Nation together. I yield the floor. Mister president , we all know it has been an extraordinary extraordinarily challenging time for our great nation. Of time that has been painful for so many of our fellow americans, but also been a time when people across the country have given so much to their communities, states, neighbors, it is a kind nation and proud nation and resilient nation, testing the character of the country. They are passing the test as americans, i believe that because ics everywhere, i see it in my state. And pandering to those in need, we see this across our nation, we see millions of our fellow citizens, people we have the privilege of representing in the United States senate stepping up with purpose and resolve, and we see greater appreciation for the dignity and value of our workers on the front lines of helping us get through this pandemic. I was in my home of the state, when you get to alaska you have a strict, 14 day quarantine. I was quarantined with my wife and three daughters hunkered down in anchorage. I was also able to still appreciate so much of what was happening in so many fellow citizens especially frontline workers. So many working day in and day out to make sure Grocery Stores are stocked. And Communication Systems are running, airplanes are filing and hospitals are open. Healthcare workers, teachers are extraordinary teachers finding creative ways, the list goes on and on in every state across the nation. The alaskan of the week, on the senate floor as we do. I was highlighting these workers, local 959 led by thirdgeneration teamster gary dixon. I want to say thank you to them. We talk about people who are telecommuting. We know there are a lot of people who cant do that. They are National Heroes right now, workers, essential workers on the front lines keeping our economy and supply lines open, moving, robust but now that i am back in dc and the senate is open again finally open again, the business of the senate is continuing, so does our alaskan of the week series from the floor of the u. S. Senate. One of my favorite times of the week where i get to focus on a special alaskan, the presiding officer said a lot too or group of alaskans that made alaska such a unique place. To focus on the stuff, frontline workers doing so much to get us through this pandemic. Some interesting and exciting news on monday in our state broke, big news born of a tragic situation. For that reason i thought i would have a different focus of our alaskan of the week. The alaskan of the week this week is an intrepid alaska reporter, kyle hopkins who led coverage in our local paper, the Anchorage Daily News that earned him the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, probably the most prestigious award in all american journalism surprise surprise. Carl hopkins, alaska reporter won that on monday. He won that for a 17 story series called lawless about the Public Safety crisis in rural alaska and the horrendous issue of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence in our state. As we all know we are confronting a pandemic in our country. I live in a great state, but we have a lot of challenges, social challenge like a lot of states. We are confronting this pandemic nationally. My state has been confronting an epidemic of Domestic Violence, sexual abuse that has been going on for years, decades, generations. Kyles series combined dog reporting, meticulous Fact Checking with the utmost sensitivity that a subject like this requires. Not an easy task. It was according to the Pulitzer Committee riveting Public Service reporting but it was so much more than that and i tell you it was very important to the state of alaska so let me tell you about our alaskan of the week, kyle hopkins and what made them qualified to write this series and why it had such an impact and i believe beginning, maybe i should say i hope, beginning to change to bring change to our Public Safety system and most importantly the unfortunate culture that responds this kind of abuse and violence. Kyle was born in beautiful sitka, alaska, in southeast alaska, his father was a teacher and came to california, came from california to teach the children of logging camp workers at a time when the southeast part of the state had a very vital timber industry. Family moved back to california after a few years but back to alaska again and then away and back again. Two small towns, one village, all in alaskas beautifully gorgeous southeast. For kyle the town provided the backdrop of a magical childhood. Spruce trees seems to rise to the clouds, aquatic universes and title basins, fish to catch, towering totem poles, it was all about basketball for him as it is for so many alaskan High Schoolers and kids traveling for tournaments in alaskas unique experience requiring trips on small bush planes, for kyle he remembered seeing the planes, remember the fairies. I remember thinking i was lucky to see and do these things. Even as a man he knew that. He went to the university of alaska fairbanks for college, searching for a subject that allowed him to read a lot and had an advisor recommended a journalism class. The rest you could say is history. During college he had host of internships across state, in journalism covering business, politics, sports, crime, all the usual beats and some of our best journalism and media establishments before moving to anchorage to work for the anchorage press, a weekly paper, then the k2 you channel to, our big tv station in alaska and the Anchorage Daily News. Throughout his reporting a few things constantly struck him. One were very big states but how few people even in alaska had been to a village in our state. They didnt know the challenges in the beauty of what we call rural alaska, the soul of alaska. More than 200 villages that. Our state most of which are not connected by any roads or infrastructure and he was always struck and increasingly deserved disturbed by the challenge at the outset of my remarks, very high rates of Sexual Violence we had in alaska. Depending on how you measured these three times the National Average, three times the National Average like so many of us in alaska he assumed someday the adults, the people in charge would do something about it until he realized at a certain point he was an adult and he had two children, two girls with his wife, rebecca, another intrepid reporter in alaska and he wanted to make alaska a better place not only for his girls but for all other children across the state, a state he knows and loves. The time was right to tackle this issue. The time was right for another reason. Throughout the state there was a more open discussion about this dark issue, this black mark on alaska. The issue of Sexual Assault. Brave women had started coming forward to tell their stories. Statewide initiative that i was part of called choose respect was launched over a decade ago, trying to address cultural changes in the me too movement came and more and more people were beginning to share their stories, trauma and abuse and to have the courage to do