
Settlement Act, landmark legislation in 1971, which was a tremendous 
economic boost for our Native people. His greatest legacy will be among 
the young people of our State who have benefited from Morris Thompson's 
fellowship program and the Doyon Foundation, which he created to 
subsidize tuition for Native students in Alaska.
  My heart goes out to the Thompsons' surviving daughters, Nicole and 
Allison, and to all the members of their family. Morrie has not just 
been a political friend or a business friend. We have joined one 
another in each other's homes for dinner and raised our children 
together in a way.

[[Page S187]]

  There are many families, I am sure, mourning over this terrible 
tragedy. Also on that plane was the son of a former State legislator, 
Margaret Branson. Her son Malcolm and his fiancee Janice Stokes, both 
of Ketchikan, were returning from a vacation in Mexico.
  I have this report for the Senate. I have been in touch with Jim Hall 
of the National Transportation Safety Board and the Secretary of 
Transportation, Secretary Slater. It is my intention to go to 
California on Thursday to meet with NTSB officials in Oxnard and the 
Coast Guard officials in Port Hueneme, CA, concerning the crash.
  I say to the Senate that Alaska Airlines has an exemplary safety 
record. In my State, their pilots and planes fly in the most 
challenging terrain and weather of our whole Nation, if not the world. 
This is a great tragedy for that small airline and for our State.
  My thoughts are with those people who are involved in trying to make 
certain the airline continues and their personal families of that 
airline who are affected by this tragedy are cared for as well as the 
relatives of people who have lost their lives.
  I thank my colleagues very much for their courtesy in allowing me to 
make this report to the Senate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous agreement, the Senator from 
New York is recognized.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Alaska for his 
remarks and say to him that--and I am sure I speak for all the people 
of my State--we share the grief of the families who have lost loved 
ones and all those who have been affected by this terrible tragedy. To 
hear of an outstanding citizen and his wife and daughter losing their 
lives on that flight reminds us all that there but for the grace of God 
go each of us.

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