Political Quotes

“I enjoyed that little bit of history there. I am sure that the Irish everywhere--and those who are, perhaps, not quite as Irish--will find good reason to celebrate on March 17 whether one is in Florida or in the Northeast or in Alaska, as the Presiding Officer certainly knows. The Iditarod Mr. President, I am here to share a little bit of Alaska. I know that the Presiding Officer will also appreciate the update on an event that we in Alaska celebrate every year and have for the past 46 years--the annual Iditarod race. This is a sled dog race of international fame, a race that begins just outside of Anchorage, AK, and ends in Nome. It is about 1,000 miles. I think this year's southern route was 998 miles to be exact. It is one of the longest sled dog races on Earth, and it travels over some pretty interesting terrain. ``Interesting'' is a choice word to use as you cross mountains and frozen tundra and forests and the frozen ice. The Iditarod is, truly, a race for only the most hardy, only the best. The Iditarod, itself, commemorates the deadly 1925 diphtheria outbreak that happened in Nome. There was no way to get the diphtheria antitoxin from the coastal area, down in Seward at the time, all the way up to Nome. This was before we had air transport as a viable option. So the real question was, How do you move this? How do you move this quickly? It was the middle of the winter. This was not a race.…”