Political Quotes

“Mr. President, in the past month, I have come to the floor to recognize Alaskans who have generously devoted their time and talents to our State and made it a better place for all of us to live in. It is a great place to live. There is a mystique surrounding my great State--a well-earned mystique. People travel to Alaska from all over the world to discover a part of themselves that craves high peaks, beautiful mountains, streams, and swaths of wilderness. The real wonders of Alaska are our people--kind and generous people, many of whom have etched warm homes and welcoming communities out of wilderness. One of those people who has helped make my State truly extraordinary is Mona Painter, our Alaskan of the Week. Mona, who will be 80 years old soon, first visited Alaska when she was just 11 in 1949. She flew, by herself, with others in a tiny four- engine passenger plane to visit relatives. In the 1950s, she moved to Alaska for good and eventually settled in Cooper Landing. Cooper Landing has about 350 year-round residents, but that number swells in the summer. It has some of the best fishing and rafting anywhere in the world--an astonishingly beautiful place.…”