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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