Legislature(1997 - 1998)
02/26/1997 01:05 PM House WTR
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON WORLD TRADE AND STATE/FEDERAL RELATIONS February 26, 1997 1:05 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Representative Ramona Barnes, Chair Representative Alan Austerman, Vice Chair Representative John Cowdery Representative Pete Kott Representative Irene Nicholia Representative Gail Phillips MEMBERS ABSENT Representative Gene Kubina COMMITTEE CALENDAR * HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 22 Relating to the maritime boundary between Alaska and the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. - MOVED HJR 22 OUT OF COMMITTEE (* First public hearing) PREVIOUS ACTION BILL: HJR 22 SHORT TITLE: ALASKA/RUSSIA MARITIME BOUNDARY SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) VEZEY, Ryan JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION 02/14/97 357 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S) 02/14/97 358 (H) WTR 02/26/97 (H) WTR AT 1:00 PM CAPITOL 124 WITNESS REGISTER REPRESENTATIVE AL VEZEY Alaska State Legislature State Capitol, Room 13 Juneau, Alaska 99801-1182 Telephone: (907) 465-3719 POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HJR 22. ACTION NARRATIVE TAPE 97-3, SIDE A Number 0001 The House Special Committee on World Trade and State/Federal Relations was called to order by Chair Ramona Barnes at 1:05 p.m. Members present at the call to order were Representatives Barnes, Austerman, Cowdery and Kott. Members absent were Representatives Kubina, Nicholia and Phillips. HJR 22 - ALASKA/RUSSIA MARITIME BOUNDARY The first order of business to come before the House Special Committee on World Trade and State/Federal Relations was HJR 22, Relating to the maritime boundary between Alaska and the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. CHAIR RAMONA BARNES called on Representative Al Vezey, sponsor of HJR 22, to present the resolution. Number 0090 REPRESENTATIVE AL VEZEY, sponsor, stated that the purpose of HJR 22 was to reconfirm Alaska's rights under U.S. constitutional law to participate and to concur in any negotiations affecting its boundaries. The principle was first established in 1835 as the result of a dispute between Canada and the United States over the boundaries of what is now the state of Maine. It was a very complex international issue at the time. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY further explained that there had been other boundary disputes. He cited the Fort Leavenworth R.R. Co. v. Lowe court case of 1885, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a state had the right to participate in negotiations and that it had the right to concur with treaties that affected its boundaries. He also cited the DeGeofroy v. Riggs court case. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY further stated there were two boundary issues involved. The first stemmed from the Treaty of 1867; the Russian Government ceded all of its territories east of the line to the United States. The second stemmed from the territories that were claimed on behalf of the U.S. and the state of Alaska by right of discovery in the late nineteenth century, in particular, Wrangell Island. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY further explained there was an Alaskan Native woman who gave birth to a child on Wrangell Island in 1921; the State Department granted the child U.S. citizenship. This did not sound dramatic or important until one realized that Alaskan Natives were not granted U.S. citizenship until after World War II. The State Department, therefore, said that by virtue of the child being born on U.S. territory, by a noncitizen, it was a U.S. citizen. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY further stated that the line agreed to in the Treaty of 1867 was not a major disputed issue until 1974 when the United States unilaterally adopted a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. The world followed suit and by 1976 a 200-mile exclusive economic zone became the norm. As a result, every island offshore became one of strategic economic importance. The boundary was described as the mid-point between Copper Island to the east on the Russian side and Attu Island to the west on the U.S. side. The territorial limits were not addressed, however, in 1867. At present, every rock in the ocean between the points had a 200-mile radius of seabed that went with it. The discrepancies over where the line was interpreted went all the way up to the Bering Strait. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY further explained the position that the Russians took was that the lines intended to be a rhumb line. He explained a rhumb line was a straight line projected onto a globe. It was not the shortest distance between two points, and it could shift depending on the angle and the projection of the map. In the case of the waters in the Bering Sea, there could be as much as a 50-mile east-to-west shift. In total, the seabed in dispute added up to 140,000 square miles, or the area the size of the state of Texas. