[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 167 (Thursday, November 3, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S7124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                      TRIBUTE TO STEVEN C. BORELL

 Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, today I bid farewell to Steven 
C. Borell, the executive director of the Alaska Miners Association, who 
has decided to retire after 22 years at the helm of Alaska's foremost 
mining advocacy agency.
  While I am sure the State's mining industry will be in great hands 
when Mr. Fred Parady takes over as the new executive director in 
January, still it is very hard for me to imagine a minerals industry in 
the State of Alaska without Steve championing not only its regulatory 
survival but its future growth.
  For far longer than I have been in public service, Steve has been the 
steady, knowledgeable voice on all issues surrounding mineral 
development in Alaska. His depth of knowledge of land laws and 
regulatory/permitting issues is legendary. He has had the trust of 
regulators and politicians and has done a sensational job of 
representing the interests of the minerals industry, fighting for 
reasonable terms and commonsense regulation of the industry--an 
increasingly difficult task given recent regulatory proposals out of 
Washington.
  Alaskans are extremely lucky that Steve, an industrial engineer by 
training, came to Alaska in spring 1988 to run Valdez Creek mineral 
operations at Cantwell and then stayed on to cheerlead the rebirth of 
the State's minerals industry. Steve, who graduated from Kansas State 
University in 1968, had previously worked first as a foreman at a mine 
in Velva, ND, advancing to be the mine's superintendent in 1976. He 
later worked at mines in Colorado and in Colombia in South America 
before working at the Consolidated Coal Company and for the Arch 
Mineral Corporation in Illinois before coming to Alaska. While in 
Alaska, he also served as a consulting engineer on several mineral 
projects.
  In 1989, the State, after the death of efforts to open the U.S. Borax 
molybdenum claims at Misty Fjords outside of Ketchikan, had only two 
major operating hard-rock mines, the Red Dog and Greens Creek Mines, 
and the Usibelli coal mine that together produced $277 million in 
minerals. Since Steve assumed the helm of the industry's main advocacy 
arm, Fort Knox, Pogo, and the Kensington mines have all come on line, 
exploration spending has quadrupled, and the value of the minerals 
industry has risen more than tenfold, topping $3 billion, and many more 
projects are on the way. While higher ore prices certainly have helped, 
Steve's hardwork, perseverance, and dedication to helping the industry 
overcome regulatory barriers is a key reason for the increase.
  I know how hard he has worked to keep track of and to help bring some 
common sense to the mind-boggling permitting and regulatory processes 
that have dogged the minerals industry in recent years. His 
determination and attention to detail have helped numerous Alaska 
projects advance. He has always been a strong advocate for Alaska's 
hundreds of small-scale placer and recreational miners and for large-
scale mineral developers. He has helped both equally, giving freely of 
his time and talent to promote Alaskan development for the good of the 
State and all its citizens.
  I could sing his praises on this floor for hours. My staff and I will 
miss him greatly, and I am sure all of the industry will too. But 
promoting mineral development, fighting the forces that want to 
overregulate and lock up Alaska lands, has become not just a full-time 
job, but now requires an all-consuming passion given the 
administration's wild land edicts, more than 2,000 Federal regulatory 
proposals, and an endless stream of environmental suits and attacks. No 
one has earned a rest more than Steven C. Borell.
  I can only wish him well in the future and again thank him for all 
that he has done for Alaska and our citizens. The State is a far better 
place for all of his many efforts. We all owe him our true thanks and 
gratitude for a job very well done, and we will all miss his sage 
advice and wisdom.

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