00                      SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 19                                                                    
01 Supporting the American Indian Veterans Memorial Initiative to construct an Alaska                                      
02 Native, American Indian, and Native Hawaiian veterans' monument in our nation's                                         
03 capital.                                                                                                                
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05       WHEREAS Native Americans, including American Indians, Alaska Natives, and                                       
06 Native Hawaiians, have established a distinguished legacy within every branch of the armed                              
07 forces of the United States; and                                                                                        
08       WHEREAS Native Americans have fought in every war and conflict of the United                                    
09 States since the Revolutionary War; and                                                                                 
10       WHEREAS more than 12,000 Native Americans volunteered to serve in World War                                     
11 I, despite denial of American citizenship; and                                                                          
12       WHEREAS the adaptation of indigenous languages by Native American code talkers                                  
13 was fundamental for strategic communications by the United States and their allies during                               
14 World War I and World War II; and                                                                                       
15       WHEREAS 42,000 Native Americans served in the Vietnam Conflict, 90 percent of                                   

01 whom enlisted voluntarily; and                                                                                          
02       WHEREAS 32 Native Americans have been awarded the Congressional Medal of                                        
03 Honor; and                                                                                                              
04       WHEREAS the population of living Native American veterans exceeds 151,000                                       
05 across the country, including 5,500 Alaska Natives; and                                                                 
06       WHEREAS the patriotism, sacrifice, and dedication to service exhibited by this                                  
07 population is not formally recognized in our nation's capital;                                                          
08       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the American Indian                                   
09 Veterans Memorial Initiative to construct an Alaska Native, American Indian, and Native                                 
10 Hawaiian veterans' monument in our nation's capital.                                                                    
11       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                             
12 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and                          
13 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of                                  
14 Representatives; the Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; Stephen D.                               
15 Bowers, Project Director, American Indian Veterans Memorial Initiative; and the Honorable                               
16 Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don                                      
17 Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.