[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 117 (Thursday, June 25, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S3307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING BYRON MALLOTT

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, in the short history of Alaska as a 
State in our Union, there have been a handful of people--Bill Egan, 
Elizabeth Peratrovich, Jay Hammond, Wally Hickel, Ted Stevens--whose 
lives formed the fibers that wove Alaskans together. Another of those 
leaders passed recently.
  Byron Mallott stands among the best of us. Born in the small town of 
Yakutat, AL, to the Kwaash Ke Kwaan clan of the Tlingit, in 1943 when 
Alaska was still a territory, he went on to an amazing life and career. 
His father was the long-time mayor of Yakutat, and when he died 
unexpectedly, Byron returned home from college, campaigned to take over 
the job, and won the election in 1965 at the age of 22. He then went on 
to serve the State's first Governor, Bill Egan, as the commissioner of 
the Department of Community and Regional Affairs. When Egan lost his 
reelection campaign, Byron went back home to Yakutat and served on the 
city council. In 1968, he ran for a seat in the State house, losing by 
only 23 votes. In 1969, U.S. Senator Mike Gravel hired Byron to work on 
his staff in Washington, DC, where he had a hand in drafting the Alaska 
Native Claims Settlement Act, the foundational legislation that 
continues to define our State and the relationship with Alaska Natives.
  After ANCSA was signed into law, Byron spent 20 years working for 
Sealaska Corporation, 1 of 12 Native corporations which was created by 
the law. Sealaska is based in Juneau, and its shareholders are 
primarily Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian. Over the course of his tenure 
with Sealaska, Byron was a director, chairman, and then spent a decade 
as president and CEO of the corporation. He helped fulfill the vision 
of ANCSA by supporting not just the economic vitality of the Native 
people in the region, but a cultural renaissance as well.
  His additional business experience was extensive. Byron was a 
director of several commercial banking institutions, including 6 years 
on the Seattle Branch Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of 
San Francisco, multiple years as a director of the Alaska Air Group, 
and on the board of the National Alliance for Business. He also served 
as president of the Alaska Federation of Native, a brief stint as the 
mayor of the city and borough of Juneau, and executive director of the 
Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation.
  But Byron was far more than a summation of his resume, impressive 
though it was. He was a good man and a good friend. When I made the 
decision to run as a write-in candidate in 2010, I called to ask him to 
be the cochair of that campaign. His response was instant, ``Yes, 
absolutely.'' When I said I was making the announcement in an hour, he 
said, ``I'll be there.'' There was no hesitation, no concern that he 
was a lifelong Democrat, supporting a long-shot Republican candidate. 
He exemplified in the best way Ted Stevens' philosophy: To hell with 
politics, do what is right for Alaska. With Byron's help, I was able to 
make history by winning the second write-in campaign for U.S. Senate in 
the country's history. I don't know if I would have been successful 
without him.
  In 2014, Byron made history himself when he won the Democratic 
nomination for Governor of Alaska, then sacrificed his own ambition by 
joining with the Independent candidate for Governor to create a Unity 
Ticket. Byron agreed to serve as the candidate for Lieutenant Governor, 
with Bill Walker leading the ticket. Again, we did what he felt was 
right for Alaska, rather than his person political gain.
  The Unity Ticket won the 2014 election, but faced some serious 
challenges, with low oil prices and a tough deficit situation. The 
fiscal crisis unfortunately dominated the 4 years of the Walker-Mallott 
administration and created rough political seas for them to weather, 
necessitating some hard decisions. Through it all, Byron continued to 
do what he had always done, work for Alaska and Alaskans. In the end, 
Byron held himself strictly accountable, which is something few people 
do, especially in politics.
  A friend of mine, Dr. Rosita Worl, says that the Tlingit mourn the 
passing of a leader by noting, ``In our forest, a great tree has 
fallen.'' That is a fitting metaphor for Byron, who stood strong for 
decades, serving as both shelter and a guide for people in Alaska. 
Byron was a strong and proud man, not in a boastful way, but as a true 
leader whose passion allowed him to put all Alaskans first. His heart 
was Alaska, and mine is stronger for having been blessed to call him my 
friend. I will miss him. Alaska will miss him.
  

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