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TESTIMONY BY 



Ralph D Lewis 



President 



Ketchikan Pulp Company 



BEFORE 



The House Resources Committee and 



The House Agriculture Committee 



CONCERNING 



The Contract Extension and Environment Improvement Act of 1996 



Washington, DC 



July 11. 1996 



Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee: 



Thank you for this opportunity to testify. My name is Ralph D Lewis, and I am 

 the President of Ketchikan Pulp Company (KPC). I have lived in Ketchikan, Alaska, and 

 have been a KPC employee for 30 years. KPC can employ over 1,000 workers in our 

 timber facilities, our Annette and Ketchikan sawmills, and our Ward Cove pulp mill and 

 administrative oflices. These workers produce a number of value-added timber 

 products, including sawn lumber and our high-quality Tongacell dissolving pulp. KPC 

 is the largest private employer in southeast Alaska. 



As a long-time, permanent resident of southeast Alaska, I am sincerely concerned 

 about the economic health of the timber industry and the City of Ketchikan's socio- 

 economic stability. Since 1990. Alaskans have lost over 42 percent of the forest 

 products industry jobs in the Tongass National Forest. That is why we support passage 

 ofS. 1877 and H.R. 3659. 



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