newsminer.com

WASHINGTON — Sens. Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Senate’s passage of the Alaska Statehood Act on Thursday with an Alaska flag cake and 45 minutes of speeches on the Senate floor.

The Senate approved the statehood act by a vote of 64 to 20 on June 30, 1958. President Dwight Eisenhower signed the measure into law a week later and Alaska officially became a state on Jan. 3, 1959.

The statehood act passed the House by a 210-166 vote.

During the 1958 Senate debate, Stevens, then a young attorney at the Department of the Interior, was standing in the press gallery overlooking the Senate floor with Fairbanks Daily-News publisher C.W. Snedden.

After the vote, Stevens said he stopped at the small chapel in the Senate to thank those who voted for statehood.

On Thursday, Stevens held up a 1958 edition of the News-Miner with a full-page cartoon of Sourdough Jack advocating for statehood on the front page. Stevens said Snedden, a strong advocate for statehood, published a two-page spread with all of the arguments against voting for Alaska — the yellowed pages were blank.

Stevens, 84, said the press were generally in support of statehood.

“The American press took up the sword to see Alaska become a state,” he said.

Murkowski held up a blown-up photo of Eisenhower, territorial Gov. Mike Stepovich and Interior Secretary Fred Seaton with a copy of the Anchorage Daily News with the headline “We’re in.”

Stevens and Murkowski were joined by senators from Idaho and Washington state for a partial re-enactment of the 1958 floor debate.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., stood in for statehood supporters Sens. Henry “Scoop” Jackson and Warren Magnuson. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, spoke on behalf of former Sen. Frank Church.

Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867 for 2 cents an acre, but the deal was still lampooned as a waste of federal money.

The territory received its first representation in Congress in 1906. In 1949, an 11-member bipartisan committee was formed to publicize the need for statehood, but it wasn’t until the state constitution was drafted in Fairbanks in 1955 that the movement really gained momentum.

Alaska’s efforts to be admitted into the Union as a full state were thwarted, in part, by the salmon cannery industry, which took 30 percent of the territory’s annual salmon catch and had little interest in sharing the wealth, Murkowski said.

The arguments against granting statehood included that Alaska wasn’t sufficiently politically developed, that it was too large and sparsely populated and that it would be a huge burden on the federal treasury.

The national Republican Party also opposed statehood for Alaska, in part out of fear that Alaska would elect Democrats to Congress.

Some even argued that Alaska wasn’t connected to the rest of the country and could be susceptible to Soviet influence.

“You know, Alaska’s statehood, as you’ve heard, was controversial a half century ago, but I think time has proven that the United States is a greater nation thanks to the Land of the Midnight Sun,” Murray said.

Kudos for cookies

The statehood celebration earned Murkowski staffers Anne Johnson, originally from Anchorage, and D.C. native Sally Rey a mention in Roll Call’s Heard on the Hill column on Thursday for their homemade ginger cookies in the shape of Alaska.

“We love Alaska, and we’re so proud of this anniversary that we figured why not do a little baking,” Johnson told Roll Call. “Cookies are my specialty, so I figured, why not?”

The cookies, with yellow and blue icing, were a big hit at Thursday’s celebration, which was held on the balcony of Stevens’ Capitol hideaway overlooking the national Mall.

Benson endorsement

The 21st Century Democrats has endorsed Diane Benson in the Democratic primary for Rep. Don Young’s seat.

Benson is running against former state legislator Ethan Berkowitz in the Democratic primary.

Wendy Davis, the national field director for 21st Century Democrats, said the group chose Benson because she applied for the endorsement. Berkowitz did not.

The Berkowitz team said they did not seek the endorsement, but were not asked to apply.

Davis said the group does not recruit applicants from every race across the country, but invites all Democrats to apply.

Benson was one of 27 Democrats chosen for endorsement by the 21st Century Democrats at a recent meeting of its board of directors.

“She certainly matches up (to) our organization in terms of her political stance and progressive values,” Davis told Roll Call.

The 21st Century Democrats was founded to support progressive and populist candidates.

Labor for Young, Berkowitz

The state’s largest labor union, the AFL-CIO, endorsed Young in his bid to win the Republican primary in the House race.

The AFL-CIO also is endorsing Berkowitz in the Democratic primary for the House. The dual endorsement will be revisited after the primary at the AFL-CIO state convention in August.

“It is important for us to distinguish the candidates who are strongest on labor issues in seriously contested primaries,” AFL-CIO President Vince Beltrami said in a prepared statement. “They both have outstanding labor records and we will be urging our members to support them in the primary.”

The Cook Political Report lists the Alaska House race as a Republican toss up between Young and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell.

The labor organization voted earlier this month to back Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, a Democrat, in the race for Stevens’ Senate seat.

Unalaska Mayor Shirley Marquardt announced she was endorsing Stevens in the Senate race because of his long support for fisheries issues.

“His skill in successfully navigating the chaotic waters of the United States Senate has been the single most effective tool in Alaska’s ability to grow and prosper during this time,” Marquardt said in a prepared statement.