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 101, 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 101(STA) moved from the Senate State Affairs Standing Committee.