00                CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 32(MLV)                                                               
01 Encouraging the United States Congress to establish hiring goals for apprentices and                                    
02 veteran apprentices.                                                                                                    
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS Americans have a special obligation to those who served in the armed                                    
05 forces of the United States and risked their lives to defend our nation's freedom and honor;                            
06 and                                                                                                                     
07       WHEREAS thousands of men and women have served in the armed forces of the                                       
08 United States to protect and preserve the freedom the citizens of the United States enjoy; and                          
09       WHEREAS veterans have graduated from the world's largest system of specialized                                  
10 professional and technical training schools, operated by the United States Department of                                
11 Defense; and                                                                                                            
12       WHEREAS veterans of active duty military service are one of the nation's most                                   
13 important sources of well-educated, highly trained, and strongly motivated employees; and                               
14       WHEREAS veterans trained by the armed forces of the United States offer employers                               
15 a more mature and responsible employee compared to employees with no military                                           
16 experience; and                                                                                                         

01       WHEREAS veterans returning home face challenges, including in education and                                     
02 employment, that may prevent them from successfully transitioning from military to civilian                             
03 life; and                                                                                                               
04       WHEREAS veterans transition training programs have successfully reduced                                         
05 incidences of veteran suicide; and                                                                                      
06       WHEREAS unemployment rates for both male and female veterans increased in 2020                                  
07 during the COVID-19 pandemic; the unemployment rate for male veterans was 6.5 percent,                                  
08 and the unemployment rate for female veterans was 6.7 percent; and                                                      
09       WHEREAS among the 581,000 unemployed veterans in 2020, 54 percent were ages                                     
10 25 to 54, 41 percent were age 55 and over, and 5 percent were ages 18 to 24; and                                        
11 WHEREAS the state has the highest rate of veterans in the nation, with nearly 14                                      
12 percent of adult Alaskans having served in the military; and                                                            
13 WHEREAS the 2022 draft federal appropriations report for the United States                                            
14 Department of Defense indicates that $10,900,000,000 will be spent on military construction                             
15 that will require thousands of workers; and                                                                             
16 WHEREAS military construction jobs offer a prime opportunity for veterans,                                            
17 including veterans in apprenticeship and postsecondary programs, to further their careers; and                          
18 WHEREAS military service is one of the most demanding professions in the world,                                       
19 and military training produces highly motivated individuals who set high goals for                                      
20 themselves;                                                                                                             
21 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully encourages the                                          
22 United States Congress to introduce and pass legislation requiring each offeror for a domestic                          
23 United States Department of Defense construction project to establish a goal that not less than                         
24 10 percent of the total workforce employed in the performance of the project are participants                           
25 in qualified apprenticeship or postsecondary programs; and be it                                                        
26 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully encourages                                            
27 the United States Congress to introduce and pass legislation requiring each contractor and                              
28 subcontractor for a domestic United States Department of Defense construction project that                              
29 employs apprentices or postsecondary students in a particular classification to ensure that not                         
30 less than 10 percent of the apprentices or postsecondary students are veterans of the armed                             
31 forces of the United States.                                                                                            

01 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President                                   
02 of the United States; the Honorable Kamala D. Harris, Vice President of the United States                               
03 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of                              
04 Representatives; the Honorable Kevin McCarthy, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of                                     
05 Representatives; the Honorable Charles Schumer, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the                                 
06 Honorable Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Denis                                      
07 McDonough, United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and                                
08 the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the U.S. Representative for Alaska, members                              
09 of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and all other members of the 117th United States                                  
10 Congress.