[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 22 (Tuesday, February 12, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S647-S648]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                      ALASKA MARINE HIGHWAY SYSTEM

 Mr. BEGICH. Mr. President, today I wish to honor the 50th 
anniversary of the Alaska Marine Highway System. Alaskans celebrate 
this critical and necessary water transportation system

[[Page S648]]

which links rural and urban hub communities along the coast of our vast 
State. Unlike the lower 48, many of our communities are not accessible 
by road, so in many areas the primary means of travel is by air or sea. 
Therefore, the Alaska Marine Highway makes up a large part of our 
highway system and is a route so special it has been designated a 
National Scenic Byway and an All American Road, the only marine route 
in the United States with this designation.
  My family and I share special memories of taking the ferries to many 
communities throughout Alaska. The Marine Highway was even part of our 
trip here to Washington for my first year in the Senate. A ferry ride 
brings Alaskans together while on their way to visit family, play in 
basketball tournaments, or bring new cars and boats home from the lower 
48.
  Although the 50-year anniversary commemorates the formal 
establishment of the Alaska Division of Marine Transportation in 1963, 
the Alaska Marine Highway System was begun in 1948, initiated by three 
men with a dream to provide dependable marine transportation among 
Alaska's coastal communities. Haines resident Steve Homer joined forces 
with brothers Ray and Gustav Gelotte to purchase the M/V Chilkoot and 
set up Chilkoot Motorship Lines. The vessel, formerly a U.S. Navy 
landing craft, required work to remove its military features and ensure 
it could pass U.S. Coast Guard inspection, but within a few months of 
its purchase, it was deemed ready for service as a civilian passenger 
vessel. The M/V Chilkoot could carry a maximum of only 14 cars and by 
all accounts had ``poor accommodations'' due to retaining many of its 
original Navy features. No matter the M/V Chilkoot ferried its first 
two cars from Haines to Juneau in August of 1948.
  As fate would have it, one of those cars belonged to Ernest Gruening, 
then the Territorial Governor of Alaska. Governor Gruening became an 
ardent supporter of the new transportation system and with two other 
commissioners from the Board of Roads authorized the construction of 
ferry ramps in Juneau, Haines, and Skagway. Thus, service to these 
three small southeast communities was born.
  In 1988 Steve Homer wrote a letter about his experience starting the 
Alaska Marine Highway System. In that letter he wrote that his initial 
idea of bringing a landing craft to Southeast Alaska was spawned in 
1944 when he commanded such a craft in World War II. He said he signed 
partnership papers to form Chilkoot Motorship Lines in 1949 and that 
the total required equity capital was $9,177 in 1948 dollars. A few 
years later the business ran into financial difficulties, and the 
Alaska Territorial Government offered to purchase it. Ownership 
transferred to the territory in 1951.
  By 1957 the M/V Chilkoot was too small to meet demand and was 
replaced by the M/V Chilkat. The M/V Chilkat could carry 59 passengers 
and 15 vehicles. It began daily service between Juneau, Haines, and 
Skagway in April of that year.
  Two years later, on January 3, 1959, Alaska became the 49th State and 
the M/V Chilkat became the first State-owned ferry. That same year, the 
First Alaska Legislature approved the Alaska Ferry Transportation Act, 
and voters approved bond issues totaling $18 million to expand the 
ferry fleet. These bonds enabled the State to commission four new 
vessels and build docks throughout southeast Alaska and the Kenai 
Peninsula. In 1963, with the establishment of the Division of Marine 
Transportation, the Alaska Marine Highway System was officially 
launched.
  Over the past 50 years the Alaska Marine Highway has grown to include 
11 vessels which serve 35 communities. From the southern terminus in 
Bellingham, WA, the system stretches more than 3,500 miles to Dutch 
Harbor, AK. It makes port calls in Prince Rupert, BC, and throughout 
Alaska's Inside Passage. It travels across the Gulf of Alaska to Prince 
William Sound and along the Aleutian Chain, all to carry the Nation's 
commerce to distant destinations and Alaska's passengers to home ports. 
Through this scenic highway, Alaskans share their incredible natural 
beauty with visitors from around the world and connect with each other 
through a transportation system which has served safely and reliably 
for 50 years.
  Thank you for allowing me to celebrate this milestone 50th 
anniversary of the unique Alaska treasure known as the Alaska Marine 
Highway System.

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