[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 63 (Thursday, April 11, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2423-S2424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Tribute to Cynthia Erickson

  Mr. President, it is Thursday afternoon, and it is one of the times 
that I enjoy the most here in the Senate because it is the time when I 
get to come down to the floor and do a little bragging about my State 
and, most importantly, do a little bragging about the people who make 
Alaska such a wonderful place and such a unique place.
  Now, we have all heard the stories about the grandeur, size, and 
beauty of the great State of Alaska, and they are all true, as you 
know. To anyone watching, we would love for you to come on up for a 
visit. You will love it. It will be the best trip of your life. Right 
now, for example, what is happening in Alaska is that it is a wonderful 
time of the year. We are gaining sunlight every day. The snow is 
melting. The birds are beginning their huge migration back to Alaska. 
Some flowers are even starting to bloom in parts of the State. It is a 
wonderful and incredible time.
  Like any State, and we all come down here and like to talk about our 
States, it is the people who truly make my State so special. It is 
generous people who work tirelessly day in and day out to help one 
another. So each week, I come down to the Senate floor and talk about 
one of these individuals, and I call that person ``Alaskan of the 
Week.''
  Today, that person is a wonderful leader and a good friend of mine, 
Cynthia Erickson. As I mentioned, we live in a great State--great State 
to raise a family, build a good exciting life of service and meaning. 
But Alaska, like all States, has its share of challenges, and one of 
the biggest and most pernicious challenges in Alaska is that we, 
unfortunately, have some of the highest rates of domestic violence and 
sexual assault in the country--as a matter of fact, in a lot of 
categories, the highest, including child abuse.
  Now, when I was attorney general, we made confronting this issue a 
very big priority. We are continuing to push these initiatives in the 
Senate. Just yesterday, Senator Gillibrand and I introduced a bill that 
would seek to change the culture around sexual assault and domestic 
violence through a national ad campaign. We called that bill the Choose 
Respect Act, and we introduced it yesterday. This is a bill that will 
be part of a whole series of bills focused on trying to bring respect 
to our country with regard to these issues. Stay tuned on that.
  Here is a fact. We can do all of those kinds of important pieces of 
legislation here in the Senate on these kinds of critical issues, but 
as I think we all know that it is really the work done on the ground by 
members of the community and the grassroots that ultimately has the 
biggest and most lasting impact on these critical issues--the biggest 
and most lasting impact on changing the culture that we need to change, 
not just in Alaska but in the country, on these issues of abuse and 
domestic violence.
  I am happy to say that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of 
people across my State--heroes all, no doubt--who have banded together 
using their passion, creativity, and energy to be there for victims and 
survivors and to help them break out of cycles of violence that often 
can be generational cycles.
  Let's talk about one of those heroes, a very special woman, Cynthia 
Erickson, and today's Alaskan of the Week, who has spent countless 
hours

[[Page S2424]]

