CSSJR 16(ARC): Expressing support for the Arctic Economic Council and the United States Arctic Economic Council delegation; requesting that the United States Congress express support for the Arctic Economic Council, for the chair of the Arctic Economic Council to be a resident of this state, and for the structure of the Arctic Economic Council leadership to mirror the rotation of the chair of the Arctic Council; and urging the United States Congress to empower residents of the state as partners in the Arctic Economic Council.
00 CS FOR SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 16(ARC) 01 Expressing support for the Arctic Economic Council and the United States Arctic 02 Economic Council delegation; requesting that the United States Congress express 03 support for the Arctic Economic Council, for the chair of the Arctic Economic Council 04 to be a resident of this state, and for the structure of the Arctic Economic Council 05 leadership to mirror the rotation of the chair of the Arctic Council; and urging the 06 United States Congress to empower residents of the state as partners in the Arctic 07 Economic Council. 08 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 09 WHEREAS the United States is a member nation because of the Arctic region of this 10 state; and 11 WHEREAS, during the United States chairmanship of the Arctic Council, the chair of 12 the Arctic Economic Council should be a resident of the state; and 13 WHEREAS the structure of the Arctic Economic Council leadership should mirror 14 the rotation of the chair of the Arctic Council; and
01 WHEREAS the Arctic Council was established by the Ottawa Declaration of 1996 to 02 function as a high-level intergovernmental forum to promote cooperation, coordination, and 03 interaction across the Arctic, with the involvement of the indigenous communities and people 04 of the Arctic, and with a focus on sustainable development and environmental protection of 05 the Arctic; and 06 WHEREAS the United States of America, the Russian Federation, Finland, Norway, 07 Sweden, the Kingdom of Denmark, including Greenland and the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and 08 Canada are all member nations of the Arctic Council; and 09 WHEREAS the Permanent Participant organizations of the Arctic Council include the 10 Inuit Circumpolar Council, the Aleut International Association, the Gwich'in Council 11 International, the Arctic Athabaskan Council, the Saami Council, and the Russian Association 12 of Indigenous Peoples of the North; and 13 WHEREAS the indigenous people of the state are represented in four of the six 14 Permanent Participant organizations; and 15 WHEREAS, in 2013, Canada assumed the chair of the Arctic Council; and 16 WHEREAS, on August 23, 2012, Steven Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, 17 appointed Minister Leona Aglukkaq as the chair of the Arctic Council during the 18 chairmanship of Canada; and 19 WHEREAS Minister Aglukkaq is the first indigenous person to serve as chair of the 20 Arctic Council; and 21 WHEREAS, like the residents of the state and the Alaska State Legislature, Minister 22 Aglukkaq recognizes the importance of responsible economic, natural, and human resource 23 development, as well as the importance of a healthy environment; and 24 WHEREAS, as a result of this understanding, Minister Aglukkaq took a leadership 25 position in creating the Arctic Economic Council; and 26 WHEREAS the Arctic Economic Council is charged with fostering business 27 development in the Arctic, engaging in deeper circumpolar cooperation, and providing a 28 business perspective to the work of the Arctic Council; and 29 WHEREAS the Arctic Economic Council has the same members as the Arctic 30 Council; and 31 WHEREAS Alaskans Drue Pearce, Gail Schubert, Lori Davey, and Bruce Harland
01 represented the United States at the inaugural meeting in Iqaluit; and 02 WHEREAS indigenous resident Tara Sweeny represented the Inuit Circumpolar 03 Council as a Permanent Participant at the inaugural meeting in Iqaluit and was elected as the 04 United States representative on the executive committee of the Arctic Economic Council; and 05 WHEREAS the federal government had no official presence at the inaugural meeting 06 of the Arctic Economic Council, and the entire United States delegation was made up of 07 residents of the state; and 08 WHEREAS the United States Arctic Economic Council delegation, consisting of 09 three state business representatives and resident Permanent Participants, is working to secure 10 the rotation of the chair of the Arctic Economic Council to mirror the rotation of the chair of 11 the Arctic Council; and 12 WHEREAS, if the United States Arctic Economic Council delegation is successful in 13 its efforts, an Alaskan will be the incoming chair of the Arctic Economic Council in 14 April 2015; and 15 WHEREAS, as residents of an Arctic state, Alaskans realize the importance of 16 balancing responsible economic development of natural and human resources and 17 environmental stewardship; and 18 WHEREAS residents of the state living in the Arctic, as well as indigenous residents 19 of the state, rely on the land and the sea to sustain traditional lifestyles and have a wealth of 20 traditional knowledge that could be incorporated into the policies that affect the Arctic; and 21 WHEREAS residents of the state, including indigenous residents of the state, rely on 22 revenue from responsible economic development to maintain schools, roads, communities, 23 and essential public service infrastructure; and 24 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature recognizes the importance of the Arctic 25 Economic Council in providing a forum for residents of the state to give input on policies and 26 guiding principles regarding economic development in the Arctic; and 27 WHEREAS the state holds a strategic position as the gateway to the Arctic and will 28 benefit from the efforts of the Arctic Economic Council; 29 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature seeks to empower the United 30 States Arctic Economic Council delegation, which consists entirely of residents of this state; 31 and be it
01 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature expresses its confidence 02 in and support for the Arctic Economic Council; and be it 03 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that 04 the United States Congress express support for the Arctic Economic Council, for the chair of 05 the Arctic Economic Council to be a resident of this state, and for the structure of the Arctic 06 Economic Council leadership to mirror the rotation of the chair of the Arctic Council; and be 07 it 08 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 09 Congress to empower residents of the state as partners in the Arctic Economic Council. 10 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 11 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 12 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John F. Kerry, United States Secretary of State; 13 David Balton, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries, Bureau of Oceans and 14 International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, United States Department of State; Julia 15 Gourley, Senior Arctic Official, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and 16 Scientific Affairs, United States Department of State; Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr., Special 17 Representative for the Arctic, United States Department of State; Fran Ulmer, Special 18 Advisor on Arctic Science and Policy, United States Department of State; Craig Fleener, 19 Special Assistant on Arctic Policy, Office of the Governor; and the Honorable Lisa 20 Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, 21 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.