[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 20562]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     SENATOR BEGICH'S MAIDEN SPEECH

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise this afternoon to congratulate 
my colleague from Alaska, Senator Begich, and recognize his maiden 
speech on the Senate floor. The tradition of giving a maiden speech is 
one that perhaps in recent years has not been followed as intently as 
it has in days gone past. Senator Begich has highlighted with his 
remarks today and with the collection of bills he has introduced on the 
Senate floor--the significance of America's role as an Arctic nation 
and the key that Alaska holds as a leader in that responsibility.
  I appreciate what he is doing to shine a spotlight on these issues, 
whether it is how we deal with the impact of climate change, whether it 
is how we deal with the health consequences, how we dealt with renewed 
and increased commerce in an Arctic that is potentially ice free.
  I applaud him for his efforts and, again, shining the light on this 
issue. It seems every day the rest of the country, the rest of the 
world, is looking to the Arctic for our science, looking to the Arctic 
for the knowledge of our elders and researchers, and looking to the 
Arctic as a true leader in global environmental policies.
  I applaud him, and I am privileged to be able to support him in so 
many of these efforts, working on the issues that are important to, of 
course, our State but to the Nation as a whole.

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