[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3823-3824]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               KCAM RADIO

 Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I wish to honor Alaska radio 
station KCAM on its 50th anniversary on the air.
  KCAM, is a radio station located in Glennallen, AK, and it literally 
had an earth-shattering start. That is because KCAM signed onto the air 
under emergency orders late on the day of the Great Alaskan earthquake, 
on March 27, 1964. While the station had been planned and in 
preparation for going on air, its broadcast air date was advanced under 
emergency orders by the Federal Communications Commission so it could 
provide lifesaving information and aid in disaster relief 
communications following the largest earthquake ever recorded in North 
America.
  At 5:36 p.m. Alaska Standard Time on Good Friday, nearly 50 years 
ago, an earthquake struck deep beneath Miners Lake in northern Prince 
William Sound, just 90 miles southwest of Glennallen. The quake, which 
then measured 8.6 on the Richter scale but which has since been revised 
upwards to 9.2, sent shockwaves up to 700 miles away. The earthquake 
and resulting tsunami killed 131 people, 115 in Alaska and others in 
California and on the west coast. Amazingly only 12 people were killed 
by collapsing buildings and the quake itself, 119 in the tsunami that 
followed.
  The earthquake, which lasted more than 4 minutes, released 10 million 
times more energy than the atomic bomb that devastated Hiroshima, 
Japan, according to a story in The Alaska Almanac. The quake devastated 
Southcentral Alaska, inundating Valdez and other coastal villages, 
destroying whole blocks in downtown Anchorage, the State's now largest 
city, but causing significant damage even north of the Chugach Mountain 
Range, where Glennallen is nestled.
  KCAM, found at 790 on the AM radio dial, signed on in a part of east 
central Alaska, in the Center of the Copper River Valley, that then and 
even now is underserved by broadcast communication outlets. Then as now 
the station provides vital weather information, travel reports--valued 
by motorists on the Alaska Highway, the only surface route between 
Interior Alaska and the Lower 48 States--plus news, sports and music. 
The relative isolation of the region is highlighted by the fact that 
Caribou Clatters, the station's on air community bulletin board, is a 
valued way for area residents to get personal news to friends who live 
off the highway, in remote cabins not served by the array of 
telecommunication devices that many Americans today take for granted. 
It is a real ``News from Lake Wobegon'' feature, far different than 
radio in urban America today.
  It was no small feat for KCAM to sign onto the air--having 
electricity and a broadcast antenna still standing--in the hours just 
after the great earthquake, broadcasting a signal to warn drivers on 
the highway heading toward the Anchorage area of the damage ahead and 
dangers they were to face and to give vital information to Interior 
Alaskans to help them survive the late winter when normal supply 
deliveries were largely impossible.
  The station today, while operating in less challenging times, serves 
as a ministry of the 40-year-old Alaska Bible College. It is staffed by 
broadcast professionals ``who love the Lord and are committed to 
bringing excellence in radio'' to the community of about 600 residents 
plus visitors. It also now offers an all-music station, 88.7 FM, which 
is staffed by Alaska Bible College students who are involved as board 
operators, broadcasters, office workers, and reporters--many receiving 
training in broadcasting through an introductory course offered each 
fall semester by station manager Scott Yahr.
  The station, as I know firsthand from my appearances on it, provides 
residents of the Copper River Valley State political news that allows 
them to make informed ballot choices and to know how to dress for the 
day ahead through its weather updates. It is a great pleasure to 
congratulate Scott, program director Michelle Eastty, and special 
projects director Roger Bovee on the station's 50th anniversary. I know 
the station will be formally celebrating its golden anniversary during 
a

[[Page 3824]]

celebration banquet to be held on Saturday, April 12, but I wanted in 
advance to wish everyone connected to the station and all of its 
committed listeners a happy anniversary and a wish that the station 
continue to broadcast vital weather bulletins, important State and 
community news, and music and entertainment features for many decades 
to come.

                          ____________________