[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 99 (Thursday, June 13, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3619-S3620]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO JAKE ADAMS

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, it is Thursday, and it is one of my 
favorite times of the week because it is the time that I take to come 
down to the floor. The new pages are on the floor, and I think you are 
going to start to see this as probably one of your favorite times as 
well because it is when I talk about what we call the Alaskan of the 
Week. It is an opportunity to highlight somebody in my State who has 
done something great for their community, the State, and the country, 
and to brag a little bit about Alaska.
  Today I am going to talk about Jacob Adams from Utqiagvik, formerly 
known as Barrow, AK. He has been a hero to so many in our State, 
including me--a giant of an individual who has spent his whole life in 
public service for his culture, for his community, for his State, and 
for his country.
  Before I get started about Jake Adams, let me talk a little bit about 
what is going on in Alaska right now.
  I know we all think we live in the best States. Each of us likes to 
come down and brag. That is a good thing. But in Alaska, we certainly 
have a lot of bragging rights on a whole host of issues and a whole 
host of areas in which we are very unique.
  Right now, it is a beautiful time to be in Alaska. We want tourists 
and everyone watching on TV to come to our great State. Flowers are 
blooming, and salmon are running up our rivers. Hundreds of thousands--
soon, literally millions--of salmon will be running. According to our 
Alaska Department of Fish and Game, it is going to be a great season 
for our reds.
  Of course, the sun is our familiar friend this time of year. In the 
northern part of my State, in Utqiagvik, the northernmost city in the 
entire United States, it is not setting at all. The sun is not setting 
at all. Midnight sun, pure energy--it is amazing to experience. We 
experience it, but we want everyone else to come up and experience it.
  Something else is going on in Alaska in villages in the northern part 
of the State around this time of year, a very unique and special 
cultural tradition. The spring whaling season in 11 communities on the 
North Slope is wrapping up. This spring, those 11 North Slope 
communities were able to land 24 whales, equaling somewhere between 300 
and 400 tons of highly nutritious food for these wonderful communities. 
That whale meat is then shared in villages throughout the whaling 
communities. It is an incredible Alaska Native tradition that we are 
all in awe of.
  We are now heading into Nalukataq season. This is when communities 
get together to celebrate this incredible bounty and harvest. It is a 
special day, a time of celebration and sharing. On this day, successful 
whaling crews share and feed the communities from morning until night--
whale, caribou soup, goose and duck soup, and fish is served to anyone 
and everyone who comes. It is really, really special.
  The community also celebrates with a blanket toss, where people are 
tossed high into the air. The seal skins sewed together from the 
successful whale hunts are used for the blanket. It is another 
beautiful Alaska Native tradition that Natives and non-Natives in our 
State cherish.
  There is a long list of people to thank for keeping this incredible 
whaling and Inupiaq culture and heritage alive in Alaska, but Jake 
Adams is certainly on the top of that list. He is a proud whaling 
captain himself and a founding member of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling 
Commission, which has been the primary force in making sure that our 
whaling communities continue to get the quotas they need from the 
International Whaling Commission to continue the practice and to feed 
their people and keep this amazing cultural heritage practice going.
  It has not been easy, but they have fought for self-determination, 
and they have won repeatedly, including at a big IWC meeting in Brazil 
last year.
  It is because of Jake Adams' incredible leadership that this 
tradition is so far advanced and revered in Alaska, and, I would say, 
around the world. Jake has done that and so much more for his community 
and for people all

[[Page S3620]]

