00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 37                                                                     
01 Urging the United States Congress, the President of the United States, and the United                                   
02 States Secretary of State to support the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.                                      
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS the Keystone XL pipeline will bring crude oil in the form of blended                                    
05 bitumen from the oil sands region in Alberta, Canada, to oil refineries along the American                              
06 Gulf Coast; and                                                                                                         
07       WHEREAS the Keystone XL pipeline will bring oil from Canada to American                                         
08 refineries that can replace oil from other locations, including the Middle East and Venezuela;                          
09 and                                                                                                                     
10       WHEREAS construction of the Keystone XL pipeline will bring long-term security to                               
11 American refineries by supplying them with a product from a stable region with known                                    
12 reserves of over 175,000,000,000 barrels of crude oil and from a country with a history as the                          
13 leading trading partner of America; and                                                                               
14       WHEREAS the American Gulf Coast refining infrastructure is uniquely designed to                                 
15 refine heavy crude, including blended bitumen, from the Canadian oil sands because                                      
16 extensive upgrades have been made to the Gulf Coast refining facilities; and                                          

01       WHEREAS the Keystone XL pipeline will generate a substantial number of jobs and                                 
02 will bring millions of dollars of revenue to the nation; and                                                            
03       WHEREAS failure to construct the Keystone XL pipeline is unlikely to reduce the                                 
04 volume of oil produced from the Canadian oil sands; therefore, Canadian producers may                                   
05 choose to export their product to other markets, including China; and                                                 
06       WHEREAS the Keystone XL pipeline will provide the opportunity for oil producers                                 
07 in the Bakken Formation regions of North Dakota and Montana to send their product to oil                                
08 refineries along the American Gulf Coast, increasing the value of the product at the wellhead                           
09 in the Bakken Formation;                                                                                                
10       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges United States Congress,                                  
11 the President of the United States, and the United States Department of State to permit and                             
12 support the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.                                                                   
13       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                             
14 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and                          
15 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of                                  
16 Representatives; the Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, United States Secretary of State; and                            
17 the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the                                      
18 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.