04/12/2011 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS

                     HB 101-TED STEVENS DAY                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
9:12:34 AM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI announced the next  order of business would be                                                               
HB 101,  which would establish  the fourth Saturday of  each July                                                               
as Ted Stevens Day. [CSHB 101(STA) was before the committee.]                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
9:12:56 AM                                                                                                                    
ERIN SHINE, staff to Representative  Craig Johnson, sponsor of HB
, said  that Ted Stevens  dedicated his  life to the  state of                                                               
Alaska. The  purpose of HB  101 is  to establish Ted  Stevens Day                                                               
each year in  Alaska. At the request of his  family, the original                                                               
date of  November 18 was changed  to the fourth Saturday  in July                                                               
each  year, so  that Alaskans  could observe  the day  in outdoor                                                               
activities, as Senator Stevens loved to do.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI opened public testimony.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
9:14:55 AM                                                                                                                    
ROSITA WORL,  PhD., President, Sealaska Heritage  Institute, said                                                               
she  had the  pleasure of  working with  Senator Stevens  through                                                               
Sealaska and with  the Alaska Federation of Natives.  She said it                                                               
is important  to note some  of the  wonderful things he  did, "He                                                               
was  our uncle  but he  was  also our  brother." He  was given  a                                                               
Tlingit name,  "The Bear Who  Went Up  Into Space." She  noted he                                                               
was a  member of the same  clan as Senator Kookesh.  The name was                                                               
given after he had proven himself,  not only to the Native people                                                               
but  to the  state  of  Alaska. Beyond  bringing  money into  the                                                               
state, he was a moral and principled man.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
He  fought  for  the  settlement  of  the  Alaska  Native  Claims                                                               
Settlement  Act (ANCSA).  All Alaskans  today  benefit from  that                                                               
act; ANCSA has been an economic  engine for Alaska. It was really                                                               
important to  Senator Stevens to  make sure that  Native children                                                               
had this  connection to their  land. The First Peoples  of Alaska                                                               
are forever  grateful to him  for doing  that. He wanted  to make                                                               
sure that  the state would  have management  of its own  fish and                                                               
game; that is a task the state still needs to address.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
If any Alaska  Natives ever doubt the love he  had for them, they                                                               
only need  look at the  health care  that he is  responsible for.                                                               
Alaska Native  Medical Center in  Anchorage is a tribute  to what                                                               
he wanted to do, to make  certain the physical and social welfare                                                               
of Alaska Natives were cared for.  She said she wanted to say, on                                                               
the record  on behalf  of Alaska  Native people;  Senator Stevens                                                               
was a great man.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
9:19:03 AM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR MEYER asked about the Tlingit name.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MS. WORL explained it was taken from  a mask of a brown bear that                                                               
had been  placed in a  spaceship by a  young Tlingit man  who was                                                               
working for  NASA; hence it was  called "The Brown Bear  Who Went                                                               
Up Into Space." The mask hangs in the Sealaska Building today.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR MEYER asked if she knew the Tlingit pronunciation.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
MS. WORL answered she did not remember, but she could get it.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR KOOKESH  observed that she  could have said any  words in                                                               
Tlingit and the committee would have accepted it.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI said  that as he travels around  the state for                                                               
hearings, it is  obvious that every place in Alaska,  down to the                                                               
smallest  village,  has  been   positively  impacted  by  Senator                                                               
Stevens.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  WIELECHOWSKI noted  a letter  from  Lilly Stevens  Becker,                                                               
Senator Stevens' youngest daughter, was in the record.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR WIELECHOWSKI closed public testimony  and asked the will of                                                               
the committee.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
9:20:49 AM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR PASKVAN  moved to report CS  for HB 101, version  I, from                                                               
committee  with  individual  recommendations  and  attached  zero                                                               
fiscal note.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  WIELECHOWSKI   announced  that  without   objection,  CSHB
(STA) moved from the Senate State Affairs Standing Committee.