Enrolled HR 7: Requesting the United States Secretary of State to attend the Arctic Council ministerial meeting in Kiruna, Sweden, on May 15, 2013, as the Arctic Minister of the United States.
00Enrolled HR 7 01 Requesting the United States Secretary of State to attend the Arctic Council ministerial 02 meeting in Kiruna, Sweden, on May 15, 2013, as the Arctic Minister of the United States. 03 _______________ 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: 05 WHEREAS eight Arctic nations, including the United States and six indigenous 06 organizations, four of which reside in Alaska, are currently represented on the Arctic Council; 07 and 08 WHEREAS the Arctic Council serves as the premier intergovernmental forum on 09 Arctic issues; and 10 WHEREAS the United States is an Arctic nation because of the presence of the state 11 in the Arctic; and 12 WHEREAS Canada, which will assume the chair of the Arctic Council at the 13 May 2013 ministerial meeting, has announced that, during Canada's term as chair, the council 14 will focus on "development for the people of the North," with subthemes of responsible Arctic 15 resource development, safe Arctic shipping, and sustainable circumpolar communities, and 16 those areas of focus align with the interests and priorities of the state; and 17 WHEREAS the United States will assume the chair of the Arctic Council in
01 May 2015; and 02 WHEREAS the United States and Canada will cooperate closely during their 03 respective terms as chair, and both will be working to increase cooperation among Arctic 04 nations and engage the world in addressing the challenges and opportunities in the Arctic; and 05 WHEREAS the Twenty-Seventh Alaska State Legislature, in an effort to become 06 more engaged in Arctic policy and work more closely with and have greater input into federal 07 agency actions in the Arctic, in 2012, established the Alaska Arctic Policy Commission; and 08 WHEREAS the Alaska Arctic Policy Commission recognizes the importance of 09 cross-border collaboration and the fundamental role the Arctic Council has in promoting that 10 cooperation; and 11 WHEREAS the Alaska Arctic Policy Commission, the Governor of Alaska, and the 12 Alaska State Legislature are highly motivated to ensure the state's interests in the Arctic are 13 represented at national and international levels; and 14 WHEREAS former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton became the 15 highest level American official to represent the United States at the Arctic Council ministerial 16 meeting in Nuuk, Greenland, in May 2011, signing, on behalf of the United States, the Arctic 17 Search and Rescue Agreement, the first binding agreement negotiated under the auspices of 18 the Arctic Council; and 19 WHEREAS, at the May 2013 Arctic Council ministerial meeting in Kiruna, Sweden, 20 a second Arctic agreement, on cooperation on marine oil pollution preparedness and response 21 in the Arctic, is expected to be signed by the Arctic Ministers; and 22 WHEREAS it is vital that the nation participate at the highest level at the Arctic 23 Council and other Arctic forums to further the interests of the nation and the state in the 24 Arctic; and 25 WHEREAS the position of the representative on the Arctic Council from the United 26 States should be consistent with the other Arctic nations represented on the Arctic Council, 27 and, in the case of a ministerial meeting, that representative is a Foreign Minister or Secretary 28 of State; 29 BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives requests United States 30 Secretary of State John Kerry to attend the Arctic Council ministerial meeting in Kiruna, 31 Sweden, on May 15, 2013, as the Arctic Minister of the nation; and be it
01 FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives requests that Secretary 02 Kerry work with the state before the Arctic Council ministerial meeting to develop language 03 for his remarks to the Arctic Council that reflects the interests of the state and that represents 04 the level of cooperation that will best serve the state and the nation in the Arctic. 05 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 06 the United States; the Honorable John F. Kerry, United States Secretary of State; and the 07 Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the 08 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.