SJR 11: Urging the United States Secretary of State to issue a Presidential permit authorizing a railroad crossing of the Alaska-Canada border from state land into Yukon, Canada; and supporting cooperation between the United States and Canada to establish a public-private partnership for construction of a railroad from Alberta, Canada, to the state that would connect the Alaska Railroad to the North American railroad system.
00 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 11 01 Urging the United States Secretary of State to issue a Presidential permit authorizing a 02 railroad crossing of the Alaska-Canada border from state land into Yukon, Canada; 03 and supporting cooperation between the United States and Canada to establish a public- 04 private partnership for construction of a railroad from Alberta, Canada, to the state 05 that would connect the Alaska Railroad to the North American railroad system. 06 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 WHEREAS, in 1914, the United States Congress passed legislation authorizing 08 construction of up to 1,000 miles of railroad in the Territory of Alaska to connect coastal and 09 interior regions of the territory and support mineral and agricultural development, freight and 10 passenger service, and military operations, yet little more than 500 miles of the Alaska 11 Railroad have been built under both federal and state governments; and 12 WHEREAS, in 2004, the Twenty-Third Alaska State Legislature authorized the 13 Alaska Railroad Corporation, under AS 42.40.460(a), to "delineate a proposed transportation 14 corridor between the existing railroad utility corridor of the Alaska Railroad and the border of 15 Alaska and Canada," which would be approximately 250 miles, and, under AS 42.40.465(a),
01 to "investigate extension of the Alaska Railroad from the border of Alaska and Canada to 02 connect with the North American railroad system," which would be approximately 1,200 03 additional miles; and 04 WHEREAS previous state studies, private estimates, and a 2016 Van Horne Institute 05 study financed by the government of Alberta, Canada, indicate that a railroad connecting 06 Alberta to the state could attract enough traffic to be economically viable despite capital costs 07 estimated at over $17,000,000,000; and 08 WHEREAS the Alaska Railroad Corporation could enter into public-private 09 partnerships to support financing, construction, and operation of a railroad connecting the 10 Alaska Railroad to the North American railroad system; and 11 WHEREAS the state would not be required to provide funding for a railroad project 12 connecting Alberta, Canada, to the state; and 13 WHEREAS, in 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Executive Order 11423, as 14 amended, requiring a Presidential permit to be granted before infrastructure connecting the 15 United States with a foreign country is constructed and operated; and 16 WHEREAS Presidential permission to construct and operate a railroad from Alberta, 17 Canada, to the state, with the cooperation of the Alaska Railroad Corporation, is sought to 18 reduce regulatory risk and to facilitate raising the necessary global risk capital for the 19 engineering, permitting, construction, and operation of a railroad from Alberta to the state; 20 and 21 WHEREAS the United States and the state have long enjoyed and relied on peaceful 22 cooperation with Canada with respect to the railroad over White Pass, from Skagway into 23 Yukon, Canada, and roads connecting the state to Canada and the contiguous United States, 24 including the Taylor Highway, the Alaska Highway, the Haines Highway, the South Klondike 25 Highway, and the Cassiar Highway; and 26 WHEREAS Indigenous peoples in Canada, Alaska Natives, and residents of 27 communities along the route of the proposed railroad connecting Alberta, Canada, to the state 28 would have the opportunity to be involved, to comment on the project, and to understand the 29 purpose and location of the route; and 30 WHEREAS some of the state's Pacific ports could contribute to faster and more 31 efficient shipping of goods in and out of North America if a railroad connecting Alberta,
01 Canada, to the state were constructed; and 02 WHEREAS a railroad connecting Alberta, Canada, to the state would further the 03 security and global competitive economic positions of the United States and Canada and 04 enable new economic opportunities for the state and Yukon, British Columbia, and Alberta, 05 Canada; 06 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 07 Secretary of State to issue a Presidential permit allowing a railroad crossing of the Alaska- 08 Canada border from state land into Yukon, Canada; and be it 09 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 10 Secretary of State to issue a Presidential permit allowing a railroad connecting Alberta, 11 Canada, to the state as soon as practicable to reduce any regulatory risk for the project; and be 12 it 13 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the highest safety 14 and environmental standards for the construction and operation of railroads connecting the 15 state to Canada; and be it 16 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports participation by 17 Indigenous peoples in Canada, Alaska Natives, and residents of communities along the route 18 of proposed railroads connecting the state to Canada in the development of the project; and be 19 it 20 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature welcomes a public-private 21 partnership with the Alaska Railroad Corporation to facilitate global capital investment in the 22 development of a railroad connecting Alberta, Canada, to the state, and encourages 23 cooperation between the United States and Canada, specifically between the state, and Yukon, 24 British Columbia, and Alberta, Canada, to speed the development of the project; and be it 25 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature welcomes the 26 participation of global investors, state residents, Alaska Native corporations, state tribal 27 entities, and Indigenous peoples in Canada subject to each investor's due diligence, to help 28 develop a railroad connecting the state to Canada. 29 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President 30 of the United States; the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada; the 31 Honorable Mike Pompeo, United States Secretary of State; the Honourable David
01 MacNaughton, Ambassador of Canada to the United States; the Honourable Chrystia 02 Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canada; the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of 03 Transport, Canada; the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous 04 Relations, Canada; the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental and 05 Northern Affairs and Internal Trade, Canada; the Honorable Elaine L. Chao, United States 06 Secretary of Transportation; the Honorable Rick Perry, United States Secretary of Energy; the 07 Honorable Kirstjen Nielsen, United States Secretary of Homeland Security; the Honorable 08 Robert E. Lighthizer, United States Trade Representative; the Honorable David Bernhardt, 09 Acting United States Secretary of the Interior; the Honorable Kyle K. Hipsley, Commissioner 10 for the United States, International Boundary Commission; the Honourable Jean Gagnon, 11 Commissioner for Canada, International Boundary Commission; the Honorable Ann D. 12 Begeman, Chair, United States Surface Transportation Board; the Honourable Scott Streiner, 13 Chief Executive Officer and Chair, Canadian Transportation Agency; the Honorable Kelly 14 Craft, United States Ambassador to Canada; the Honourable Larry Bagnell, Member of the 15 House of Commons of Canada representing Yukon; the Honourable Sandy Silver, Premier of 16 Yukon, Canada; the Honourable John Horgan, Premier of British Columbia, Canada; the 17 Honourable Rachel Notley, Premier of Alberta, Canada; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski 18 and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. 19 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.