00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 53 am S                                                                                    
01 Relating to support for federal legislation providing for the continuation of the                                       
02 University of Alaska by the conveyance of federal land to the university.                                               
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                              
04  WHEREAS  the University of Alaska is the oldest postsecondary school in the state                                    
05 and plays a vital role in educating Alaskans as well as students from around the world; and                             
06  WHEREAS the University of Alaska began as Alaska Agricultural and Mining                                             
07 College, a land grant college; and                                                                                      
08  WHEREAS the land grant system is one of the oldest and most respected forms of                                       
09 financing education in the United States; and                                                                           
10  WHEREAS the land grant system provides grants of land to colleges and universities                                   
11 for facility location and, more importantly, provides a method for sustaining revenues to those                         
12 colleges and universities; and                                                                                          
13  WHEREAS the University of Alaska received the smallest amount of land of any state                                   
14 that has a land grant college except Delaware; to date, the university has received only about                          

01 111,000 acres, less than one-third the acreage the university was originally promised; and                              
02  WHEREAS S. 660, sponsored by Senator Frank Murkowski, would grant to the                                             
03 University of Alaska 250,000 acres of federal land if the university agrees to relinquish to the                        
04 federal government its extremely valuable inholdings in Denali National Park and Preserve                               
05 and in other national parks, preserves, and refuges; and                                                                
06  WHEREAS S. 660 would grant to the University of Alaska an additional 250,000                                         
07 acres of federal land if the state agrees to grant to the university 250,000 acres of state land;                       
08 and                                                                                                                     
09  WHEREAS S. 660 will provide a stable revenue stream to the University of Alaska                                      
10 while protecting the state's unique parks, preserves, and refuges; and                                                  
11  WHEREAS reasonable amendments can be made to S. 660 relating to the transfer of                                      
12 federal lands in the Tongass National Forest and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska;                                 
13  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges Senator Murkowski to                                          
14 continue working with representatives of the State of Alaska and the University of Alaska to                            
15 consider amendments that will address the land grant deficiency of the University of Alaska                             
16 and be in the best interest of the state; and be it                                                                     
17  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully urges the                                            
18 Congress of the United States to pass and the President to sign S. 660 as expeditiously as                              
19 possible.                                                                                                               
20  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the                              
21 United States; the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President                            
22 of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Strom Thurmond, President Pro Tempore of the U.S.                                     
23 Senate; the Honorable Trent Lott, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Newt                                
24 Gingrich, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Dick Armey, Majority                              
25 Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the                                   
26 Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                             
27 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.