00                      SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 7                                                                     
01 Supporting the construction by American Indian Veterans Memorial, Inc., of an Alaska                                    
02 Native, American Indian, and Native Hawaiian veterans' monument in the nation's                                         
03 capital.                                                                                                                
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05       WHEREAS Native Americans, including American Indians, Alaska Natives, and                                       
06 Native Hawaiians, have established a distinguished legacy within every branch of the armed                              
07 forces of the United States; and                                                                                        
08       WHEREAS Native Americans have fought in every war and conflict of the United                                    
09 States since the Revolutionary War; and                                                                                 
10       WHEREAS more than 12,000 Native Americans volunteered to serve in World War                                     
11 I, despite denial of American citizenship; and                                                                          
12       WHEREAS the adaptation of indigenous languages by Native American code talkers                                  
13 was fundamental for strategic communications by the United States and its allies during                                 
14 World War I and World War II; and                                                                                       
15       WHEREAS 42,000 Native Americans served in the Vietnam Conflict, 90 percent of                                   

01 whom enlisted voluntarily; and                                                                                          
02       WHEREAS 32 Native Americans have been awarded the Congressional Medal of                                        
03 Honor; and                                                                                                              
04       WHEREAS the population of living Native American veterans exceeds 151,000                                       
05 across the country, including 5,500 Alaska Natives; and                                                                 
06       WHEREAS the patriotism, sacrifice, and dedication to service exhibited by Native                                
07 American veterans is not formally recognized in the nation's capital;                                                   
08       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the construction by                                   
09 American Indian Veterans Memorial, Inc., of an Alaska Native, American Indian, and Native                               
10 Hawaiian veterans' monument in the nation's capital.                                                                    
11       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                             
12 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and                          
13 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of                                  
14 Representatives; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate;                                     
15 Elizabeth Bates, Project Manager, American Indian Veterans Memorial, Inc.; and the                                      
16 Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the                                         
17 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.