HJR 24: Urging the United States Department of State to consider the priorities of the state while it holds the position of chair of the Arctic Council; requesting that the United States Department of State work in partnership with state officials to appoint a chair of the Arctic Council; and supporting the strategic recommendations of the January 30, 2014, preliminary report of the Alaska Arctic Policy Commission.
00 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 24 01 Urging the United States Department of State to consider the priorities of the state while 02 it holds the position of chair of the Arctic Council; requesting that the United States 03 Department of State work in partnership with state officials to appoint a chair of the 04 Arctic Council; and supporting the strategic recommendations of the January 30, 2014, 05 preliminary report of the Alaska Arctic Policy Commission. 06 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 WHEREAS, by its very existence, the state enables the United States to be an Arctic 08 nation; and 09 WHEREAS, in April 2012, the Alaska State Legislature established the Alaska Arctic 10 Policy Commission to "develop an Arctic policy for the state and produce a strategy for the 11 implementation of an Arctic policy"; and 12 WHEREAS the Alaska Arctic Policy Commission has been working with the 13 National Strategy for the Arctic Region Task Force on how to best craft an Arctic policy that 14 benefits and creates opportunity for the state and the entire United States; and 15 WHEREAS the Arctic resources of the state are immense and, with responsible
01 development, could contribute significantly to the economy of the United States and to the 02 entire pan-Arctic region; and 03 WHEREAS the Bering Strait serves as the gateway to the Arctic for the marine traffic 04 of the United states and other nations between the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic; and 05 WHEREAS the marine traffic through the Bering Strait choke point has been 06 increasing; and 07 WHEREAS the Arctic Council is the intergovernmental forum in which all eight 08 Arctic nations participate; and 09 WHEREAS the Arctic Council includes six Arctic indigenous communities, four of 10 which are resident in the state, and six permanent working groups, each of which directly 11 affects the state; and 12 WHEREAS Canada is the current chair of the Arctic Council, and the United States 13 will be the chair from May 2015 until 2017; and 14 WHEREAS the United States should seek local and scientific expertise from the state 15 to inform the nation's input at the Arctic Council; and 16 WHEREAS, in December 2012, the Governor proposed to the United States 17 Department of State four priorities for consideration while the United States is chair of the 18 Arctic Council; and 19 WHEREAS it is important for the priorities of the state and the United States to be in 20 alignment while the United States holds the position of chair of the Arctic Council; and 21 WHEREAS, when the United States ascends to chair of the Arctic Council in 2015, 22 the United States Department of State will appoint one individual as chair of the Arctic 23 Council; 24 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 25 Department of State to consider the priorities of the state while it holds the position of chair of 26 the Arctic Council, including the priorities of the Governor, creating jobs and economic 27 opportunity for Arctic residents, preventing suicide, developing safe and sustainable 28 sanitation facilities for small, isolated Arctic communities, and securing safe and reliable 29 shipping; and be it 30 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature requests that the United 31 States Department of State work in partnership with state officials to appoint a chair of the
01 Arctic Council; and be it 02 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the strategic 03 recommendations of the January 30, 2014, preliminary report of the Alaska Arctic Policy 04 Commission, including continuing to "pursue, and actively expand, all avenues of 05 participation in the Arctic Council, including involvement in working groups and by building 06 partnerships with permanent participants." 07 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 08 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 09 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John F. Kerry, United States Secretary of State; 10 the Honorable Robert Menendez, Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; 11 the Honorable Bob Corker, ranking member, U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; 12 Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr., Commandant of the United States Coast Guard; the Honorable 13 Sally Jewell, United States Secretary of the Interior; the Honorable Fran Ulmer, Chair, U.S. 14 Arctic Research Commission; the Honorable Kathryn D. Sullivan, Ph.D., acting 15 Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and acting National Oceanic and 16 Atmospheric Administration Administrator, U.S. Department of Commerce; the Honorable 17 John Paul Holdren, Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; the 18 Honorable Kerri-Ann Jones, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Oceans and International 19 Environmental and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Alice Hill, Senior Counselor 20 to the Secretary, Department of Homeland Security; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and 21 the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. 22 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.