Enrolled HJR 29: Relating to the establishment of Reserve Officer Training Corps programs in Alaska by the United States Coast Guard.
00Enrolled HJR 29 01 Relating to the establishment of Reserve Officer Training Corps programs in Alaska by the 02 United States Coast Guard. 03 _______________ 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard is responsible for maritime law 06 enforcement, drug interdiction, and fisheries protection, in addition to providing maritime 07 search and rescue, saving countless lives in Alaska and other United States waters; and 08 WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard is the branch of the armed services with 09 primary responsibility for protecting the maritime borders of the United States; and 10 WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard performs a tremendous amount of work in 11 Alaska and provides critical services that affect the daily lives of the citizens of Alaska; and 12 WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard today has a heavier workload due to the 13 increased security measures necessary to protect the safety of the citizens of the United States; 14 and 15 WHEREAS a training program for reserve officers for the United States Coast Guard 16 Ready Reserve would help the United States Coast Guard provide essential services in times
01 of national and state emergency; and 02 WHEREAS a Reserve Officer Training Corps program would enhance educational 03 and career opportunities for students at the University of Alaska Southeast and other 04 University of Alaska campuses; and 05 WHEREAS an ROTC program would enhance the ability of the University of Alaska 06 to recruit high-level students from around the country; and 07 WHEREAS a high school Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program would 08 provide valuable education and career opportunities to Alaska high school students; and 09 WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard has had over 10 years of experience 10 operating a public high school JROTC program at the Maritime and Science Technology 11 Academy in Miami, Florida; and 12 WHEREAS Juneau, Alaska, is the headquarters for the Seventeenth Coast Guard 13 District; and 14 WHEREAS Kodiak, Alaska, is the largest United States Coast Guard installation in 15 the Seventeenth Coast Guard District; and 16 WHEREAS both programs would capitalize on the excellent relationship between the 17 United States Coast Guard and the communities in Alaska and further strengthen those ties; 18 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States Coast 19 Guard to create an ROTC program at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau; and be it 20 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 21 Coast Guard to expand its JROTC program by adding units at Juneau-Douglas High School in 22 Juneau, Alaska, and Kodiak High School in Kodiak, Alaska; and be it 23 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature strongly urges the United 24 States Congress to show its support for the United States Coast Guard and its missions by 25 funding these programs; and be it 26 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages the United 27 States Coast Guard to explore the feasibility of establishing ROTC and JROTC programs in 28 other coastal communities in Alaska. 29 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President 30 of the United States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-President of the United States 31 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House
01 of Representatives; the Honorable Bill Frist, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the 02 Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 03 Honorable Thomas Daschle, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Tom Ridge, 04 United States Secretary of Homeland Security; Admiral Thomas H. Collins, Commandant of 05 the United States Coast Guard; Rear Admiral Kenneth Venuto, Assistant Commandant for 06 Human Resources of the United States Coast Guard; Rear Admiral Robert C. Olsen, 07 Superintendent of the United States Coast Guard Academy; Rear Admiral James W. 08 Underwood, Commander of the Seventeenth Coast Guard District; Brigadier General Craig E. 09 Campbell, Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs; the 10 Honorable Mark Hamilton, President of the University of Alaska; John Pugh, Chancellor of 11 the University of Alaska Southeast; Betty Walters, Superintendent of the Kodiak Island 12 Borough School District; Margaret "Peggy" Cowan, Superintendent of the Juneau School 13 District; Bob Meade, Principal of Kodiak High School; Deborah Morse, Principal of Juneau- 14 Douglas High School; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, 15 U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 16 delegation in Congress.