Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 124.djvu/3077

 124 STAT. 3051 PUBLIC LAW 111–284—OCT. 18, 2010 of his career in the Senate, Ted Stevens served as assistant Republican leader, Chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics, Chairman of the Committee on Rules and Administration, Chairman of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, Chair- man of the Committee on Appropriations, and Chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; (6) Ted Stevens worked tirelessly for the enactment of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), which provided for the conveyance of approximately 44,000,000 acres of land in the State of Alaska to the Aleut, Eskimo, and Indian peoples and created Native Corporations to secure the long-term economic, cultural, and political empowerment of the Native peoples of the State of Alaska; (7) Ted Stevens was a leader in shaping the communica- tions policies of the United States, as he helped to establish the spectrum auction policy, negotiated the Telecommunications Act of 1996, authored the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 (47 U.S.C. 309 note; Public Law 109–171), and passionately advocated for the connection of rural America to the rest of the world and to improve the lives of the people of the United States through the use of telemedicine and distance learning; (8) Ted Stevens was a conservationist who championed the safe development of the natural resources of the United States, as illustrated by his authorship of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act (43 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.), the Magnu- son-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), which established the 200-mile exclusive economic zone and led to a reduction in the dominance of foreign fishing fleets in the fisheries of the United States, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–479; 120 Stat. 3575), which established conservation measures designed to end overfishing, and the High Seas Driftnet Fisheries Enforce- ment Act (16 U.S.C. 1826a et seq.), which provided for the denial of entry into ports of the United States and the imposi- tion of sanctions on vessels carrying out large-scale driftnet fishing beyond the exclusive economic zone of any nation; (9) Ted Stevens was committed to health and fitness in his personal life and in his legislative accomplishments, as illustrated by his authorship of the Ted Stevens Amateur and Olympic Sports Act (36 U.S.C. 220501 et seq.), his encourage- ment of providing equality to female athletes through the enact- ment of title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), and his leadership in improving physical education programs in schools through the Carol M. White Physical Education Program (20 U.S.C. 7261 et seq.); (10) Ted Stevens unconditionally supported the needs of the Armed Forces of the United States through visits to soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and Coast Guardsmen in every major military conflict and war zone where United States military personnel have been assigned during his service in the Senate, including Vietnam, Kuwait, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghani- stan, and in his role as Chairman and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations for more than 20 years;