00Enrolled HJR 31                                                                                                         
01 Urging the United States Congress to pass the Honor the Written Intent of our Soldier Heroes                            
02 Act.                                                                                                                    
03                                       _______________                                                                   
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                             
05      WHEREAS federal law under 10 U.S.C. 1482(c) prohibits a service member from                                      
06 designating a person other than a surviving spouse, blood relative, or adoptive relative to                             
07 direct the disposal of a service member's remains; and                                                                  
08      WHEREAS, before deploying on a combat operation, a service member is asked to                                    
09 designate a person who will be responsible for arranging the service member's memorial                                  
10 services and overseeing the service member's burial arrangements; and                                                   
11      WHEREAS service members fill out DD Form 93, on which they express their last                                    
12 wishes with the expectation that their last wishes regarding memorial services and burial                               
13 arrangements will be honored; and                                                                                       
14      WHEREAS, since 2003, more than 4,000 service members who have served                                             
15 honorably have given their lives in combat; and                                                                         
16      WHEREAS a service member deploying on a combat operation in defense of our                                       
17 country should be allowed to designate any person the service member wishes to direct the                               

01 disposition of the service member's remains; and                                                                        
02      WHEREAS H.R. 1633, the Honor the Written Intent of our Soldier Heroes Act, also                                  
03 referred to as the Honor the WISH Act, amends 10 U.S.C. 1482(c) to allow a service member                               
04 to designate any person the service member wishes to direct the disposition of the service                              
05 member's remains, regardless of the designated person's relationship to the service member;                             
06      BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                         
07 Congress to pass H.R. 1633, the Honor the Written Intent of our Soldier Heroes Act.                                     
08      COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Pete Geren, United States                               
09 Secretary of the Army; the Honorable Donald C. Winter, United States Secretary of the Navy;                             
10 the Honorable Michael B. Donley, United States Secretary of the Air Force; the Honorable                                
11 Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable                                     
12 Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of                                
13 the Alaska delegation in Congress.