SJR 16: Expressing support for the Arctic Economic Council; and requesting that the United States Congress express support for the Arctic Economic Council, for the chair of the Arctic Economic Council to be a resident of this state, and for the structure of the Arctic Economic Council leadership to mirror the rotation of the chair of the Arctic Council.
00 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 16 01 Expressing support for the Arctic Economic Council; and requesting that the United 02 States Congress express support for the Arctic Economic Council, for the chair of the 03 Arctic Economic Council to be a resident of this state, and for the structure of the Arctic 04 Economic Council leadership to mirror the rotation of the chair of the Arctic Council. 05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 WHEREAS the Arctic Council was established by the Ottawa Declaration of 1996 to 07 function as a high-level intergovernmental forum to promote cooperation, coordination, and 08 interaction across the Arctic, with the involvement of the indigenous communities and people 09 of the Arctic, and with a focus on sustainable development and environmental protection of 10 the Arctic; and 11 WHEREAS the United States of America, the Russian Federation, Finland, Norway, 12 Sweden, the Kingdom of Denmark, including Greenland and the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and 13 Canada are all member nations of the Arctic Council; and 14 WHEREAS the United States is a member nation because of the Arctic region of this 15 state; and
01 WHEREAS the Permanent Participant organizations of the Arctic Council include the 02 Inuit Circumpolar Council, the Aleut International Association, the Gwich'in Council 03 International, the Arctic Athabaskan Council, the Saami Council, and the Russian Association 04 of Indigenous Peoples of the North; and 05 WHEREAS the indigenous people of the state are represented in four of the six 06 Permanent Participant organizations; and 07 WHEREAS, in 2013, Canada assumed the chair of the Arctic Council; and 08 WHEREAS, on August 23, 2012, Steven Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, 09 appointed Minister Leona Aglukkaq as the Chair of the Arctic Council during the 10 chairmanship of Canada; and 11 WHEREAS Minister Aglukkaq is an Inuk from Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada; and 12 WHEREAS Minister Aglukkaq is the first indigenous person to serve as chair of the 13 Arctic Council; and 14 WHEREAS Minister Aglukkaq recognizes that environmental stewardship must be 15 balanced with responsible development of natural and human resources; and 16 WHEREAS, as a result of this understanding, Minister Aglukkaq took a leadership 17 position in creating the Arctic Economic Council; and 18 WHEREAS the Arctic Economic Council is charged with fostering business 19 development in the Arctic, engaging in deeper circumpolar cooperation, and providing a 20 business perspective to the work of the Arctic Council; and 21 WHEREAS the Arctic Economic Council has the same members as the Arctic 22 Council; and 23 WHEREAS the Arctic Economic Council held its inaugural organization meeting in 24 Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada, on September 2 - 3, 2014; and 25 WHEREAS representatives from member countries of the United States of America, 26 the Russian Federation, Finland, Norway, Sweden, the Kingdom of Denmark, Iceland, and 27 Canada attended the inaugural meeting in Iqaluit; and 28 WHEREAS representatives from the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Arctic 29 Athabaskan Council, Gwich'in Council International, the Saami Council, and the Russian 30 Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North represented the Permanent Participants at the 31 inaugural meeting in Iqaluit; and
01 WHEREAS Alaskans Drue Pearce, Gail Schubert, Lori Davey, and Bruce Harland 02 represented the United States at the inaugural meeting in Iqaluit; and 03 WHEREAS indigenous resident Tara Sweeny represented the Inuit Circumpolar 04 Council as a Permanent Participant at the inaugural meeting in Iqaluit and was elected as the 05 United States representative on the executive committee of the Arctic Economic Council; and 06 WHEREAS the federal government had no official presence at the inaugural meeting 07 in Iqaluit; and 08 WHEREAS the United States Arctic Economic Council delegation, consisting of 09 three state business representatives and resident Permanent Participants, is working to secure 10 the rotation of the Chair of the Arctic Economic Council to mirror the rotation of the Chair of 11 the Arctic Council; and 12 WHEREAS, if the United States Arctic Economic Council delegation is successful in 13 its efforts, an Alaskan will be the incoming Chair of the Arctic Economic Council in 14 April 2015; and 15 WHEREAS, as residents of an Arctic state, Alaskans realize the importance of 16 balancing responsible economic development of natural and human resources and 17 environmental stewardship; and 18 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature recognizes that Alaskans need both 19 responsible economic development and environmental stewardship to continue to thrive, 20 especially in the Arctic; and 21 WHEREAS Arctic indigenous people, including indigenous residents of the state, 22 rely on the land and the sea to sustain traditional lifestyles; and 23 WHEREAS residents of the state, including indigenous residents of the state, rely on 24 revenue from responsible economic development to maintain schools, roads, communities, 25 and essential public service infrastructure; and 26 WHEREAS Arctic indigenous people, including indigenous residents of the state, 27 have a wealth of traditional knowledge that could be incorporated into the policies that affect 28 the Arctic; and 29 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature recognizes the importance of the Arctic 30 Economic Council in providing a forum for residents of the state to give input on policies and 31 guiding principles regarding economic development in the Arctic; and
01 WHEREAS the state holds a strategic position as the gateway to the Arctic and will 02 benefit from the efforts of the Arctic Economic Council; and 03 WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature seeks to empower the United States Arctic 04 Economic Council delegation, which consists entirely of residents of this state; and 05 WHEREAS the federal government should work to empower residents of the state, 06 especially indigenous residents of the state, as partners in the Arctic Economic Council; 07 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature expresses its confidence in and 08 support for the Arctic Economic Council; and be it 09 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that 10 the United States Congress express support for the Arctic Economic Council, for the chair of 11 the Arctic Economic Council to be a resident of this state, and for the structure of the Arctic 12 Economic Council leadership to mirror the rotation of the chair of the Arctic Council. 13 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 14 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 15 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John F. Kerry, United States Secretary of State; 16 David Balton, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries, Bureau of Oceans and 17 International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, United States Department of State; Julia 18 Gourley, Senior Arctic Official, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and 19 Scientific Affairs, United States Department of State; Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr., Special 20 Representative for the Arctic, United States Department of State; Fran Ulmer, Special 21 Advisor on Arctic Science and Policy, United States Department of State; Craig Fleener, 22 Special Assistant on Arctic Policy, Office of the Governor; and the Honorable Lisa 23 Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, 24 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.