across the great State of Alaska. In one word, he is a legend--a true 
legend--for Alaska, and I am proud to have him as a friend.
  Jake's accomplishments are too long to list here, but let me spend a 
few minutes highlighting just a few of those accomplishments. Let me 
start with his background.
  He was born to Baxter and Rebecca Adams in Utqiagvik in 1946. He was 
raised in the tradition of the Inupiaq people--respecting their elders 
and revering the land and resources for his spiritual, physical, and 
emotional sustenance.
  Like so many Alaska Natives, as a boy he was sent away to school--far 
away--to a school in Alaska called Mt. Edgecumbe. It is thousands of 
miles away, and it is a boarding school that was run by BIA. Then, he 
went to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, until he got his first job 
with BIA.
  All of this was at a time of great change for the whole State of 
Alaska and, particularly, for the Alaska Native people. While Jake was 
still a young man, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, or what we 
call ANCSA, was being debated in the halls of Congress and right here 
on the floor of the Senate. This ended up being one of the largest 
lands settlements anywhere in the world--literally, in the history of 
the world. It was right here in the U.S. Senate. The story around the 
passage of ANCSA in 1971, after decades of struggle, is certainly one 
for the ages.
  Jake Adams, among so many others, was highly involved in the passage 
of this landmark legislation for Alaska, and he was even more involved 
in the implementation of ANCSA, which set up shareholder-owned 
businesses with land for the Alaska Native people, what we call 
regional and village corporations, throughout the State. Stories abound 
of him and other Native leaders knocking on doors throughout the 
region, making sure that people were signed up as shareholders of these 
new corporations.
  When he was only 21, Jake was elected to the Barrow City Council, and 
he began his long decades of public service for Alaska and for his 
people. He then served as mayor of the city from 1971 through 1977. 
Then, the North Slope Borough was incorporated, the borough on the 
north part of Alaska--bigger than California. That was established, and 
he was a leader for the North Slope Borough in our State.
  The Alaska Native corporation on the North Slope, the Arctic Slope 
Regional Corporation--or, as we call it in Alaska, ASRC--is one of the 
great business success stories in our State and, I would say, in 
America. Many people credit the work that Jake did at ASRC for making 
it so successful. He worked closely with many other great leaders at 
ASRC and on the North Slope.
  Oliver Leavitt certainly is another great leader. In fact, the North 
Slope Borough and the ASRC are organizations that have produced really 
wonderful leaders for Alaska: Crawford Patkotak, Rex Rock, Tara 
Sweeney, and Richard Glenn.
  But I am digressing here a little bit. Let's get back to Jake.
  He was on the board of ASRC from the very beginning and is still on 
the board today, over 40 years. He was involved in the selection of 
nearly 5 million acres of land for that corporation under the law 
passed by the Senate and the House, with limited time and limited funds 
to do this. But he is a wise man, and ASRC selected well. ASRC land is 
rich in natural resources and abundant in wildlife. Jake has always 
been a strong proponent of making sure those resources and that 
wildlife form the basis for economic development and a sustainable way 
of life. ``Our lands are the basis for all of our culture and all our 
wealth,'' he likes to say.
  Eventually, Jake became the president and CEO of ASRC. Under his 
leadership, ASRC has grown and diversified in terms of one of the top 
corporations, certainly in Alaska and, I would say, in the country, 
with thousands of employees, not just in Alaska, but all over.
  He was able to do all of this while still doing subsistence hunting 
and raising a family of six with his wonderful wife Lucille. He often 
conducted business on his boat, in the North Slope and overseas, while 
whaling. Not many business leaders in America can say that.
  Jake once told a reporter:

       The land and a sense of place remain extremely important to 
     our people.
       We truly do exist in two worlds. . . . Our culture and the 
     value of traditions are part of our life every day, even as 
     we pursue more Western business type of activities.

  He has done so much more for Alaska, for his people, for our people: 
supporting the Native sobriety movement and working to eradicate 
illegal drugs from Native villages. He has been involved with the 
volunteer search and rescue organization and is a huge advocate for 
education.
  In honor of Jake's commitment to education, the ASRC's Alaska 
Educational Foundation created a scholarship award in his name. The 
``Anagi Leadership Award'' is given each year to a student, providing 
up to $24,000 for tuition, fees, and college expenses.
  At his retirement ceremony from executive leadership of ASRC in 2006, 
the people of the North Slope Borough literally cried. He is that well 
respected. For his many accomplishments last year, he was awarded an 
honorary doctorate of law degree from the University of Alaska 
Fairbanks.
  Jake Adams is a man of wisdom. I have a story. When I was attorney 
general, 10 years ago, I was dealing with a particularly difficult 
situation. When I worked out what I thought was a good resolution, I 
flew to Utqiagvik to meet with Jake to ask him if he agreed and, 
importantly, if the community agreed. I explained the situation. 
Importantly, when I asked him what he thought, he said he thought it 
would be a just resolution and he would be supportive of it. That meant 
so much to me, as Alaska's attorney general, getting his advice and his 
wisdom.
  Jake Adams is a man of few words, but when he speaks, it is powerful 
and people listen. He is a man of deep, deep wisdom. Ask anyone who 
knows him, and they will talk about his wisdom, his natural leadership, 
his humility, and his abiding love of the land, the people, Alaska, and 
his family, which now includes 13 grandchildren.
  A few years ago at a celebration in his honor, John Hopson, Jr., 
another great Alaska Native leader from the North Slope, talked about 
how much Jake had contributed to his community and Alaska.
  He said:

       Jake has also bridged the world between traditional whaling 
     captain and corporate leader. A highly successful whaling 
     captain, he has also provided guidance to our North Slope 
     Borough and Arctic Slope Regional Corporation as they matured 
     as institutions. He has filled these roles with deep resolve, 
     wisdom, and great foresight. And always, he has acted with 
     the highest honor toward his family and his community.

  Well said, John Hopson, Jr., about Jake Adam.
  Jake, thank you for all you have done for us, for your community, and 
for all Alaskans. Thank you for your decades of service to Alaska and 
your leadership.
  Thank you, Lucille, for sharing him with us.
  Congratulations, again, on being our Alaskan of the Week.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Romney). The Senator from Texas.

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