00                       SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 24                                                                    
01 Urging President Biden's Administration and the United States Congress to use the oil                                   
02 and gas resources of the state to offset the loss of imported oil and to increase oil and gas                           
03 production in this state and other energy-producing states to fortify the economy and                                   
04 security of the nation.                                                                                                 
05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
06       WHEREAS, on February 24, 2022, after amassing over 175,000 troops on Ukraine's                                  
07 border, the Russian Federation, under the direction of President Vladimir Putin, launched an                            
08 unprovoked, unjust, large-scale invasion of Ukraine; and                                                                
09       WHEREAS this invasion is a deliberate and calculated effort to undermine the                                    
10 democratic sovereignty of Ukraine, block the free will of the Ukrainian people in the people's                          
11 pursuit of security, peace, and prosperity, and threaten the security of bordering allies under                         
12 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the lives of millions of innocent people; and                                
13       WHEREAS, in an affront to both international law and common decency, Russian                                    
14 Federation soldiers are currently sweeping through Ukraine, inflicting violence and terror on                           
15 millions of civilians and destroying homes, businesses, and economic infrastructure; and                                
01       WHEREAS, at the end of 2021, the United States of America was importing over                                    
02 8,000,000 barrels of crude oil from foreign countries a day; and                                                        
03       WHEREAS 595,000 of those barrels were imported from the Russian Federation each                                 
04 day; and                                                                                                                
05       WHEREAS the United States imports more than 219,000,000 barrels of oil from the                                 
06 Russian Federation annually, thereby directly contributing up to $20,300,000,000 a year to                              
07 President Vladimir Putin's regime; and                                                                                  
08       WHEREAS, in comparison, this state produces only 448,000 barrels of oil a day; and                              
09       WHEREAS the United States federal government has blocked additional                                             
10 opportunities for production in this state, including projects in Pikka, Alaska; Willow, Alaska;                        
11 the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska; and                                  
12 WHEREAS the United States federal government has also blocked permitting of                                           
13 pipelines and transportation for energy resources; and                                                                  
14 WHEREAS reliance on oil from foreign adversaries like the Russian Federation                                          
15 leaves this country and its allies strategically vulnerable; and                                                        
16 WHEREAS, in the face of the Russian Federation's unprovoked aggression, now is                                      
17 the time to end the nation's reliance on Russian Federation fossil fuels; and                                         
18 WHEREAS, because development sites around the state hold the potential of billions                                    
19 of barrels of oil, oil and gas produced in this state can fill the void left from stopping Russian                      
20 Federation imports, thereby eliminating national dependence on authoritarian energy                                     
21 producers abroad;                                                                                                       
22 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges President Biden's                                              
23 Administration and the United States Congress to allow the nation to use the oil and gas                                
24 resources currently available in the state to offset the loss of imported oil; and be it                                
25 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges President Biden's                                            
26 Administration and the United States Congress to unleash national production in this state and                          
27 other energy-producing states to fortify the economy and security of the nation.                                        
28 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President                                   
29 of the United States; the Honorable Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, President of                                    
30 Ukraine; Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of the Russian Federation; the Honorable                               
31 Kamala D. Harris, Vice President of the United States and President of the U.S. Senate; the                             
01 Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Steny                               
02 Hoyer, Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Kevin                                        
03 McCarthy, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Charles                                   
04 Schumer, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Minority                                    
05 Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of State;                              
06 the Honorable Oksana Markarova, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine                                 
07 to the United States; the Honorable Anatoly I. Antonov, Ambassador Extraordinary and                                    
08 Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the United States; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski                            
09 and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                        
10 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and all other members of the                              
11 117th United States Congress.