00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 30                                                                     
01 Urging the United States Congress to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to                                    
02 promote the safety, health, and well-being of refugees and displaced persons; urging the                                
03 United States government to uphold its international leadership role in responding to                                   
04 displacement crises with humanitarian assistance and to work with the international                                     
05 community and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to find solutions to                                    
06 conflicts and protect refugees; and urging the President of the United States to continue                               
07 to mitigate the burden placed on frontline refugee host countries.                                                      
08 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
09       WHEREAS, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,                                      
10 (1)  more than 65,600,000 people are displaced worldwide, including almost                                              
11 22,500,000 refugees, over 40,300,000 internally displaced people who flee war, persecution,                             
12 or torture in search of peace, hope, and freedom, and 2,800,000 people seeking asylum; these                            
13 numbers are unprecedented;                                                                                              
14            (2)  children account for 51 percent of the refugee population in the world;                                 

01 millions of refugee children are unable to access basic services, including education;                                  
02            (3)  on average, 20 people are displaced from their homes every minute;                                      
03 (4)  in 2016 alone, 10,300,000 individuals were newly displaced because of                                              
04 conflict or persecution, including 6,900,000 individuals who were displaced within the                                  
05 borders of their own countries and 3,400,000 new refugees and asylum seekers who fled to                                
06 other countries;                                                                                                        
07            (5)  more than 5,500,000 refugees have fled Syria since the start of the Syrian                              
08 conflict and more than 6,300,000 people are internally displaced within Syria;                                          
09            (6)  since January 2014, more than 3,000,000 Iraqi people fleeing violence                                   
10 have been internally displaced and over 260,000 have fled as refugees; and                                              
11 (7)  South Sudan is now the site of the largest refugee crisis in Africa, with one                                      
12 out of every four people displaced, a total of 1,900,000 people, approximately 1,400,000 of                             
13 whom are refugees who have fled the country, and over half of whom are children; and                                    
14 WHEREAS, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, during a                                            
15 refugee's first 20 years in the United States, the refugee contributes on average $21,000 more                          
16 in taxes than the refugee receives in benefits; and                                                                     
17       WHEREAS no evidence links immigration rates to increased crime;                                                 
18 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                              
19 Congress to reaffirm the bipartisan commitment of the United States to promote the safety,                              
20 health, and well-being of the millions of refugees worldwide, including promoting the                                   
21 education of refugee children and displaced persons; and be it                                                          
22 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature calls on the United States                                         
23 government to uphold its international leadership role by responding to displacement crises                             
24 with humanitarian assistance and by providing protection for groups of people who are                                   
25 vulnerable to sexual violence, human trafficking, persecution or violence based on the group's                          
26 religion or nationality, forced conscription, genocide, or exploitation; and be it                                      
27 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature calls on the United States                                         
28 government to work in partnership with the international community to find solutions to                                 
29 existing conflicts and prevent new conflicts from beginning; and be it                                                  
30 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature calls on the United States                                         
31 government to continue to support the efforts of the United Nations High Commissioner for                               

01 Refugees and to advance the work of nongovernmental organizations that protect refugees,                                
02 regardless of their country of origin or religious beliefs; and be it                                                   
03 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature calls on the United States                                         
04 government to continue to mitigate, through humanitarian assistance and development                                     
05 support, the burden placed on frontline refugee host countries that absorb most of the world's                          
06 refugees.                                                                                                               
07 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President                                   
08 of the United States; the Honorable Michael R. Pence, Vice President of the United States and                           
09 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Paul D. Ryan, Speaker of the U.S. House of                                  
10 Representatives; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of                                       
11 Representatives; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the                                 
12 Honorable Charles E. Schumer, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Bob                                     
13 Corker, Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; the Honorable Ed Royce,                                
14 Chair of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the                                 
15 Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative,                                
16 members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and the Office of the United Nations High                                 
17 Commissioner for Refugees.