[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 15, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1169-S1170]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Iditarod

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I am here on the floor today to make 
what I consider to be a supercool announcement. I think my colleagues 
know well that I am a fan of the ``Last Great Race,'' the Iditarod. I 
am shameless in my promotion of not only the exceptional athleticism of 
the mushers themselves but the canine athletes.
  I say to the Presiding Officer--and as an athlete yourself--I think 
you can appreciate the endurance training that it takes to be a 
qualified and truly an exceptional athlete, and today we are able to 
celebrate an extraordinary musher and an extraordinary team.
  It was just a little over a week ago, last Sunday morning--well, 
actually it was Saturday--that I was in Anchorage for the ceremonial 
start of the Iditarod. It takes place downtown in Anchorage. We have to 
truck snow in. We close off all the downtown streets. Not too many 
cities actually bring the snow in, but we brought the snow in, dumped 
it around the streets, and closed the streets.
  Mushers come to town from all over the State, 49 mushers this year. 
They bring their sled dogs in.
  Along the sides of the chutes are thousands of Alaskans and thousands 
of visitors. The people come from around the country and around the 
world to launch these extraordinary teams down the street. Everybody is 
all bundled up.
  It was one of those days that was just picture perfect for the start 
of an Iditarod. There were big, huge snowflakes coming down, making 
everything white.
  The dogs were jumping in their traces, just straight up, just 
bouncing up with excitement, and the yipping and the howling was just--
it was excitement that was contagious. And to be out there in the 
chutes, wishing the racers luck, cheering them on before they embark on 
their 1,000-mile journey to the north, it is an experience that I would 
encourage for anyone, whether you are a canine lover or not--those of 
you who understand the value of working dogs and what they mean, and 
how they love to do what they do.
  The Iditarod is an experience like none other. This was the 50th 
anniversary. For 50 years now, the Iditarod has been going from South 
Central in the Willow area all the way up to Nome. Again, 49 teams 
entered.
  These mushers faced some pretty challenging conditions. You are going 
over terrain that is mountain range and down into gorges. You are on 
flat glare ice going across Norton Sound, howling winds, driving snow. 
It is a mental task. It is a physical task and, truly, one of 
endurance.
  Keep in mind that most are thinking: Wait. This is Alaska in the 
wintertime. It is cold.
  But, in fairness, the teams actually prefer to be running at night, 
when the temperatures are cool. So they are running truly based on the 
dogs' schedule, the endurance, but not necessarily in the tamest of 
conditions.
  This is not only a race where we celebrate the musher and their team, 
but we also celebrate the volunteer spirit that comes with this. This 
is an extraordinary race of over 1,000 miles going through some of the 
most extreme wilderness that you will encounter.
  Then, occasionally, along the way, there are small villages that are 
used

[[Page S1170]]

as checkpoints or opportunities for the many volunteers to basically 
gather. There is about 1,500 people who volunteer to put this race on. 
So for those who set the trail markers, who set out there with their 
snow machines to mark that trail, it is nothing more than like wood 
markers that you would get at Home Depot or Lowe's, with a little 
painted orange on it. That is the sophistication of this. This is what 
guides the team in a blizzard.