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY further stated that in 1992 the U.S. Senate ratified a boundary treaty, over the protest of the state of Alaska, with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The state of California also passed a resolution supporting the position of Alaska. California, at the same time, was in dispute with Mexico over their islands. Subsequent to the ratification of the treaty by the U.S. Senate, the USSR broke up and the successor states assumed treaty responsibilities. However, the successor states never concurred or ratified the treaty because they did not agree with the boundaries either. As a result, there still was not a boundary between Russia and the United States; there was a conference line only. The donut hole, therefore, was defined by the interpretation of the conference line and the mainland boundaries of the two nations. In addition, Wrangell Island did not show up on any map until 1995. He explained Wrangell Island was located on the same latitude as Barrow on the prime meridian. Therefore, it was east of Attu Island, west of the Rat Islands, and due north of the Aleutian Islands. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY concluded by stating that there was a tremendous amount of resources involved in the disputed area in terms of fisheries and offshore mineral potential. Alaska, at least, had the right to participate in the negotiations of how the resources should be utilized. He believed it was a mistake to pass up the opportunity to sit at a negotiation table. Number 0822 CHAIR BARNES stated for the record that Representative Irene Nicholia arrived shortly after convening the meeting. Number 0832 CHAIR BARNES further stated that the testimony of Representative Vezey was fascinating. The issue of Wrangell Island had been around the legislature for about 15 years, but no one had carried the bill quite as eloquently as Representative Vezey. "You have indeed done your research, you are well-versed," she added. Number 0859 REPRESENTATIVE ALAN AUSTERMAN commented that he thought Wrangell Island was north of the Diomede Islands, but he believed that Representative Vezey stated it was located at the end of the Aleutian Chain. Number 0885 REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY replied, "No sir." Wrangell Island was located at 172 degrees north, 180 degrees east or west on the prime meridian. It was approximately the same latitude as Barrow. In terms of its east-west location, it was to the east of the most western part of Alaska, and it was to the west of the majority of Alaska. Number 0924 REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN asked Representative Vezey to show him where Wrangell Island was approximately on a map. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY pointed to an approximate location of Wrangell Island on the map. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN commented that it was off the map. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY replied the only map in the State Capitol that showed Wrangell Island was the United States Geological Service (USGS) map of Alaska published in 1995. Number 0981 REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN asked Representative Vezey whether the other islands referenced in the resolution were in the same area of Wrangell Island. Number 0989 REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY replied they were in the same general area. They were to the east of Wrangell Island. They were discovered by voyagers looking for Wrangell Island who happened upon them first. Number 1015 REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN referred to page 1, lines 9-10 and the language, "west end of the Aleutian Islands." He asked Representative Vezey if any of these islands were on the Aleutian Chain. Number 1033 REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY replied the southern boundary of the conference line was at a point between Attu Island and Copper Island. He reiterated that at the time of the conference line, nobody was concerned about every little rock in between, until the 200-mile exclusive economic zone. Number 1074 REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN wondered if some of these islands were included between the area of Attu Island and Copper Island. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY replied there was a geographical feature referred to as the "rock" that fell between the two islands. It was analogous to the Dinkum Sands barrier island, except that it was above mean high tide at all normal observations times. There were cases in the Aleutian Islands where rocks were sometimes above mean high tide and sometimes not above mean high tide. Number 1130 CHAIR BARNES called for a motion to move the bill out of the committee. Number 1135 REPRESENTATIVE PETE KOTT stated that he had been thoroughly enlightened and refreshed for the geography lesson. He also thought that his intern sitting in the audience had been refreshed for the history lesson. He hoped there would be further opportunity to hear more on the Floor of the House of Representatives. Number 1159 REPRESENTATIVE KOTT made a motion that HJR 22 move from the committee with the attached fiscal note(s) and individual recommendations. There was no objection; HJR 22 moved from the House Special Committee on World Trade and State/Federal Relations. ADJOURNMENT Number 1206 CHAIR BARNES adjourned the House Special Committee on World Trade and State/Federal Relations meeting at 1:19 p.m.
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