[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 11 (Monday, January 28, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. MURKOWSKI:
  S. 155. A bill to designate a mountain in the State of Alaska as 
Denali; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
that would officially rename Mount McKinley in Alaska, simply, Denali.
  Mount McKinley is one of the most iconic geographical features in the 
country, and certainly Alaska. It is the tallest mountain in the United 
States, and we Alaskans are not all that shy about reminding folks the 
mountain is ours.
  Here is the problem: In Alaska, Mount McKinley is referred to as 
something else. We just call it ``Denali.'' That is what we have always 
called it. Denali is an Alaska Native word, an Athabaskan word, and its 
meaning is fairly straightforward. The High One. All my bill does is 
make the name official. I know the name Mount McKinley has a special 
meaning of its own to some folks, specifically the good people of Ohio, 
the home State of our 25th President, William McKinley. My response to 
those people is this: You are more than welcome to go right on 
referring to the mountain as Mount McKinley, just as Alaskans have long 
called it Denali. All that is changing is that the Alaskan name is 
becoming, technically, correct for an Alaskan landmark.
  In the big picture, this is a little bill. I understand that. But I 
also understand, as I know my colleagues do, that it is the little 
things that sometimes matter a great deal to communities. Making 
Denali, the name all Alaskans use anyway, the official name of 
America's tallest mountain means something to Alaska. Officially being 
able to call an Alaskan landmark by its Alaskan name means something to 
Alaskans.
                                 ______