00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 32                                                                     
01 Encouraging the United States Congress to establish hiring goals for apprentices and                                    
02 veteran apprentices.                                                                                                    
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS Americans have a special obligation to those who served in the armed                                      
05 forces of the United States and risked their lives to defend our nation's freedom and honor;                            
06 and                                                                                                                     
07       WHEREAS thousands of men and women have served in the armed forces of the                                         
08 United States to protect and preserve the freedom the citizens of the United States enjoy; and                          
09       WHEREAS veterans have graduated from the world's largest system of specialized                                    
10 professional and technical training schools, operated by the United States Department of                                
11 Defense; and                                                                                                            
12       WHEREAS veterans of active duty military service are one of the nation's most                                     
13 important sources of well-educated, highly trained, and strongly motivated employees; and                               
14       WHEREAS veterans trained by the armed forces of the United States offer employers                                 
15 a more mature and responsible employee compared to employees with no military                                           
16 experience; and                                                                                                         

01       WHEREAS veterans returning home face challenges, including in education and                                       
02 employment, that may prevent them from successfully transitioning from military to civilian                             
03 life; and                                                                                                               
04       WHEREAS unemployment rates for both male and female veterans increased in 2020                                    
05 during the COVID-19 pandemic; the unemployment rate for male veterans was 6.5 percent,                                  
06 and the unemployment rate for female veterans was 6.7 percent; and                                                      
07       WHEREAS among the 581,000 unemployed veterans in 2020, 54 percent were ages                                       
08 25 to 54, 41 percent were age 55 and over, and 5 percent were ages 18 to 24; and                                        
09       WHEREAS the state has the highest rate of veterans in the nation, with nearly 14                                  
10 percent of adult Alaskans having served in the military; and                                                            
11 WHEREAS the 2022 draft federal appropriations report for the United States                                              
12 Department of Defense indicates that $10,900,000,000 will be spent on military construction                             
13 that will require thousands of workers; and                                                                             
14 WHEREAS military construction jobs offer a prime opportunity for veterans,                                              
15 including veterans in apprenticeship and postsecondary programs, to further their careers; and                          
16 WHEREAS military service is one of the most demanding professions in the world,                                         
17 and military training produces highly motivated individuals who set high goals for                                      
18 themselves;                                                                                                             
19 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully encourages the                                            
20 United States Congress to introduce and pass legislation requiring each offeror for a domestic                          
21 United States Department of Defense construction project to establish a goal that not less than                         
22 10 percent of the total workforce employed in the performance of the project are participants                           
23 in qualified apprenticeship or postsecondary programs; and be it                                                        
24 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully encourages                                              
25 the United States Congress to introduce and pass legislation requiring each contractor and                              
26 subcontractor for a domestic United States Department of Defense construction project that                              
27 employs apprentices or postsecondary students in a particular classification to ensure that not                         
28 less than 10 percent of the apprentices or postsecondary students are veterans of the armed                             
29 forces of the United States.                                                                                            
30       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President                               
31 of the United States; the Honorable Kamala D. Harris, Vice President of the United States                               

01 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of                              
02 Representatives; the Honorable Kevin McCarthy, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of                                     
03 Representatives; the Honorable Charles Schumer, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the                                 
04 Honorable Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Denis                                      
05 McDonough, United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and                                
06 the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                            
07 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and all other members of the                              
08 117th United States Congress.