it because it takes courage. Not only captured many of those voices, he also began to dig into the larger issues of generational trauma in an issue that is so important in our state, lack of Law Enforcement in many of these places, so many small. Of across alaska. He did it all the while by capturing the complexities of a multi tiered Public Safety system in alaska, working with propublica he traveled throughout the state, reams of documents, talk to dozens of survivors, perpetrators, police officers, lawyers, you name it and that may try to capture the breadth and depth and heartache of his 17 part series told by a few headlines, these are some of the headlines of the stories in the Anchorage Daily News. One, discussing alaskas history of Sexual Violence is one step toward seeking solutions. Another headline. When in 3 alaska villages have no police, local police. Another headline, dozens of convicted criminals have been hired as cops in rural alaska, sometimes they are the only applicants. Another headline, she left from a van to escape her rapist and then she waited 18 years for the arrest to happen. You get the picture. Let me summarize the opening to one of the stories that a firstperson piece headlines, quote, why we are investigating Sexual Violence in alaska. This series is delving into this very difficult topic, a story, a horrible story of a very young girl in one of our villages, vanished from the playground, found later, sexually abused, murdered and it rips your heart out. These are the stories i have heard about and tried to address in Public Service in alaska that stories that hunter says alaskans. Countless alaskans, leaders, good citizens, difficult and Shocking Stories to tell, they must be told and that is what carl hopkins did and that was the Pulitzer Prize, those of the stories attorney general william barr confront, came to alaska last may. First or to any state in the country after he was confirmed as new attorney general as well. Senator murkowski and i, we talked to him in detail about these challenges and we did something that mattered and it gives a sense of why this series was so important, started sending the attorney general from carl hopkinss stories from the 17 part series, once he had written at this time so the attorney general knew before he even got there some of the challenges because of this reporting. When he came to our state, it was almost five days, a long visit, from survivors, Law Enforcement, lawyers, meeting dozens of alaskans throughout the state who worked on these issues some without a voice, many tribal members, it was a really important trip, he was given a beautiful gift, when he left he took a piece of alaska with him in his heart. I talked to him about alaska on the phone in this very series. He still makes him look trim. After returning to dc he began to focus on the department of justice on some of these big issues, declaring a Public Safety emergency in rural alaska and starting to free up significant resources to improve Public Safety in the states rural community. So the funding help send it is already put to good use but mister president , this is a story not just about money. As a matter of fact thats not even the important issue. The important issue is culture. We desperately need a cultural change. On these issues in alaska, that have been going on for way too long and that is another reason why kyles work is so important. You cant change the culture if you dont know how broken it is. Will it work . Does he think things will change . I wouldnt presume to know, he said when my team caught up with him tuesday, the day after the Pulitzer Prize was announced, already hard at work on another story, by the way. I hope things change, he said. That is one of the goals of a series like this but if nothing changes at least people will know about the injustice in our system and if it is going to continue, we are going to allow this to continue, it should be with our knowledge. That is his quote. This is my place, kyle added, talking about alaska and i dont want to live any other place, things are wrong. It shouldnt be for the next generation for my girls or other girls, something we should do about it or can do about it, that is his quote. That is right, we should do it, many of us in alaska, thousands of us in alaska are committed to this cause and have been committed to this cause for a long time and i believe kyles work helps a lot. I want to thank the Anchorage Daily News for supporting this, for recognizing the importance of this series. Series. Thank you, kyle, for your hard work and determination. Congratulations again, on winning the Pulitzer Prize and probably even more prestigious than winning the Pulitzer Prize for the United States, for the United States, being our alaskan of the week. I yield the floor. Sunday night on booktv on after words, growing up in the idaho mountains with survivalist parents in her book educated, a more. I think my mother did a pretty decent job of homeschooling. Shut seven kids, a midwife, on the farm. The was a lot of homeschool going on. I never took an exam. It was never anything like a lecture. Former u. S. Surgeon general with his book, together on the impact of loneliness on help. Finding myself grow into my email or social media feed, all google question, and i dont need to do that. Its so acceptable, its right there and apartment to it. But it does dilute the quality. We cannot multitask. Were actually switching between one thing and another very rapidly. This is why i think its homeport was to ask the question now how do we strengthen not only the quantity, but the quality of time. Watch tv this weekend on cspan2. Television has changed since cspan began 41 years ago but our Mission Continues to provide an unfiltered view of government. Already we brought you primary election coverage, the president ial impeachment process, and now the federal response to the coronavirus. You can watch all its Events Public Affairs programming on television, online or listen on our free radio app and be part of the National Conversation through cspans daily Washington Journal Program or through our social media feed. Cspan, created by private industry, americas cabletelevision company, as a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. Next, lindsay chervinsky, storing at the White House Historical association on George Washingtons presidency. This is a virtual author is it her book the cabinet George Washington and the creation of an american institution. Good afternoon. Welcome to white house history life. My name is Stewart Mclaurin and im the president of the White House Historical association. Today were going to have an exciting conversation with the head of our rubenstein senator whitehouse history and one of our historians on a brandnew book, the cabinet George Washington and the creation of an american institution. Ordinarily we would be doing this event at the Carriage House which is a base of operations on Lafayette Park but as were all working
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