333 



local economic problems and provide community stability, but now 

 we have to justify every federal dollar spent as a good investment. 

 The taxpayers of every state demand that. It is their money. 



Lastly, in the past, Alaska was far away from the rest of the 

 country. It is still far away but now people in every part of Amer- 

 ica know about Alaska, are interested in it, and care about its envi- 

 ronment. They know about the oil spill and they know about this 

 forest. It is their forest, too, and they want it to be protected from 

 harm. 



It is not my intent to stop timber harvest on the Tongass Nation- 

 al Forest or to close the mills in Sitka and Ketchikan, nor do I 

 think that will happen under my proposal. I do not see why those 

 mills should not, or cannot, operate under the same sorts of rules 

 the mills in every other state operate under. 



Will it be as easy for the mills as it is now? No. Maybe they will 

 have more things to worry about, including competition. 



I look forward to the testimony of the witnesses and I welcome 

 their input. We will bring back what you say to the other members 

 of the Committee, and I am sure that the Committee and the Con- 

 gress will have a lively debate on these issues. And I am looking 

 forward to working with the Committee members, with the Alaska 

 delegation and with other interested members on this important 

 issue. 



Again, I thank you all very much for being here. After other 

 opening statements, I will outline the rules of the Committee in its 

 operation today. 



I would like to turn now to our host. Senator Murkowski, and 

 say that we had a very good day yesterday in Ketchikan, a very 

 well-balanced and well thought-out presentation. The record that 

 was made was a very good one, and I am sure that we will have a 

 similar kind of a record today. And much of this comes because of 

 our good host, Senator Murkowski, and the careful work that he 

 has done. Frank, from all of of us, thank you very much. 



Senator Murkowski. 



STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK H. MURKOWSKI, U.S. SENATOR 



FROM ALASKA 



Senator Murkowski. Thank you very much, Tim. I want to 

 thank all of you responsible for hospitality last evening. I might 

 say the boat trip was well balanced and although we had different 

 views on either side of the boat we intermingled and and had a 

 lovely evening. It was a very fine way to introduce us to your com- 

 munity, although I am no stranger here. As many of you know, 

 Nancy and I lived here from 1955 to 1956 and I am very glad to be 

 back. 



I am pleased to see the sun shining. I always remember Sitka 

 with the sun shining. 



Today's hearing marks, I think, certainly a fulfillment of my 

 promise to Alaskans that no action would be taken on Congress 

 legislation until hearings were held in the communities most af- 

 fected. Unfortunately the Committee was unable to include Wran- 

 gell in the hearing schedule although I requested that. 



