00                      SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 11                                                                    
01 Urging members of the Alaska delegation in Congress to support efforts by the National                                  
02 Women's History Museum to secure property in Washington, D.C., near the National                                        
03 Mall, as a permanent location for the National Women's History Museum.                                                  
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05       WHEREAS, in 1987, the United States Congress declared the month of March as                                     
06 Women's History Month to acknowledge the important role women have played in shaping                                    
07 America; and                                                                                                            
08       WHEREAS, although women constitute a majority of the nation's population, the                                   
09 achievements and contributions of women are underrepresented in museums and memorials;                                  
10 and                                                                                                                     
11       WHEREAS a recent survey of 18 history textbooks revealed that only 10 percent of                                
12 people identified in the history textbooks were women; and                                                              
13       WHEREAS, in 1999, the President's Commission on the Celebration of Women in                                     
14 American History called for the designation of a Women's History Site in Washington, D.C.;                              
15 and                                                                                                                     

01       WHEREAS museums have been dedicated to flight, postage stamps, buildings, and                                   
02 many other important issues and people of interest, but not to women, who today make up 51                              
03 percent of the nation's population; and                                                                                 
04       WHEREAS the National Women's History Museum, founded in 1996, is a                                              
05 nonpartisan, nonprofit, educational institution dedicated to preserving, interpreting, and                              
06 celebrating the diverse historic contributions of women and to integrating the heritage of                              
07 women fully into the nation's history; and                                                                              
08       WHEREAS the National Women's History Museum seeks a site on or near the                                         
09 National Mall and in close proximity to the White House and the United States Capitol                                   
10 Building; and                                                                                                           
11       WHEREAS H.R. 1269, the National Women's History Museum Act of 2011, and a                                       
12 companion bill, S. 680, which are currently pending in the United States Congress, seek                                 
13 authorization for the National Women's History Museum to purchase at fair market value with                             
14 privately raised funds federally owned property for sale near the National Mall, and no federal                         
15 funds are being requested for the purchase of the land; and                                                             
16       WHEREAS the National Women's History Museum will showcase the full history of                                   
17 women in the United States and the contributions women have made and continue to make in                                
18 the marketplace, arts and sciences, entertainment, education, government, community, and                                
19 home; and                                                                                                               
20       WHEREAS a coalition of 43 women's organizations representing 8,000,000 women,                                   
21 including the National Foundation for Women Legislators, supports the efforts of the National                           
22 Women's History Museum to establish a permanent museum near the National Mall, the most                                 
23 prominent location for museums in the nation's capital;                                                                 
24       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges members of the Alaska                                    
25 delegation in Congress to support efforts by the National Women's History Museum to secure                              
26 a permanent home in the nation's capital for a museum that will highlight the important role                            
27 women have played in shaping this great nation.                                                                         
28       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to Joan Bradley Wages, President and Chief                              
29 Executive Officer, National Women's History Museum; Robin Read, President, National                                     
30 Foundation for Women Legislators; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable                                    
31 Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of                                

01 the Alaska delegation in Congress.