00Enrolled HJR 13                                                                                                         
01 Urging the United States Congress and the President of the United States to complete the                                
02 funding and acquisition of three additional National Security Cutters and to home port one of                           
03 the cutters in Kodiak, Alaska.                                                                                          
04                                        _______________                                                                  
05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                             
06      WHEREAS Operation Arctic Shield has shown an increasing need for Coast Guard                                     
07 presence in the remote Arctic region; and                                                                               
08      WHEREAS the Bertholf, the first of a new class of cutter called the National Security                            
09 Cutter, with exceptional endurance, operational, and command and control capabilities, has                              
10 twice patrolled the Arctic; and                                                                                         
11      WHEREAS the harsh environment, limited infrastructure, and logistics pose unique                                 
12 challenges when conducting operations in the Arctic; and                                                                
13      WHEREAS National Security Cutters like the Bertholf are designed to conduct                                      
14 operations from South America to the Bering Sea, where their unmatched combination of                                   
15 range, speed, and ability to operate in extreme weather provides the mission flexibility to                             
16 conduct homeland security, domestic fisheries protection, search and rescue, and other                                  

01 missions at great distances from shore; and                                                                             
02      WHEREAS the Coast Guard is the nation's leading federal agency for ensuring                                      
03 maritime safety, security, and stewardship in the Arctic, and the Coast Guard is responsible                            
04 for conducting statutory missions in the Arctic to ensure the region remains safe and secure;                           
05 and                                                                                                                     
06      WHEREAS the only Coast Guard high- and medium-endurance cutters in the state,                                    
07 the Haley and Munro, are both over 40 years old and have not been scheduled for                                         
08 replacement; and                                                                                                        
09      WHEREAS the National Security Cutter acquisition program calls for the delivery of                               
10 eight National Security Cutters to replace the nation's 12 high-endurance cutters; and                                  
11      WHEREAS, to date, only three vessels have been delivered to the Coast Guard, with                                
12 a fourth vessel under construction and a contract for the fifth awarded on September 9, 2011,                           
13 and the President's current budget request includes funding for a sixth; and                                            
14      WHEREAS these ships are critical for the Coast Guard to execute its high seas                                    
15 mission;                                                                                                                
16      BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                         
17 Congress and the President of the United States to complete the program of record for the                               
18 funding and acquisition of the three additional National Security Cutters and to home port one                          
19 of the cutters in Kodiak, Alaska.                                                                                       
20      COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                              
21 the United States; the Honorable Janet Napolitano, United States Secretary of Homeland                                  
22 Security; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and                                
23 the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in                                       
24 Congress; all other members of the 113th United States Congress; and the presiding officers                             
25 of the legislatures of each of the other 49 states.