[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2386]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM ``BILL'' WOOLF

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to bid farewell to one of 
the longest tenured members of my Senate staff, Mr. William ``Bill'' 
Woolf. Bill will retire from U.S. Senate employment at the end of 
January, after 20 years of exceptional service to the citizens of this 
country and to the residents of the State of Alaska.
  Bill was born in Washington State and studied at Washington State 
University and the University of Alaska in Juneau. Growing up in the 
country, he developed an early and lasting love of the outdoors--
boating, fishing, and hunting--even before moving to the Last Frontier 
in 1974.
  He has served as my legislative assistant for fisheries, science, and 
transportation issues since I entered the Senate in 2002. Prior to 
that, he worked for the ``other Senator Murkowski'' for 15 years. While 
I love to catch and eat Alaska salmon, halibut, crab, and pollock, Bill 
truly knows not only the biology but also the economic intricacies of 
both sport and commercial fishing and game management issues. Over the 
years, he has become an expert in wildlife and fishery biology and 
management, dedicating himself to protecting and expanding fish and 
game stocks not just in Alaska but nationwide.
  Bill moves easily among scientists, government officials, fishermen, 
and business. He has gained a reputation as a dedicated and 
knowledgeable advocate for sound, scientific fishery and wildlife 
management and quality resource development.
  He has worked tirelessly to help perfect and protect the regional 
fishery management process, encompassed in the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fisheries Conservation and Management Act. Despite never serving with a 
member of the Commerce Committee, Bill has been influential in many of 
the fisheries laws passed by this body, dealing with subjects as 
diverse as reflagging of foreign processing ships, banning the use of 
large-scale driftnets on the high seas, improving safety and quality 
inspection techniques for fish products, allowing fishermen greater 
control over secondary market pricing, providing for country of origin 
seafood labeling, and encouraging action to allow ``organic'' labeling.
  He also worked with the State Department and others to implement 
international agreements on fisheries in the central Bering Sea and the 
Sea of Okhotsk, protection of salmon in the North Pacific, successful 
negotiations with Canada of the Pacific Salmon Treaty, and many others. 
He is particularly proud of having drafted, presented, and worked with 
the staff of U.N. Ambassador Madeleine Albright to achieve U.N. General 
Assembly approval for the very first international resolution to 
control bycatch and waste in fisheries worldwide.
  Bill, however, has not focused solely on fisheries. Over the years, 
his range of issues has cut across many lines, involved many 
disciplines, and a wide range of science, transportation, and other 
issues for the Alaska congressional delegation. Among his 
accomplishments were writing the first comprehensive law to control 
wastewater discharges from cruise ships in Alaska, advising the U.S. 
Arctic Research Commission, representing Alaska's interests in staff 
negotiations on the Water Resources Development Act, and working long 
hours and weekends to ensure that the Highway Reauthorization passed by 
the 109th Congress would help bring Alaska's road system into the 21st 
century. He also helped organize and staffed a Senate Coast Guard 
Caucus for several years.
  After the 2005 hurricanes devastated the gulf coast, he was the key 
influence behind the successful formation of the Alaska Fishing 
Industry Relief Mission. This nonprofit corporation moved important 
equipment all the way from Alaska to Louisiana and Mississippi--
including both a 60-ton capacity boat lift and a 30-ton per day ice 
making machine, both were critically needed to get the gulf coast 
fishing industry back in play. The formation of the caucus and mission 
are a lasting testament to Bill's good judgment, hard work, and 
dedication to intelligently build this Nation's ports and harbors 
infrastructure and to care for those who depend on them.
  I also want to mention that Bill started his career as a broadcaster, 
general manager, news director, correspondent and producer for radio 
and television stations in Alaska, Washington, and Oregon. He also 
served a stint as a Senate press secretary and communications' director 
for the chairman of the Intelligence Committee during the first Persian 
Gulf war. He understands how important it is for Congress to 
communicate its policies to the citizens of America and fully explain 
why we take the actions that we do.
  While I am sorry to lose one of my staff leaders, I am happy that he 
will be able to more fully enjoy some of his other interests: 
woodworking, motorcycling, fishing, hunting, his collection of Alaskan 
and Asian art, and his beloved German shepherd dogs.
  I will miss Bill's hard work, vast knowledge, good humor, and sound 
judgment. It has been a pleasure to have him on my staff. I wish him 
and his wife Karen the very best and know that Alaskans will benefit 
for decades to come from his efforts to protect and enhance this Nation 
natural and biological resources and the environment.

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