00                CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 15(MLV)                                                               
01 Requesting the United States Department of Defense to invest in the Port of Alaska.                                     
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03       WHEREAS the Port of Alaska is one of 17 seaports designated as commercial                                       
04 strategic seaports by the United States Department of Defense; and                                                      
05       WHEREAS commercial strategic seaports are significant transportation hubs that are                              
06 important to the readiness and cargo handling capacity of the United States Department of                               
07 Defense; and                                                                                                            
08       WHEREAS the Port of Alaska is one of only two commercial strategic seaports                                     
09 located outside of the contiguous United States, and is strategically located near Arctic                               
10 shipping channels; and                                                                                                  
11       WHEREAS the Port of Alaska supports four major United States Department of                                      
12 Defense installations, including Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Fort Wainwright, Eielson                              
13 Air Force Base, and Fort Greely; and                                                                                    
14 WHEREAS Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Fort Wainwright, Eielson Air Force                                           
15 Base, and Fort Greely are undergoing critical expansions for fighter jet and missile defense                            
16 capacity, and the necessary material for these projects is entering the state primarily through                         

01 the Port of Alaska; and                                                                                                 
02       WHEREAS the Port of Alaska provides the only fully operational port for handling                                
03 containers and roll-on-roll-off cargo twice a week and provides goods and commodities that                              
04 are necessary for base operations and the daily needs of service members; and                                           
05       WHEREAS the Port of Alaska is the critical fuel distribution hub for aviation fuel for                          
06 operations at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson; and                                                                      
07 WHEREAS the Port of Alaska is already implementing significant tariff increases to                                    
08 maximize consumer and business contributions to port infrastructure improvements, and the                               
09 tariffs will not be adequate to fund the critical maintenance that is essential to replace                              
10 corroded and earthquake-damaged components of the Port of Alaska; and                                                   
11 WHEREAS, in November of 2018, the Port of Alaska suffered infrastructure damage                                       
12 in a major earthquake, which exacerbated preexisting damage from corrosion; and                                         
13 WHEREAS the state's fiscal situation prevents the state from being the sole or                                        
14 primary funder of upgrades to the Port of Alaska;                                                                       
15 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature requests that the United States                                      
16 Department of Defense augment public and private funding of the Port of Alaska to ensure                                
17 that the Port of Alaska remains operational and can withstand potential future earthquakes and                          
18 to guarantee continued support of operations at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Fort                                   
19 Wainwright, Eielson Air Force Base, and Fort Greely.                                                                    
20 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President                                   
21 of the United States; the Honorable Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States and                              
22 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of                                  
23 Representatives; the Honorable Lloyd J. Austin III, United States Secretary of Defense; and                             
24 the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the                                     
25 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.