Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.
[Pages S240-S241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING THE UNITED STATES COAST GUARD
Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to commend the Coast Guard
men and women who serve in Kodiak, AK, a designated Coast Guard City.
On February 7, Kodiak's Chamber of Commerce will hold a community-wide
celebration called ``We Applaud You.'' I want to take a moment to join
in applauding the Coast Guard as a whole and all the Coast Guard
personnel serving in Alaska, but especially those based in Kodiak who
help make our great State a safe place to live and work.
Kodiak is a robust Coast Guard City: it is homeport for three
cutters, fifteen aircraft, a communications detachment, the North
Pacific Regional Fisheries Training Center, the Aids to Navigation
Team, and of course, Base Kodiak. Each of these components serve and
protect Alaskans on a daily basis, and I would like to highlight some
particularly important examples of their contributions and service to
Alaska.
Personnel from the Marine Safety Detachment in Kodiak helped oversee
and coordinate multiple pollution responses on Kodiak Island last year,
including responding to a diesel spill in the Buskin River, and a
separate spill of Fuel Oil at Kitoi Bay Hatchery. The Marine Safety
Detachment's prompt actions and clean-up expertise helped keep the
island of Kodiak's rivers and coastline beautiful and safe. My sincere
thanks to Marine Safety Detachment Kodiak.
On New Year's Eve, the search and rescue team, including Air Station
Kodiak and the Coast Guard Cutter Mellon responded to a sinking fishing
vessel, the F/V Scandies Rose. The crews faced 40-knot winds, 15-30
foot seas and significantly reduced visibility at the scene of the
sinking. The search and rescue team successfully recovered two
survivors from a life raft but the five remaining crew members were
lost. My heart goes out to the families and friends of those lost at
sea. The crew of the Scandies Rose is in my prayers; this accident has
hit especially close to home for Kodiak, which is a tight-knit fishing
community, as well as a Coast Guard City.
As we mourn the loss of the Scandies Rose, we are incredibly grateful
for the efforts of the Coast Guard to rescue the survivors in the face
of extremely dangerous conditions. We see these type of heroic actions
in movies, but the Coast Guard in Alaska operates in dangerous, life-
threatening conditions every day in order to keep Alaskans safe. To the
entire search and rescue team, we applaud you, and Alaska thanks you.
Now, I also want to sincerely thank Base Kodiak, the home of ``Rock
Solid Support.'' Your work behind the scenes provides the foundation
for all of the ready and responsive work done by those on the front
lines. You truly are the rock solid support that keeps things moving,
whether it is the medical and dental clinics keeping over a thousand
people healthy; the Morale Welfare and Recreation team keeping the crew
happy and energized--and in shape--the personnel support staff who
recently completed a 5-year effort to increase salaries and close a
long overdue pay gap for wage grade members across Alaska; or the
facilities engineering department, who have improved living conditions
for Kodiak's most junior Coast Guard members by converting housing
units to allow two single members to share them.
It is so important to me that our junior Coast Guard men and women
are able to enjoy improved housing arrangements while away from home,
maybe for the first time. Maybe they will be so comfortable in Kodiak
that they want to come back to Alaska and call it home. I applaud all
450 personnel of Base Kodiak who keep the Coast Guard operations going.
Finally, I want to take a minute to speak to the contributions and
sacrifice of our Coast Guard families, partners, and spouses. So much
of the demanding work that our Coast Guard
[[Page S241]]
men and women do each day is made possible by the love and support of
their families. This is especially true when additional burdens are
placed on Coast Guard personnel, like we experienced this time last
year, when the Coast Guard was left unpaid during the 35-day government
shutdown. Here in Congress, I will continue to work with Senator
Sullivan to pass the Pay Our Coast Guard Act, which will ensure that a
lapse in pay from a government shutdown never happens again. Our Coast
Guard families deserve nothing less.
Thank you to the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce for their work to honor
our Coast Guard members in Alaska. I applaud you as well for your
support for those who serve and for taking the time to say thank you
and well done to our Coast Guard Family.
____________________