[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 138 (Tuesday, September 18, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S11649]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO AUGIE HIEBERT

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I have come to the Senate floor today to 
honor one of Alaska's most admired pioneers and a dear friend of mine 
and my whole family.
  Alaskans will remember Augie Hiebert for his many achievements in the 
field of broadcasting and for opening the doors to modern 
communications for all Alaskans. In a State with few roads, where 
hundreds of miles of wilderness often separate towns and villages, 
Alaskans rely upon airwaves to connect them with people and events 
across our State, across the country, and around the globe. Augie was 
one of the first to bring the benefits of broadcast technology to our 
last frontier.
  At an early age, Augie developed a fascination for electronics and 
radio which would lead him to a career in broadcasting. While growing 
up on an orchard in Washington State during the Great Depression, Augie 
built his own first radio. He earned his ham radio license at the age 
of 15. He was just 22 years old when he came to Fairbanks in 1939 to 
help a friend build KFAR Radio.
  On the morning of December 7, 1941, Augie was listening to ham radio 
broadcasts at KFAR's transmitter when he heard of the attack on Pearl 
Harbor. He was one of the first in Alaska to hear the shocking news and 
immediately alerted the commander of Ladd Field right there in 
Fairbanks.
  Having witnessed firsthand the impact broadcasting had on the lives 
of those who were living in Alaskan territory, Augie set out to bring 
the technology of television to what we call our great land. In 1953, 
Augie built Alaska's first television station, KTVA, bringing news, 
weather, sports, and entertainment to the people of Anchorage. Two 
years later, he broadcast the first television shows to Fairbanks when 
he built KTVF. Augie's TV stations brought history's defining events 
from around the globe into Alaska's living rooms. In 1969, Augie gave 
us the first live satellite broadcasts, and Alaskans from Fairbanks to 
Anchorage watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon.
  As Alaska's broadcast industry grew, so did Augie's family. He and 
his wife Pat raised four daughters.
  During his long career in broadcasting, Augie served Alaska in many 
ways. He was the founder and president of the Alaska Broadcasters 
Association. When I was practicing law, I helped him form that 
association. Every year, Augie brought a group of Alaskan broadcasters 
to Washington for Alaska Day at the Federal Communications Commission, 
where he gave them a rare opportunity to speak on a one-to-one basis 
with commissioners about the unique challenges facing broadcasters in 
Alaska. But Augie's efforts to educate the FCC about Alaskan 
broadcasting didn't end there. He invited them, and the entire FCC at 
one time traveled to Alaska at his request.
  In the early 1980s, Augie led the fight to preserve AM broadcast 
coverage in Alaska, which resulted in the creation of the class of the 
1-N FCC category, a category just for our State of Alaska. Over the 
years, Augie introduced countless Alaskans to broadcasting and gave 
many their start in the industry. Though he officially retired in 1997, 
Augie remained committed to the future of broadcasting in Alaska, and 
until the day of his death, he was talking to me about the problem of 
white spaces in the current debate over new digital broadcasting.
  He became a mentor to the students at Mirror Lake Middle School in 
Chugiak, AK, where he shared his enthusiasm for broadcasting and he 
helped students produce news programs for the school's closed-circuit 
television system, and they did that every morning before school 
started. He showed them how to prepare a morning show for their school. 
Augie brought leading professionals in the field of broadcasting to 
Mirror Lake to share their experiences and knowledge with these 
students. Today, the school operates a low-powered FM radio station 
which Augie helped build and license. It is the only class D low-
powered radio license in the country issued to a school.
  Rather than all of the firsts he achieved during his long career, 
Alaskans will remember Augie most as the man who made the Nation's 
largest State a little bit smaller. His efforts brought us closer to 
one another and closer to the rest of the world. Our thoughts and 
prayers are with Augie's daughters, their families, and all who loved 
him.
  This man was a great American, a great Alaskan, and my great friend.

                          ____________________