  The veterinarians are there. Four to five vets cycle through each 
checkpoint, because each dog needs to be checked every time they go 
through their checkpoint.
  All of these folks come from all around the country to volunteer. 
They pay for their flights up. They take a week off work, and they are 
there. They are there to support not only the race, but they are there 
to support gold-standard canine care.
  And so it is also a celebration about the volunteers. This is such a 
great part of our State's heritage, our culture. Again, you can tell I 
get a little enthusiastic about it. Even my necklace is a dog sled with 
a musher on it. So this is the time of year that I like to celebrate 
it.
  So this morning at 5:39 a.m., Alaska standard time--so about 9:30 
here in DC--8 days, 14 hours, 38 minutes since beginning a roughly 
1,000-mile race, Brent Sass and his team of 11 dogs crossed the finish 
line.
  So here is Brent with his two dogs, yellow roses flown in from--I 
don't know where those yellow roses came from, but they certainly 
weren't from Nome, AK.
  But that man has traveled with his team for 8 days now, 14 hours, 38 
minutes to win the 50th Iditarod.
  I had a chance to talk to Brent by phone just about an hour after he 
went in to Nome. He sounded pretty vibrant, pretty excited, pretty 
happy.
  I had talked to him in the starting gate on Saturday, and I said: 
Brent, I think this is your time. I think this is your time because you 
have proved yourself year over year in the Iditarod and certainly in 
the Yukon Quest.
  Brent lives in Eureka, AK, on a homestead that was established back 
in the 1970s. He is a pretty seasoned musher. He took part in his first 
Iditarod back in 2012. He got ``Rookie of the Year'' that year. He is a 
three-time 1,000-mile Yukon Quest champion.
  So the Yukon Quest runs a different race, from Canada into Alaska. It 
is also a 1000-mile race. It is equally arduous and extraordinarily 
difficult. He took first place in the Yukon Quest in 2015, 2019, 2020, 
and also first in this year's abbreviated 350-mile Yukon Quest.
  So a couple little quick stories here, because I know I don't have 
much time, but this guy is pretty exceptional. He is not only a strong 
competitor, but the care that he provides his dogs is amazing.
  One story from 2016: Brent was getting ready to leave the White 
Mountain checkpoint. It is about 77 miles from the finish line in Nome. 
He was teed up here to win third place, and depending on where you are 
in the rank is how much of the purse you will take home. And if he was 
going to make third, it was going to be about $44,000 in prize money. 
But he is getting ready to leave the checkpoint and his dogs said: 
Nope, we are not moving.
  So think about it. You are that close to $44,000. You are 77 miles 
from the finish, and your dogs have said: This has been a long trek, 
and this is where we are stopping to just rest.
  So Brent Sass didn't push those dogs. He waited as they rested, and 
when they were ready, he took it slow, he took it steady, he brought 
them to the finish line, and he ended up placing 20th instead of 3rd. 
And he did that for his team.
  And for that, he was recognized twice with the Vet's Choice Award for 
the care that he shows his dogs.
  But it is not just his team that Brent is known for taking care of. 
He is also known for taking care of his competitors along the trail.
  There was a headline a few years back that said ``Sass to the Rescue 
. . . Again.''
  And time after time, Brent has been highlighted for acts of heroism 
on the trail. In vicious storms, he has helped mushers and their dog 
teams reunite after becoming separated on the trail. And keep in mind, 
there is no rescue team out there. It is you, and if you are lucky 
enough to have somebody else come upon you--fortunate.
  But during one race, a fellow musher was at risk for scratching the 
race, and instead of leaving him behind, as many competitors might have 
done, Brent helped him scale Eagle Summit so he could stay in the race.
  But one of the most notable rescues took place in 2011 on the trail 
of the Yukon Quest. Hans Gatt, a four-time champion, was stalled out. 
He wasn't able to clear the summit. The weather conditions were awful. 
So Hans did the only thing that he could do, which is to hunker down 
into a sleeping bag in these horrible winds, the driving cold snow.
  Brent's sled comes upon Hans, sees that he is on the verge of 
hypothermia. He hooks his sled to the back of his own, and he hauls 
both teams up over the summit. And Brent credits his then-lead dog 
Silver for guiding them to safety in these awful and harsh conditions. 
As a result of their teamwork and heroism, the Quest created the Silver 
Legacy Award in Silver's honor. Brent claims that to be one of the 
proudest moments of his life.
  I wish that I could have been there this morning at 5:39 in Nome to 
watch Brent cross the finish line as a first-time Iditarod champ with 
his team. But even from afar, we can hear the Alaskans celebrating 
Brent for his incredible feat.
  So to Brent Sass, we celebrate you. We thank you for the care that 
you show your dog team, your character, how you show what it means to 
be a true competitor and for representing the great State of Alaska so 
well.
  And to all the others that are still on the trail, we wish you well 
and safety and Godspeed.
  I yield the floor.