[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 368-369]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        NOME REFUELING SITUATION

  Mr. BEGICH. Madam President, I seek to speak on the floor to speak of 
my residence of Alaska, a State that constantly overcomes adversity in 
its tough winters. This year has been an especially tough winter.
  Alaska's history is marked by stories of people coming together to 
overcome extreme hardships and save their communities. None is more 
memorable than the 1925 Serum Run, when diphtheria ravaged the remote 
Arctic community of Nome. The needed vaccine was raced to the community 
by a team of 20 mushers and some 150 sled dogs. They faced brutal 
February weather and extreme cold, with winds and snowdrifts, and 
carried their precious cargo--the vaccine--some 700 miles in just 5\1/
2\ days. It is a speed record that has never since been broken, and it 
saved the community. The feat is memorialized by the 1,000-mile 
Iditarod sled dog race known as the last great race on Earth.
  This year, the city of Nome faced a 21st-century challenge: the need 
for energy. The fall fuel barge--the last scheduled before winter set 
in--was blocked first by a mammoth October storm which swept up western 
Alaska and then by heavy sea ice. The barge had to turn back, but 
without the delivery Nome would run out of fuel by March. Nome is not 
connected by road, and the earliest the next barge would arrive would 
be this June. Flying in 1.3 million gallons of fuel would have taken 
300 flights and would have boosted the cost of an already expensive 
gasoline and home-heating fuel to over $9 a gallon. As you can see 
here, the price of fuel in the community right now is over $5 a gallon.
  The Sitnasuak Native Corporation and Vitus Marine proposed to do what 
has never been done before: bring over 1 million gallons of diesel fuel 
and gasoline to Nome in the dead of winter. They contracted with a 
Russian-flagged tanker, the Renda, which was ice-capable and double-
hulled.
  To ensure the safety of the delivery, the Coast Guard immediately 
recognized it had a mission and the right equipment. The Coast Guard 
icebreaker Healy had just completed a lengthy scientific tour off the 
Arctic. Rather than return home, they stayed on the job as winter set 
in, breaking open lanes through the ice to allow the tanker to arrive.
  The Healy and the Renda encountered conditions more severe than 
anticipated, with colder temperatures, stronger winds, and thicker ice. 
Some days their progress was frozen, literally, but the Healy pressed 
on through the ice. With the determination that is the hallmark of the 
U.S. Coast Guard, they succeeded. They did not make it to Nome Harbor, 
which was frozen solid, but close enough to top off the city's fuel 
tanks through a half-mile-long hose. Now they are on their way back 
home but not out of the ice yet. The Healy and the Renda still have 
several hundred miles before they reach open water.
  I take to the floor today to offer my thanks and congratulations to 
Captain Beverly Havlik and the men and women aboard the Healy for a job 
well done and also the crew of the charter tanker, the Renda, and many 
others who helped ensure that the transfer of fuel was safe, workers 
from the Sitnasuak Corporation, Vitus Marine, the city of Nome, State 
of Alaska, and others who have played their part, even the University 
of Alaska researchers who flew aerial drones to inspect ice conditions 
in advance of the approaching vessels. Together they proved that winter 
operations are possible even in the most challenging circumstances.
  I speak today not just to congratulate all those who pitched in to 
help refuel this community but to consider its broader implications and 
lessons.
  First, America is an Arctic nation. The residents of cities such as 
Nome and Kotzebue and Barrow and numerous smaller villages thrive in 
the often challenging but rich Arctic environment. The Alaska Native 
peoples have thrived for generations and for thousands of years, living 
off the resources of the land and the sea.
  Second, the Arctic offers much to our Nation. Its offshore oil and 
natural gas is our most promising energy province, which is actively 
being considered by industry. Trade routes over the top are 
increasingly being explored by shippers eager to cut up to 40 percent 
off trade routes between the east and the west.
  Yet, while we are an artic nation, we lack the basic infrastructure 
to serve its people, to fulfill our responsibilities and take advantage 
of its opportunities. But it is not just me saying it. Just today the 
Northern Waters Task Force released a report calling for a better 
Arctic infrastructure. The Healy is our Nation's only operational polar 
icebreaker, and it is only rated as a medium-duty vessel. Our two 
heavy-duty icebreakers are both idle. The 36-year-old Polar Star is 
being retrofitted and should be operational again soon, but it has been 
proposed to send her sister ship, the Polar Sea, to the scrap heap.
  Since taking office, I have repeatedly called for recapitalizing the 
Nation's icebreaker fleet. A comprehensive Coast Guard study recently 
found that 6 to 10 icebreakers are needed just to meet the Coast 
Guard's statutory responsibilities. Until we have a firm plan to meet 
these needs, I have introduced legislation with Senator Cantwell to 
halt the dismantling of the Polar Sea until all options can be 
considered. Without icebreakers, we can neither meet our 
responsibilities nor take advantage of our opportunities as an Arctic 
nation. We are falling behind Arctic nations such as Russia, China--
which is not an Arctic nation but is building icebreakers--Canada and 
others as well. Russia is building a year-round Arctic port. Canada is 
conducting military operations. And, as I mentioned, China is building 
new icebreakers.
  America must build its Arctic infrastructure, such as a deepwater 
port to maintain our national presence as other nations make their 
claims to the Arctic. We need to maintain spill response capabilities, 
enhance communications, track the increasing vessel traffic using polar 
routes, strengthen communications and the base scientists who are 
researching the changing Arctic ecosystem.
  In addition, we need the legal framework to support our Arctic 
presence, and that means ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty. We 
need a robust scientific program to track changes in the Arctic which 
in the past has operated like a global air-conditioner.
  But scientists say, and the residents of the region confirm, that the 
Arctic is warming. As its ice pack diminishes, it is changing our 
weather. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, 
says there were a record 12 weather disasters in the United States 
costing more than $1 billion each in 2011. The hurricane force storm 
that blocked the fuel delivery to Nome isn't the only unusually severe 
weather facing my State. South central Alaska has had--and I will 
repeat this when I say it--24 feet of snow--24 feet of snow so far this 
winter. The cities of Cordova and Valdez know a thing or two about 
heavy winter snowfalls, but this is an unusual one for them.

