00                         HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 7                                                                         
01 Dedicating the House Resources Committee Room of the Alaska State Capitol to the late                                   
02 Representative Ramona L. Barnes.                                                                                        
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:                                                                         
04       WHEREAS former State Representative Ramona L. Barnes exemplified Alaska's                                       
05 pioneer spirit and was proof of the American dream; and                                                                 
06       WHEREAS the late Representative Barnes lived her life in dedicated public service,                              
07 from community organizations and national clubs, to taking her place on the Elmendorf Air                               
08 Force Base School Board, to becoming the longest serving woman legislator in Alaska state                               
09 history; and                                                                                                            
10       WHEREAS Representative Barnes was the first woman to hold every legislative                                     
11 leadership position, from majority leader, minority leader, and minority whip, to becoming                              
12 the first female speaker of the House of Representatives, Legislature of the State of Alaska;                           
13 and                                                                                                                     
14       WHEREAS Ramona L. Barnes never accepted limitations, using her will to make a                                   
15 way, using strategic thought to make a plan, and using relationships to make it happen; and                             
16       WHEREAS Representative Barnes believed strongly in self-reliance, hard work, and                                

01 helping others help themselves, and modeled these beliefs throughout her life; and                                      
02       WHEREAS Representative Barnes was a prominent leader in development of the                                      
03 state's natural resources, job creation, Alaska's judicial system, innovative programs related to                       
04 the Department of Corrections, and in promoting the "Last Frontier"; and                                                
05       WHEREAS Ramona L. Barnes, as speaker of the House of Representatives, took an                                   
06 extraordinary class of freshman legislators and transformed them into leaders in the legislative                        
07 tradition; and                                                                                                          
08       WHEREAS Representative Barnes respected the dignity of each of the offices to                                   
09 which she was elected, honoring the traditions and elevating the status of each position, often                         
10 redefining what it meant to hold that title; and                                                                        
11       WHEREAS Representative Barnes thoroughly knew legislative rules and legislative                                 
12 procedures, and used that knowledge effectively to promote or prevent passage of legislation,                           
13 to encourage people, and to shape debate on public issues; and                                                          
14       WHEREAS Ramona L. Barnes impressed heads of state and touched the hearts of                                     
15 Alaskans as she made her personal and political journey from the tiny town of Pikeville,                                
16 Tennessee, to the speaker's podium of the House of Representatives of the Legislature of the                            
17 State of Alaska;                                                                                                        
18       BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives that the House Resources                                         
19 Committee Room, currently Room 124 of the Alaska State Capitol, is dedicated to                                         
20 Representative Ramona L. Barnes, whose outstanding service as a member of the body                                      
21 spanned two decades; and be it                                                                                          
22       FURTHER RESOLVED that a bronze plaque shall be placed on or near the door of                                    
23 the room celebrating her legislative leadership achievements bearing the following                                      
24 inscription:                                                                                                            
25                  THE RAMONA L. BARNES COMMITTEE ROOM                                                                    
26            The Ramona L. Barnes Committee Room memorializes the dedication                                              
27       of former Representative Ramona L. Barnes, who served for two decades as a                                        
28       member of the Alaska House of Representatives, as Assistant Minority Leader,                                      
29       Minority Leader, and Majority Leader of the body, and as Speaker of the                                           
30       House of Representatives during the Eighteenth State Legislature (1993 -                                          
31       1994), the first woman to be elected by her colleagues to that position.  As a                                    

01       member of the House of Representatives, Representative Barnes strongly                                            
02       supported the development of the state's resources and the creation of jobs, the                                  
03       Alaska Court System, innovative programs for corrections, and promoting the                                       
04       "Last Frontier."  Her colleagues remember Representative Barnes as                                                
05       exceptionally knowledgeable of legislative rules and procedures, as a person                                      
06       who used that knowledge effectively in debate on public issues, as someone                                        
07       who respected the dignity of each of the leadership positions she held,                                           
08       honoring the traditions and elevating the status of each of them, and as a                                        
09       member who always upheld the traditions of the Alaska House of                                                    
10       Representatives as an institution.                                                                                
11       A COPY of this resolution shall be presented to the family of the late Ramona L.                                
12 Barnes, former Alaska State Representative.