00            HOUSE CS FOR SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 10(MLV)                                                            
01 Urging the United States Congress to fully fund the operational readiness and                                           
02 recapitalization requirements of the United States Coast Guard.                                                         
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard is a military multi-mission maritime                                      
05 service that has answered the calls of the United States public continuously for more than 210                          
06 years; and                                                                                                              
07       WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard has provided critical services to the                                     
08 citizens of Alaska; and                                                                                                 
09       WHEREAS, throughout its history, the United States Coast Guard's roles as lifesaver                           
10 and guardian of the sea have remained constant, while its missions have evolved and                                     
11 expanded with the growth of the nation; and                                                                             
12       WHEREAS the mission of the United States Coast Guard is to protect the nation's                                 
13 safety, security, environment, and economy; and                                                                         
14       WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard's operating goals of safety, natural                                      
15 resource protection, mobility, maritime security, and national defense enable it to touch                               
16 everyone in the nation; and                                                                                             

01       WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard pursues its goal of safety primarily                                      
02 through its search and rescue and marine safety operations; and                                                         
03       WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard is the only organization or government                                    
04 agency that has the extensive inventory of assets and expertise necessary to conduct search                             
05 and rescue operations for both recreational boaters and commercial mariners on lakes, on                                
06 rivers, in shore areas, and on the high seas; and                                                                       
07       WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard provides the first line of defense in                                     
08 protecting the maritime environment through its marine safety program, which ensures the                                
09 safe commercial transport of passengers and cargo, including oil, through the nation's waters,                          
10 and which guards the nation's maritime borders from incursions by foreign fishing vessels;                              
11 and                                                                                                                     
12       WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard serves as a global model of efficient                                     
13 military multi-mission maritime service for the emerging coast guard organizations of the                               
14 world and helps friendly countries to become positive forces of peace and stability, which                              
15 promotes democracy and the rule of law; and                                                                             
16       WHEREAS United States Coast Guard personnel are a highly motivated group of                                     
17 people who are committed to providing essential and valuable services to the American                                   
18 public; and                                                                                                             
19       WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard military structure, law enforcement                                       
20 authority, and humanitarian functions make it a unique arm of national security and enable it                           
21 to support broad national goals; and                                                                                    
22       WHEREAS the United States Coast Guard is well known for being the first to reach                                
23 the scene when maritime disaster strikes, and it continues to be given the task of protecting                           
24 the nation's waters from pollution, the nation's borders from drug smuggling, and the nation's                          
25 fisheries from being over harvested, and to be assigned additional duties that stretch thin its                         
26 personnel and resources;                                                                                                
27       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                        
28 Congress to fully fund the United States Coast Guard's operational readiness and                                        
29 recapitalization requirements to ensure that this humanitarian arm of the nation's national                             
30 security system remains "semper paratus" throughout the Twenty-First Century.                                           
31       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Dick Cheney, Vice-                                     

01 President of the United States and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Strom                                    
02 Thurmond, President Pro-Tempore of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert,                                    
03 Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; Admiral James M. Loy, Commandant of the                                   
04 United States Coast Guard; Admiral Dennis C. Blair, Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific                                    
05 Command; Rear Admiral Thomas J. Barrett, Commander, Seventeenth Coast Guard District;                                   
06 and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and                                  
07 the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in                                       
08 Congress.