[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 56 (Thursday, March 30, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2150-S2151]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PURCHASE OF ALASKA

 Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, today, March 30, marks that 150th 
anniversary of the date when President Andrew Johnson signed the treaty 
with Russia for the purchase of Alaska. It is a big day for my State, 
and for the past few months, I have been diving into the archives and 
doing some research about the treaty and about the first few years of 
challenges following the signing. As you can imagine, building a State 
out of a frontier, particularly one so far away from the rest of the 
country and in such an extreme climate, was challenging, to say the 
least. It demanded, and still does, a certain kind of person with a 
certain kind of toughness, vision, and a determination to work for the 
good of all. Let me give you an example of what it has required.
  Some members of the first territorial legislature in 1913--46 years 
after the purchase--who lived in far flung places faced a challenge. 
Specifically how to get to Juneau to begin to hash out creating the 
rules of a new territory.
  Of course, there were no commercial airlines in those days--no snow 
machines, so four members from Nome--lawyers, miners, and businessmen--
hitched up their dog teams, headed to Valdez, and took a steamship to 
Juneau. It took them nearly 2 months to get there. When they did 
arrive, the first order of business was this: granting women the right 
to vote, 7 years before Congress ratified the 19th Amendment.
  That is the heritage of every one in Alaska, and that is the same 
spirit, of traveling far against the odds, to do what is right, that 
still animates my great State. It animates people who haven't even been 
to Alaska. My State is more than a place with set geographic 
boundaries. My State is also an idea, a dream; it goes beyond borders 
and represents so much about America that we hold dear: beauty, 
freedom, self-sufficiency. It has been this way even before Alaska 
became a territory--when a group of people, led by former Secretary of 
State William Seward, pushed the country to buy Alaska from Russia for 
$7.2 million. As has been proven, that was a good deal.
  Every week, I have been coming down to recognize an Alaskan of the 
Week, a special person who gives their time, energy, and talents to 
making our State the best in the country.
  Today I want to speak about someone who I will call an honorary 
Alaskan. Today I would like to name Senator Charles Sumner our 
posthumous Alaskan of the Week. Senator Sumner

[[Page S2151]]

never set foot in my State, but he knew Alaska well. We are a State 
because of him, and others, including Secretary of State William 
Seward, who had vision and tenacity.
  Senator Sumner was born on January 6, 1811, in Boston, MA. He was a 
lawyer, a professor, and then a politician. He was a man of purpose, 
principle, and many, many words and opinions. In fact, he was nearly 
caned to death while working in the Senate Chambers, by one of his 
colleagues--a congressman from the South--for expressing his opinions 
on the horrors of slavery. It was a deplorable act, and it cast a pall 
of shame over this body for years. Senator Sumner never really 
recovered, but after a long convalescence, he set his sights on the 
Alaska Purchase.
  He was skeptical, at first, until Secretary of State Seward got his 
ear, and he immersed himself into the accounts of the promise of this 
new territory, which turned him into an ardent supporter. On April, 8, 
1867, Senator Sumner, using only notecards, gave a 3-hour speech on the 
Senate floor about our State.
  He spoke of Alaska's abundant resources. He saw the Pacific as the 
ocean of the future and argued that Alaska is the key to that future. 
He spoke of the treasures--the gold in our land, the veins of coal, our 
huge mineral deposits, and the treasures below the Arctic Ocean. He 
talked about the ``multitudes of fish,'' the thousands of acres of 
timber, and the opening of new trade routes.
  He and others saw in Alaska the ``Eden of the North''--a future which 
would entail up to 1 million self-sufficient Americans supported by the 
resources of the land. Owning Alaska would give us greater control of 
the next ``great theater of action'' in the Arctic and Asia-Pacific, 
for both national security and economic reason.
  In the new territory of Alaska, ``Commerce will find new arms; the 
country new defenders, the national flag new hands to bear it aloft,'' 
Senator Sumner argued. A ``boundless and glorious future,'' awaits, he 
and other supporters argued.
  Senator Sumner ended his epic 1867 speech by arguing that the whole 
territory, not just the peninsula, should be given the name by the 
people who lived here. ``It should be indigenous, original, coming from 
the soil,'' he said. ``Alaska,'' he concluded, ``the great land.''
  The day after Sumner's Senate speech, the once-skeptical U.S. Senate 
approved the purchase by a vote of 37 to 2. One hundred and fifty years 
later, Alaska has made good on that early promise. We have contributed 
enormous resources to our country. We are vital to our country's 
national defense, our national pride, and our economic growth. We still 
have the vision of Secretary of State Seward and Senator Sumner driving 
us toward a brighter future. Thanks to Senator Sumner and to the people 
of Massachusetts who gave us such a brave leader--our honorary Alaskan 
of the Week.

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