00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 16                                                                     
01 Relating to federal procurement preferences for small businesses in the state that are                                  
02 owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans.                                                                      
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS the state has a compelling public interest in ensuring that small                                       
05 businesses in the state that are owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans receive                              
06 every reasonable opportunity provided for them by 15 U.S.C. 644(g) (Veterans                                            
07 Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act of 1999); and                                                       
08       WHEREAS 15 U.S.C. 644(g) establishes a three percent federal procurement goal for                               
09 small businesses in the state that are owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans; and                           
10       WHEREAS the state also has a compelling public interest in ensuring that the small                              
11 businesses in the state that are owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans receive sole                         
12 source and restricted competition contracts under 15 U.S.C. 657f (Veterans Benefits Act of                              
13 2003) for goods and services used by the federal government; and                                                        
14       WHEREAS the state has a compelling public interest in ensuring that the provisions                              
15 of presidential Executive Order 13360 that implement the provisions of 15 U.S.C. 644(g) and                             
16 15 U.S.C. 657f relating to small businesses in the state that are owned and controlled by                               

01 service-disabled veterans are carried out in the state; and                                                             
02       WHEREAS some federal agencies either refuse or fail to comply with 15 U.S.C.                                    
03 644(g), 15 U.S.C. 657f, and Executive Order 13360 as they relate to small businesses in the                             
04 state that are owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans;                                                       
05       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that the                                 
06 President of the United States direct all federal agencies in the state to fully comply with 15                         
07 U.S.C. 644(g), 15 U.S.C. 657f, and Executive Order 13360 as they relate to the small                                    
08 businesses in the state that are owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans; and be it                           
09       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that                                   
10 the U.S. House Small Business Committee, the U.S. House Committee on Veterans' Affairs,                                 
11 the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and the U.S. Senate                                   
12 Committee on Veterans' Affairs hold joint oversight hearings into the refusal or failure of                             
13 federal agencies in the state to meet, as the United States Congress and the federal                                    
14 administration intended, the required goals and performance standards in each approved                                  
15 federal agency strategic procurement plan for small businesses in the state that are owned and                          
16 controlled by service-disabled veterans; and be it                                                                      
17       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that                                   
18 the joint oversight hearings be held in the state to confront directly those federal agencies in                        
19 the state that have failed or refused to fully comply with 15 U.S.C. 644(g), 15 U.S.C. 657f,                            
20 and Executive Order 13360 as they relate to the small businesses in the state that are owned                            
21 and controlled by service-disabled veterans.                                                                            
22       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                             
23 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and                          
24 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Robert C. Byrd, President Pro Tempore of the                                
25 U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the                              
26 Honorable Daniel Akaka, Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs; the                                    
27 Honorable John F. Kerry, Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and                                       
28 Entrepreneurship; the Honorable Bob Filner, Chair of the U.S. House Committee on Veterans'                              
29 Affairs; the Honorable Nydia M. Velazquez, Chair of the U.S. House Small Business                                       
30 Committee; the Honorable Michael B. Donley, Secretary of the U.S. Air Force; the Honorable                              
31 Pete Geren, Secretary of the U.S. Army; the Honorable James B. Peake, M.D., United States                               

01 Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark                                  
02 Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the                                 
03 Alaska delegation in Congress.