00                          SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 3                                                                        
01 Urging the United States Congress to grant American Samoans the ability to serve as                                     
02 commissioned officers in the uniformed services of the United States and the right to                                   
03 vote in federal elections.                                                                                              
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE:                                                                                           
05       WHEREAS American Samoa has been an unincorporated territory of the United                                       
06 States since 1900; and                                                                                                  
07       WHEREAS American Samoa is the only inhabited territory of the United States                                     
08 whose residents are considered nationals of the United States but are not citizens; and                                 
09       WHEREAS United States citizenship is granted at birth to residents of all other                                 
10 inhabited territories of the United States including Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana                            
11 Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands; and                                                                      
12       WHEREAS, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, as nationals of the United                                  
13 States, American Samoans owe permanent allegiance to the United States; and                                             
14       WHEREAS American Samoans can obtain a United States passport as well as live                                    
15 and work in any location in the United States; and                                                                      
01       WHEREAS the 2020 Census showed that the population of American Samoa was                                        
02 49,710 and in 2023 the United States Census Bureau estimated that there were 268,539 people                             
03 of Samoan descent living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia; and                                             
04       WHEREAS American Samoans have contributed greatly to the civic, cultural,                                       
05 economic, and spiritual life of the United States and this state; and                                                   
06       WHEREAS American Samoans have a long history of patriotism and service to the                                   
07 United States, and American Samoa has the highest military enlistment rate of any state or                              
08 territory; and                                                                                                          
09       WHEREAS American Samoan men who reside in the 50 states or the District of                                      
10 Columbia must register with the Selective Service System and can be drafted into military                               
11 service; and                                                                                                            
12 WHEREAS, despite the long tradition of military service by American Samoans,                                          
13 federal law prohibits noncitizen nationals of the United States from serving as commissioned                            
14 officers in the uniformed services of the United States; and                                                            
15 WHEREAS federal law prohibits American Samoans who are nationals but not                                              
16 citizens of the United States from voting in elections for President, Vice President, United                            
17 States Senate, and United States House of Representatives; and                                                          
18 WHEREAS the right to vote and participate in the democratic process is one of the                                     
19 most cherished principles on which the nation's society is built; and                                                   
20 WHEREAS, by being denied the right to vote in the states where American Samoans                                       
21 reside, American Samoans are being subjected to taxation without representation;                                        
22 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska Senate urges the United States Congress to pass                                        
23 legislation allowing nationals of the United States to serve as commissioned officers in the                            
24 uniformed services of the United States and to vote in federal elections in the state in which                          
25 they reside.                                                                                                            
26 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President                                   
27 of the United States; the Honorable JD Vance, Vice President of the United States and                                   
28 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Mike Johnson, Speaker of the U.S. House of                                  
29 Representatives; the Honorable Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of                                    
30 Representatives; the Honorable John Thune, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the                                      
31 Honorable Charles E. Schumer, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Lisa                                    
01 Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Nicholas                                     
02 Begich, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and all other                                
03 members of the 119th United States Congress.