00                      SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 11                                                                    
01 Relating to urging that the 2006 National Veterans Wheelchair Games be held in                                          
02 Anchorage, 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 be exposed to other wheelchair athletes; and                          
11       WHEREAS the National Veterans Wheelchair Games is the largest annual wheel                                    
12 chair 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 2006 National Veterans Wheelchair Games events; and                                                                     
07       WHEREAS the 2006 National Veterans Wheelchair Games are expected to bring                                       
08 approximately 1,300 to 1,500 visitors to Anchorage in the form of participants and their                                
09 families alone; and                                                                                                     
10       WHEREAS the 2006 National Veterans Wheelchair Games are anticipated to bring                                    
11 millions of dollars into Alaska's economy over the week-long course of the games;                                       
12       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges Anthony J. Principi,                                     
13 Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and Joseph L. Fox, Sr., President of the Paralyzed Veterans of                           
14 America to hold the 2006 National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Anchorage, Alaska.                                       
15       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Anthony Principi, United                               
16 States Secretary of Veterans Affairs; to Joseph L. Fox, Sr., President, Paralyzed Veterans of                           
17 America; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S.                                        
18 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska                                       
19 delegation in Congress.