[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 4, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2358-S2359]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Remembering Dan Fauske

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, for months, I have been coming down to 
the floor every week to recognize someone in my State who has made a 
difference to our communities in Alaska, someone who has devoted time 
and energy to making my State a better place to live. I call these 
individuals our Alaskan of the Week.
  As I have said repeatedly to all of my colleagues and to those 
watching on TV, I am a little biased here, but I believe my State is 
the most beautiful in the country and, I would argue, in the world. I 
urge everybody in this room, everybody watching on TV, to come to see 
for yourself. Take a trip to Alaska. It will be the trip of a lifetime. 
I guarantee you.
  It is the people who truly make my State unique, people who are 
helping each other, strong-willed, warmhearted, tenacious people who 
have worked tirelessly for years for all of those who live in Alaska.
  This week I would like to honor Dan Fauske, one of the strongest 
willed, warmest hearted people I have ever known. All he has done for 
us has made Alaska a better place for literally thousands of people 
throughout our State.
  Dan came to Alaska in 1974 after serving in the Army, as so many 
Alaskans do. Like so many Alaskans, he arrived with a glint of steel in 
his eye and a mission to help build our State. Alaska is full of 
natural wonders, but our manmade wonders are also marvels, and Dan 
wanted to be part of building more of those marvels for our State and 
for our country.
  He first arrived in the North Slope Borough--the top of the world--to 
help the community build up their infrastructure and strengthen the 
Alaskan Native villages in the area. It was a time of enormous change 
for all of Alaska, particularly the North Slope. Oil from the North 
Slope Prudhoe Bay, the largest oilfield in North America, had recently 
begun to flow down the Trans-Alaska System for 800 miles. The largest 
land claims act in U.S. history, the Alaskan Native Claims Settlement 
Act, had recently passed, and the governments in rural Alaska were 
being formed and reformed to take advantage of these opportunities.
  After Dan went back to school to receive a master's degree in 
business administration from Gonzaga, he made his way back to Alaska 
again to serve as chief financial officer and chief administrative 
officer for Alaska's North Slope Borough, where he launched an 
ambitious and ultimately successful capital plan to provide basic 
necessities that so many Americans take for granted, like running water 
and sewer,

[[Page S2359]]

those kinds of services, to the villages throughout the North Slope 
Borough, again, on the top of the world.
  According to Bill Tracey, Sr., from Point Lay, which is one of the 
villages there, who was a coworker at the time, ``Dan's excellent work 
ethic and skills earned him the respect of the North Slope leaders. . . 
. His accomplishments were remarkable.''
  With his beautiful and spirited wife Elaine always by his side, Dan 
then moved his family to Anchorage to head up the Alaska Housing 
Finance Corporation. For 18 years, he managed HFC's nearly $5 billion 
in assets. It is not an overstatement to say that he revolutionized 
that agency, doing remarkable things, including and most importantly 
helping thousands of Alaskans--thousands of our constituents, our 
fellow Alaskans--pursue their dream of buying an affordable home. There 
is nothing more important than that.
  The Alaska Legislature just passed a bill to name the Alaska Housing 
Finance Corporation the Daniel R. Fauske Building, and the dedication 
ceremony will take place in Anchorage on Saturday.
  As his bio indicates, there is no doubt that for decades Dan Fauske 
served Alaska with his hands, his heart, and with his head. But a bio 
on paper can only tell you so much about a person; to really appreciate 
him, you would have to have been with him and watched the energy and 
can-do spirit radiate from Dan Fauske. You had to watch him talk to 
people with respect and humor and understanding and a very keen 
intelligence. He had a big laugh--a very big laugh--and he told great 
stories. He also had that rare ability to genuinely connect with 
everybody he met, it didn't matter who. He was able to speak the 
language of a businessman, a builder, a veteran, a public servant. He 
spoke the language of a father, a husband, a friend, and a true 
Alaskan. In doing so, he gained the respect of everybody, and I mean 
everybody, in my State--politicians, State workers, military members, 
people from all across Alaska, people from all across the political 
spectrum. If you wanted something done and if you wanted it done right 
in Alaska, you asked Dan Fauske to help you do it. People trusted him. 
I trusted him.
  Most importantly, Dan was a great father to three great boys, D.J., 
Scott, and Brad, and two daughters, Marcy and Kathy, and he was a great 
husband to his incredible, vivacious, and very strong wife Elaine.
  Mr. President, Dan Fauske passed away this afternoon with his family 
and friends by his side. Our prayers and the prayers of so many 
Alaskans go out to all of them during this very difficult time. For 
anyone watching, I humbly ask that you say a prayer too.
  For all he has done for all of us, all his memory will continue to do 
for all of us, Dan Fauske is our Alaskan of the Week. He was also my 
very good friend. My wife Julie and I will miss him greatly.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Scott). The Senator from Colorado.

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