[[Page 369]]

  In Cordova, buildings collapsed and avalanches cut the town off from 
its airport. That is a true concern since, like 80 percent of the rest 
of Alaska, Cordova is not connected by roads to the rest of the State.
  The Army and Air National Guard sent soldiers and airmen to the 
scene, and the State of Alaska sent over 100 State responders and heavy 
equipment to the town by the State ferry system. The whole town, along 
with the Guardsmen and the State workers, pitched in and worked around 
the clock to clear the snow off the streets and roofs as another snow 
and rain system was about to hit. The only problem: Alaskans can be 
rather enthusiastic and kept breaking every single one of those snow 
shovels. Eventually they ran out and had to have more snow shovels 
shipped in from out of State.
  Other parts of the State are affected as well. Boats capsized in the 
fishing port of Kodiak due to the heavy snow. Yesterday, once again, 
the Coast Guard came and performed their duty--not only one but two 
rescues of the crews of fishing vessels that sank near Kodiak Island.
  NOAA is closely watching the heaviest sea ice in decades in the 
Bering Sea, which threatens to close the important crab fisheries and 
destroy millions of dollars in fishing gear.
  Some politicians downgrade public service and say government can't do 
anything right. I am grateful for the government's response. I am 
grateful to the Coast Guardsmen on the Healy who gave up their holiday 
with their families to ensure Nome got its fuel, and I am grateful to 
the Alaska National Guard and State and local governments working to 
help dig out Cordova and Valdez.
  I know my time has expired, but I wish to say there is no question in 
my mind that the work the Coast Guard did, the National Guard, and many 
others, set us on a course to again recognize the incredible people who 
are doing incredible things in our State and around the country. As we 
continue to look at the vast resources of the Arctic, more of these 
resources will be necessary, and I know one thing about Americans, 
about Alaskans, and that is we will be ready to take on the challenges 
of the future.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.

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