ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE SENATE STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE  March 19, 2002 3:40 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT  Senator Gene Therriault, Chair Senator Ben Stevens Senator Bettye Davis MEMBERS ABSENT  Senator Randy Phillips, Vice Chair Senator Rick Halford   COMMITTEE CALENDAR    CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 33(MLV) am Expressing gratitude to President George W. Bush, to the President's cabinet, to the men and women of the United States armed forces, and to the United States Congress and declaring support for the war on terrorism and for the President's effort to support democracies and promote peace worldwide. MOVED CS HJR 33 (MLV) am OUT OF COMMITTEE CS FOR HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 20(MLV) Relating to declaring September 11, 2002, as a Day of Remembrance. HEARD AND HELD PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION  HJR 33 - No previous action to record. HCR 20 - No previous action to record. WITNESS REGISTER  Representative Jeannette James Alaska State Capitol, Room 214 Juneau, AK 99801-1182 POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HJR 33 Representative Gary Stevens Alaska State Capitol, Room 428 Juneau, AK 99801-1182 POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of HCR 20 Doug Letch Aide to Representative Gary Stevens Alaska State Capitol, Room 428 Juneau, AK 99801-1182 POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on HCR 20 ACTION NARRATIVE TAPE 02-15, SIDE A CHAIRMAN GENE THERRIAULT called the Senate State Affairs Committee meeting to order at 3:40 p.m. Present were Senators Davis, Stevens and Chairman Therriault. The first order of business was HJR 33. HJR 33-SUPPORT WAR ON TERRORISM & SUPPORT PEACE  REPRESENTATIVE JEANNETTE JAMES, sponsor of HJR 33, explained that the resolution expresses gratitude and support to the president, his Cabinet, Congress and the men and women of the United States Armed forces for the war on terrorism as well as the President's effort to support democracy and to promote peace world wide. She spoke with a South Dakota Legislator and two individuals from the White House recently regarding the resolutions and she was gratified to hear that the statements had a positive effect on them. There were no questions. CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said he had no wording changes and there was a zero fiscal note. He asked for the will of the committee. SENATOR DAVIS made a motion to move HJR 33 and attached fiscal note from committee with individual recommendations. There being no objection, the bill moved from committee.   HCR 20-SEPT 11 DAY OF REMEMBRANCE REPRESENTATIVE GARY STEVENS, resolution sponsor, declared that September 11, 2001 would remain in our history as an important and significant date. Just as for Pearl Harbor and the assassination of President John Kennedy, future generations will ask, "Where were you when that occurred?" It brought out the best and the worst in human nature and although it can't be made right, we can certainly honor and not forget the efforts of those involved in the aftermath. The resolution asks the governor to declare September 11, 2002 as a day of remembrance so that we, as Alaskans can pay respect and honor to the firefighters, paramedics, policeman, National Guard and armed forces personnel who responded to that tragedy and are ready, every day, to respond to additional tragedies. CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT apologized for not having had the time to meet with him to discuss some of the wording in the resolution. A "Whereas" on the first page talks about Flight 11 and the lives lost onboard then a separate "Whereas" talks about Flight 175 and the people on board. The third "Whereas" speaks of firefighters and police officers. He asked what the source of information was for the number of firefighters and police listed. DOUG LETCH, aide to Representative Stevens, responded that the information came from the official World Trade Center Web site that displays the names and numbers of firefighters and police officers. As more recovery work is accomplished, the death toll does change so some language change is probably in order. CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT asked whether firefighters and police officers were the only two categories listed. MR. LETCH said that was the case. The number of passengers aboard each flight has remained static while the numbers in the other two categories has continued to rise with the continued recovery efforts so the numbers have changed since the resolution was drafted. CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT noted lines 15 and 16 speak of Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon. The number of lives lost is the cumulative of those from the plane and those who were on the ground. We know how many people were on that flight but there is no separate "Whereas" for those people like there is for the two flights that went into the Trade Center. He asked whether there was a reason why they were combined. MR. LETCH replied there was no particular reason and they could work together to change the language. CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT then referred to page 2, lines 2-4. Specifically, he didn't agree with using the word "sacrificed." He said he would work with Representative Stevens to revise the wording before the next hearing. The bill was held in committee. There being no further business to come before the committee, the meeting was adjourned.