00                CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 18(RES)                                                               
01 Urging the United States Congress to pass the Improved National Monument                                                
02 Designation Process Act.                                                                                                
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS the President of the United States may "declare by public proclamation                                  
05 historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or                               
06 scientific interest" as national monuments under the Antiquities Act of 1906 (16 U.S.C. 431 -                           
07 433), and the United States Congress may establish national monuments through legislation;                              
08 and                                                                                                                     
09       WHEREAS the Antiquities Act requires the President of the United States to reserve                              
10 "the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be                                  
11 protected" within the boundaries of the national monument; and                                                          
12       WHEREAS there are already 142 national monuments ranging in size from less than                                 
13 an acre to nearly 140,000 square miles spread out across the land and water of the United                               
14 States; and                                                                                                             
15       WHEREAS President Barack Obama has unilaterally expanded the scope and                                          
16 boundaries of national monuments; and                                                                                   

01       WHEREAS President Obama has established 10 new national monuments since                                         
02 beginning his second term of office; and                                                                                
03       WHEREAS President Obama was responsible for the largest expansion of an existing                                
04 national monument when he added, by proclamation, approximately 400,000 square miles to                                 
05 the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument in 2014; and                                                        
06       WHEREAS the establishment or expansion of national monuments without                                            
07 consideration of the possible detrimental effects on natural resource development, commercial                           
08 fishing, tourism, and other industries may create considerable hardship on regional, state, and                         
09 local economies; and                                                                                                    
10       WHEREAS, in February 2015, United States Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan                                        
11 Sullivan jointly introduced S. 437, the Improved National Monument Designation Process                                  
12 Act, establishing new requirements and limitations on the authority of the President of the                             
13 United States to establish or expand national monuments under the Antiquities Act; and                                  
14       WHEREAS, under the Improved National Monument Designation Process Act, the                                      
15 President of the United States may not establish a national monument unless it is approved by                           
16 the United States Congress and by each affected state or territory within 100 miles of the                              
17 proposed national monument;                                                                                             
18       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the direct involvement                                
19 of the United States Congress and the states in the establishment and expansion of national                             
20 monuments; and be it                                                                                                    
21       FURTHER RESOLVED the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                           
22 Congress to pass S. 437, the Improved National Monument Designation Process Act, so that                                
23 the use of Alaska's renewable and nonrenewable resources is protected and environmentally                               
24 responsible resource extraction and development activities may take place.                                              
25       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                             
26 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and                          
27 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of                                  
28 Representatives; the Honorable Kevin McCarthy, Majority Leader of the U.S. House of                                     
29 Representatives; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of                                       
30 Representatives; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the                                 
31 Honorable Harry Reid, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski,                               

01 Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; the Honorable Dan                                   
02 Sullivan, U.S. Senator, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the                                
03 Alaska delegation in Congress; and all other members of the 114th United States Congress.