HJR 32: Supporting the Alaska Humanities Forum and the National Endowment for the Humanities; endorsing federal legislation reauthorizing and funding the National Endowment for the Humanities; requesting the United States Congress to fund the National Endowment for the Humanities at a fair and reasonable level; and urging the President of the United States to support legislation reauthorizing and funding at a fair and reasonable level the National Endowment for the Humanities.
00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 32 01 Supporting the Alaska Humanities Forum and the National Endowment for the 02 Humanities; endorsing federal legislation reauthorizing and funding the National 03 Endowment for the Humanities; requesting the United States Congress to fund the 04 National Endowment for the Humanities at a fair and reasonable level; and 05 urging the President of the United States to support legislation reauthorizing and 06 funding at a fair and reasonable level the National Endowment for the 07 Humanities. 08 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 09 WHEREAS the Alaska Humanities Forum was founded in 1972 to create a dialogue 10 among Alaska citizens through the methods and perspectives of those disciplines collectively 11 known as the humanities in order to encourage the peoples of Alaska to learn from one 12 another and explore what it means to be human; and 13 WHEREAS the humanities include, but are not limited to, the disciplines of history, 14 anthropology, linguistics, archaeology, philosophy, and comparative religion, but the
01 humanities expand beyond these disciplines that are usually seen as the province of scholars 02 and academic institutions, and the humanities are in fact rooted in the everyday experiences 03 and concerns of ordinary individuals; and 04 WHEREAS in the years since its inception, the Alaska Humanities Forum has awarded 05 more than $7,000,000 to nonprofit organizations and has committed individuals to engage in 06 humanities projects of direct significance to Alaska citizens; these projects range from 07 videographic documentaries on Alaska Native tradition bearers and speakers of nearly extinct 08 languages, to public meetings on northern architecture and the financing of state government, 09 and to youth summits meant to give the next generation of Alaska citizens a better focus on 10 and control of their destinies; and 11 WHEREAS, in 1993, more than 75,000 Alaska citizens participated in projects and 12 programs supported by the Alaska Humanities Forum; and 13 WHEREAS the Alaska Humanities Forum encourages the development of local 14 community support for worthwhile endeavors by requiring grant recipients to match or exceed 15 the amount they are granted, and in the 1994 fiscal year the Forum's awards of $262,000 16 stimulated more than $1,400,000 worth of other community support, demonstrating how 17 effectively Forum support acts as seed money attracting private sources to support humanities 18 activities; and 19 WHEREAS a project recently funded by the Alaska Humanities Forum, "Anne Frank 20 in the World, 1929 - 1945: Picture a World without Prejudice," was considered so outstanding 21 and exemplary by the national Federation of State Humanities Councils that it was awarded 22 the prestigious Schwarz Award as the year's best community initiated public humanities 23 project in the entire country; and 24 WHEREAS when all Alaska citizens are given a clear opportunity to learn, minds are 25 opened by education, attitudes can change for the better, and stereotypes that hurt society can 26 disappear; and 27 WHEREAS the continued life of the Alaska Humanities Forum is at the heart of the 28 efforts of Alaska citizens to apply traditional wisdom to current concerns, to search as 29 individuals and as a society for a sense of place and personal and group identity, to explore 30 divergent points of view, and to engage in community based discussions of the many facets 31 of our lives; and
01 WHEREAS the Alaska Humanities Forum works closely with churches, historical 02 groups, libraries, museums, universities, and interested individuals and organizations to provide 03 the greatest single source of financial support for humanities projects in Alaska; and 04 WHEREAS the Alaska Humanities Forum is a private, nonprofit corporation affiliated 05 with the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Forum depends on financial support 06 from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as grants from private corporations, 07 foundations, and individuals for its continued existence; and 08 WHEREAS the Alaska Humanities Forum has raised increasing amounts of private 09 donations to fund its operations and programs in recent years, realizing the necessity to 10 diversify its bases of support so its support is as diverse as the projects supported, and to 11 minimize its reliance on public funds; and 12 WHEREAS the new Republican leadership of the United States Congress is firmly 13 committed to scrutinizing all components of the federal budget in order to eliminate 14 unnecessary expenditures, making it essential that the tremendous value of programs supported 15 by the National Endowment for the Humanities be made clear to all members of the Congress, 16 as they fulfill their duties as public servants dedicated to reducing the immense size of the 17 federal budget; and 18 WHEREAS, while the Alaska Humanities Forum creates and refines a plan for making 19 the transition to a future where it is funded more and more by private donations from 20 individuals, corporations, and foundations, and less and less by federal appropriations, during 21 the years needed to make the transition, the Forum's existence depends on the existence of 22 the National Endowment for the Humanities; and 23 WHEREAS the United States Congress and President of the United States must hear 24 from the people of the country in order to know what agencies and programs are valued for 25 the positive effects they have on individual lives; 26 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature endorses legislation 27 reauthorizing the National Endowment for the Humanities because the Endowment's support 28 of the Alaska Humanities Forum is essential to the Forum's work in support of the humanities 29 in Alaska; and be it 30 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the 31 United States Congress to fund the National Endowment for the Humanities at a fair and
01 reasonable level; and be it 02 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully urges the 03 President of the United States to support legislation that would reauthorize the National 04 Endowment for the Humanities and fund its operations at a fair and reasonable level. 05 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the 06 United States; the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President 07 of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Strom Thurmond, President Pro Tempore of the U.S. 08 Senate; the Honorable Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 09 Honorable Robert Dole, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens 10 and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. 11 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.