helping to stop the generational cycle by helping Alaskan children, one 
child at a time, who are victims of abuse themselves and who are living 
in households where violence is prevalent.
  Confronting the abuse of children can be a very difficult issue. It 
is so heartbreaking and so tragic that we often don't want to talk 
about it and you want to sweep it under the rug. But Cynthia, with a 
group of children she has gathered, is working to break that culture of 
silence one kid at a time. I can't think of anything more important 
than that.
  Before I talk about what she is doing and what she has been doing, 
let's talk a little bit about her background. Her family is from Ruby, 
in Western Alaska, on the mighty Yukon River. She was raised in Tanana, 
a village of about 300 people near the confluence of the Yukon and 
Tanana Rivers, where she has been living for the past 33 years.
  Many years ago I had the opportunity to visit with Cynthia and her 
husband in Tanana. She hosted me and some other State of Alaska 
officials. I remember being so welcomed by her and her family but also 
coming away thinking: This is a woman who is a leader and a woman of 
spirit and a woman of energy and a woman of passion.
  We see that a lot in Alaska with Cynthia. She received a degree in 
elementary education from the University of Fairbanks. Her family owns 
a store that she worked at, but she never lost her love for children. 
Her house was a place where children throughout the town in Tanana 
went. She had things for them to do, but it was also one of those 
homes--and we all know the homes we are talking about in different 
communities throughout Alaska and the country--that kids felt safe in. 
That was her home.
  About 5 or 6 years ago, when there was a series of suicides in her 
village and in nearby villages, she knew she had to do something. She 
called the local politician. He talked her into coming to Juneau, our 
State capital, to work for him. She did that for a few months, and she 
gathered as much information as she could about programs available to 
help children in crisis. But she wasn't satisfied. She concluded that 
there wasn't nearly enough being done.
  When she got back home, she took matters into her own hands. Amassing 
a group of children, she started a 4-H club, which eventually morphed 
into a nonprofit called ``Setsoo `Yeh.'' That is Athabaskan for ``My 
Grandmother's House.'' In Cynthia's house, kids gather to crochet, to 
sew, to cook, and to be. They glide on the snow outside in the winter, 
and they swim together in the summer. She told a reporter recently, 
when she was being honored: ``Between all the swimming and the sewing 
and the beading--we all sewed our own kuspuks--in between all that, we 
talk about our problems.''
  Why? Why did she call it ``My Grandmother's House''? Because every 
child that she spoke to who was having problems--and she spoke to a lot 
of them--had fond memories of a grandmother's home--a place where soup 
is served, bread is baked, mukluks are sewn, and a place of love and 
safety. Currently, Cynthia's ``My Grandmother's House'' is a virtual 
space for kids in far-flung villages, but she envisions real houses all 
across the State--houses where children can go and be safe.
  First, she had to raise awareness of these issues that affect so many 
children in Alaska. In 2014 she and seven of these brave kids went to 
the Alaska Federation of Natives conference. That is the biggest 
gathering of indigenous people in North America every year. AFN comes 
together for the conference, usually in Anchorage or Fairbanks, and 
these young kids spoke on stage about what they had experienced. I 
remember this. It was so powerful. The stories they told of abuse that 
they or their friends had experienced were heartbreaking and very 
difficult to listen to. Importantly, they implored the elders in the 
audience to stop turning a blind eye to the abuse. That took so much 
courage from these children and their courageous leader, Cynthia.

  When the presentation was over at AFN, it received a standing 
ovation. People cried, they thanked Cynthia, and they thanked these 
courageous young kids for at long last having the courage to speak 
out--remarkable.
  Last summer, Cynthia and 11 children and a doctor--a mental health 
therapist--traveled on a plane, a bus, a boat--we have a very big 
State--to Fairbanks and to the villages of Minto, Tanana, Ruby, and 
Galena. It was a healing journey, they called it. At the villages, the 
kids formed a talking circle to talk about their experiences. Again, 
this is courage. It is not easy for young children to do this. They ate 
together, danced, prayed together, and talked some more. Cynthia said 
about this journey:

       It's empowering the children. It's giving them a voice. 
     It's grassroots. There are so many programs out there to help 
     kids, but there are not boots on the ground [on the 
     frontlines]. They aren't grassroots. These kids have had 
     enough. They are sick of waiting for help. I tell them all 
     the time, `We are the ones we've been waiting for' [for the 
     help].

  That is a beautiful statement and a powerful statement: We are the 
ones we have been waiting for. It is a grassroots movement to do what 
we all know is right--to work to stamp out this kind of horrible abuse.
  We just learned last night that Cynthia has been appointed to the 
Alaska State Commission for Human Rights. It is no surprise to me. This 
is a woman of energy, passion, and inspiration who has done so much for 
these kids--and, by the way, a woman of courage. I am confident she 
will do a great job in that new position--a very important position in 
Alaska. She will bring her empathy, her common sense, and her passion 
to protect Alaskans--particularly our children--across the State.
  Cynthia, from the bottom of my heart, my friend, thanks for all the 
great work you do. Thanks for your courage. Thanks for your energy. 
Thanks for being an inspiration for all of us. Thank you for protecting 
our most precious asset, our most precious resource--our kids in 
Alaska. Thank you for creating My Grandmother's House. Everybody needs 
a grandmother's house. Thank you. And congratulations on being our 
Alaskan of the Week.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Braun). The Senator from Wyoming.
  (The remarks of Mr. Enzi pertaining to the introduction of S. 1770 
are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. ENZI. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CRAMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.