HJR 59: Supporting the passage by the United States Congress of H.R. 3671, the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs Improvement Act of 2000.
00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 59 01 Supporting the passage by the United States Congress of H.R. 3671, the Wildlife 02 and Sport Fish Restoration Programs Improvement Act of 2000. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS hunters, trappers, and sport fishermen have been the primary supporters 05 of wildlife and fish conservation for more than 50 years; and 06 WHEREAS federal financial support for wildlife and sport fish conservation and 07 restoration has come at the insistence of hunters, trappers, and sport fishermen who supported 08 the establishment of taxes on hunting and fishing equipment and the dedication of the revenue 09 from those taxes to support the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Program and the Federal 10 Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Program, popularly known as the Pittman-Robertson program 11 and the Dingell-Johnson program, respectively; and 12 WHEREAS, since the inception of the Pittman-Robertson program and the Dingell- 13 Johnson program, billions of dollars have been raised for wildlife and sport fish conservation 14 and restoration programs; and
01 WHEREAS the success of the Pittman-Robertson program and the Dingell-Johnson 02 program is measured by the abundance of wildlife and sport fish in many states and the 03 successful restoration of many species that were threatened or endangered in the past; and 04 WHEREAS information has recently come to light that the Clinton Administration and 05 United States Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt have systematically abused funds from 06 the Pittman-Robertson program and the Dingell-Johnson program; and 07 WHEREAS the abuse of the Pittman-Robertson program and the Dingell-Johnson 08 program has been documented by career employees of the United States Fish and Wildlife 09 Service and in an audit conducted by the General Accounting Office; and 10 WHEREAS, in some instances, the Clinton Administration and United States Secretary 11 of the Interior Bruce Babbitt have attempted to direct funds from the Pittman-Robertson 12 program to an anti-hunting organization in direct contradiction of the purpose of the Pittman- 13 Robertson program; and 14 WHEREAS the integrity of the Pittman-Robertson program and the Dingell-Johnson 15 program should be preserved to maintain successful wildlife and sport fish conservation and 16 restoration programs and the heritage of fishing, hunting, and trapping that those programs 17 support; and 18 WHEREAS Congressman Don Young of Alaska has introduced H.R. 3671, the 19 Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs Improvement Act of 2000, to correct the current 20 abuses of the Pittman-Robertson program and the Dingell-Johnson program and to restore the 21 integrity of those programs; 22 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature finds that H.R. 3671, the 23 Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs Improvement Act of 2000, would correct the 24 current abuses of the Pittman-Robertson program and the Dingell-Johnson program and restore 25 the integrity of those programs; and be it 26 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that 27 the United States Congress pass H.R. 3671 to restore the integrity of the Pittman-Robertson 28 program and the Dingell-Johnson program. 29 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Strom Thurmond, President 30 Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House 31 of Representatives; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski,
01 U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 02 delegation in Congress.