[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 13, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1318-S1319]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Recognizing Alaska

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, as many of my colleagues here on the 
Senate floor know, tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and yesterday, my 
colleague and my good friend, for whom I have so much respect, Senator 
Ernst from Iowa, was asking Members of this body to come down to the 
floor and talk about love. Some of you may have seen that.
  Now, I have to admit that I am very close to Senator Ernst. I think 
she is one of the best Senators in the whole body. But I was a little 
bit leery. To be honest, talking about love on the Senate floor is 
really not my thing. I am not sure I have done that in 4 years here. As 
a matter of fact, I know I haven't done that in 4 years.
  Then, I thought, well, you know, it is Valentine's Day. I thought, of 
course, immediately about my family and my beautiful wife Julie, the 
love of my life. I thought I could talk about that. I thought I could 
talk about my three daughters, all young Alaskan women, strong. They 
make me proud each and every day.
  That was easy, thinking about Valentine's Day and love that way--
Julie, Meghan, Isabella, and Laurel, who, by the way, celebrated her 
18th birthday yesterday. They are the loves of my life.
  But then my staff told me: Wait a minute. This isn't that kind of 
speech. What Senator Ernst wanted us to do was to speak about the love 
of your State and how we all love our State.
  Now, that is easy for everybody here because we all do love our 
State. Then, I realized, well, you know what, Senator Ernst wanted 
that. It is Valentine's Day, and, of course, it is toward the end of 
the week, and I typically do my ``Alaskan of the Week'' speech every 
Thursday or Wednesday.
  This is a little bit of a jazzed up Valentine's Day version of 
Alaskan of the Week, with the Ernst hashtag ``homestatelove,'' which is 
what she put out, and I think some other Senators did.
  I thought this would be a combination this evening of a little bit of 
a love story to Alaska, my constituents, combined with the Alaskan of 
the Week, and, of course, to support what Senator Ernst wanted a bunch 
of us to do.
  I certainly love coming down to the floor every week to talk about 
the

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Alaskans of the Week. It is one of my favorite things to do. So, today, 
I just want to say a little bit about some of those Alaskans of the 
Week, not really one or two but just kind of a combo--literally, dozens 
and dozens of Alaskans, since I started here in the Senate 4 years ago, 
where I have had the opportunity to come down and talk about them.
  They are as old as 100 and as young as 8. Last week we had an 8-year-
old. Boy, was he really a fine young man from Juneau. They come from 
the Far North, the Arctic, and the misty temperate southeast of Alaska. 
They live surrounded by tundra, by the churning seas, by mountains, by 
rainforests. These are all those who have earned the title Alaskan of 
the Week. They come from what we call urban Alaska and from some of the 
200 small communities and villages that dot my State, which are not 
connected by roads. It is a big challenge we have in Alaska.
  They are librarians, artists, former Governors, reporters, healthcare 
workers, whalers, counselors, pastors, lawyers, athletes, students, 
teachers, and nearly every profession imaginable. Some of them have 
retired. Some of them are just starting school and aren't even of 
working age.
  They are a diverse group of people, as you can imagine, but they all 
have one thing in common. They love Alaska. They love their country. 
They have the fire, the drive, and the heart to use whatever skills 
they have, whatever experiences they have to help others.
  Isn't that what Valentine's Day is all about, what the hashtag 
``homestatelove'' is all about, and, certainly, what the Alaskan of the 
Week is all about?
  Now, when I talk about the Alaskan of the Week, sometimes these 
people have seen and gotten and deserve a lot of attention in Alaska 
and even nationally. Other times, they are less well known but no less 
impactful. Let me give you a couple of examples: someone who has been 
picking up trash on the side of the road for years, just doing it every 
day; helping people to find a pet to love; making meals for the sick; 
starting and contributing to nonprofits; writing beautiful prose; 
helping people overcome addictions; establishing iconic businesses; 
working their whole lives to do what they think is right for their 
community, for their State, and the communities they love.
  Of course, they are all inspiring to us, and what I try to do once a 
week is to come down and not just inspire the pages, who, I know, look 
forward to this speech, but anyone in America who is listening. By the 
way, you have to come up to Alaska and you, too, will love, and I mean 
``love'' Alaska when you come up to visit.
  Now, they are inspiring to all of us in Alaska, but, as I mentioned, 
all around the country last year. For example, I got to talk about the 
Alaska Pacific University's ski team--world renowned, gold medalists, 
Olympic medalists--inspiring young people all across the globe to race 
faster and race better.
  Last year, I had the opportunity to talk about a young teenager from 
Gambell, Chris Apassingok. He made national headlines for his 
insistence, despite tremendous backlash from some extreme groups 
outside of Alaska, to continue his cultural heritage of hunting whales 
to feed his community through subsistence.
  Here is another example that will go straight to the heart of my 
colleague, Senator Ernst from Iowa. In December, Carol Seppilu from 
Nome, who has overcome tremendous difficulties and disabilities and 
pain in her life, ran 85 miles of a 100-mile race in Council Bluffs, 
IA, and she is training for another race.
  That kind of training isn't easy in Nome, where she has to walk 
through blizzards just to get on a treadmill. Carol has the racing 
community--the long racing community, 100-mile races--in Alaska and 
Iowa and, literally, around the country in awe of her, if you know her 
story, and rooting for her.
  Sometimes we have a lot of negative news here in DC. I always say 
there is a lot more going on bipartisan that our friends in the media, 
who sit above the Presiding Officer's desk there, don't often report, 
but it can be negative. I think sometimes it can be easy to forget that 
we live in the greatest country in the world--no doubt about it--the 
greatest country in the history of the world, in my view, filled with 
good people who wake up every morning determined to do what is right, 
to give back to their communities, whether in Alaska or North Dakota, 
like the Presiding Officer.
  I want to thank Senator Ernst for bringing us down to the floor 
yesterday and even today to talk a little bit about love--good 
initiative there for Valentine's Day. I thank all of the people of my 
State. This is a love story, not just of my wife and daughters but of 
all these great Alaskans of the Week who have been doing such a great 
job for Alaska and their country. So, to all of them, Happy Valentine's 
Day.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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