00                CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 14(STA)                                                               
01 Urging that the 2006 National Veterans Wheelchair Games be held in Anchorage,                                           
02 Alaska.                                                                                                                 
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS wheelchair sports play an important role in the lives of disabled people;                               
05 and                                                                                                                     
06       WHEREAS the National Veterans Wheelchair Games is a multi-event sports and                                      
07 rehabilitation program for military service veterans who use wheelchairs for sports                                     
08 competitions due to spinal cord injuries, amputations, or certain neurological problems; and                            
09       WHEREAS the National Veterans Wheelchair Games provide opportunities for                                        
10 newly disabled veterans to gain sports skills and associate with other wheelchair athletes; and                         
11       WHEREAS the National Veterans Wheelchair Games is the largest annual                                          
12 wheelchair sporting event in the world; and                                                                             
13       WHEREAS the United States Department of Veterans Affairs sponsored the National                                 
14 Veterans Wheelchair Games from 1981 through 1984; and                                                                   
15       WHEREAS, since 1985, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Paralyzed                                     
16 Veterans of America have co-sponsored the National Veterans Wheelchair Games; and                                       

01       WHEREAS the 2002 National Veterans Wheelchair Games drew more than 500                                          
02 competing veterans; and                                                                                                 
03       WHEREAS the sponsors are tentatively planning to hold the 2006 National Veterans                                
04 Wheelchair Games in Anchorage, Alaska; and                                                                              
05       WHEREAS 550 to 600 disabled veterans are expected to participate in the week-long                               
06 events that are part of the 2006 National Veterans Wheelchair Games; and                                                
07       WHEREAS the 2006 National Veterans Wheelchair Games are expected to bring                                       
08 approximately 1,300 to 1,500 visitors, participants, and families to the Municipality of                                
09 Anchorage; and                                                                                                          
10       WHEREAS the Municipality of Anchorage is a warm, hospitable, wheelchair                                         
11 accessible city with plenty of space for accommodating visitors, families, and participants in                          
12 the 2006 National Veterans Wheelchair Games; and                                                                        
13       WHEREAS the Municipality of Anchorage is within driving distance of many parts                                  
14 of the state, which offers all visitors, families, and participants tremendous recreational                             
15 viewing, wildlife, sporting, cultural, and other visitor opportunities;                                                 
16       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges Anthony J. Principi,                                     
17 Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and Joseph L. Fox, Sr., President of the Paralyzed Veterans of                           
18 America to hold the 2006 National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Anchorage, Alaska.                                       
19       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Donald Rumsfeld, United                                
20 States Secretary of Defense; the Honorable Anthony Principi, United States Secretary of                                 
21 Veterans Affairs; the Honorable Craig Campbell, Adjutant General, Department of Military                                
22 and Veterans' Affairs; Joseph L. Fox, Sr., President, Paralyzed Veterans of America; The                                
23 Honorable George Wuerch, Mayor of the Municipality of Anchorage; the Honorable Mark                                     
24 Begich, Mayor-elect of the Municipality of Anchorage; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and                              
25 the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                          
26 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.