Legislature(1993 - 1994)
02/10/1994 05:00 PM House MLV
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
Number 005
HJR 51 - SUIT RE POWS & MIAS AGAINST U.S. AND OTHERS
WALT WILCOX, AIDE TO REPRESENTATIVE JEANNETTE JAMES, Prime
Sponsor of HJR 51, stated that HJR 51 requests the Governor
to sue the U.S. and some other foreign countries to find out
where MIA's and POW's from Alaska are located. He stated
that Thomas Anderson, United States Marine Corps, and Howard
M. Koslosky, United States Navy, are still not accounted for
and he believes that the federal government has not told
everything they know. Mr. Wilcox asked if there were any
questions.
Number 011
REPRESENTATIVE NAVARRE asked if the families of Thomas
Anderson and Howard Koslosky had been contacted regarding
this resolution.
MR. WILCOX answered that he had not contacted them.
REPRESENTATIVE NAVARRE asked if the reference to the
"inferior courts" on page 2, line 20, meant the lower
courts. He noted that this seemed fairly negative.
MR. WILCOX replied that this was what they are called and
further stated that the court of jurisdiction was the
Supreme Court, as noted in the resolution.
REPRESENTATIVE NAVARRE stated he believed that Senator
Murkowski chaired the Military & Veterans Affairs Committee
and was fairly active in attempting to report on what had
happened to POW's & MIA's. He stated he thought the whereas
clause beginning on page 2, line 17, was a direct criticism
on Senator Murkowski.
REPRESENTATIVE NAVARRE also noted that on page 2, line 24,
the resolution authorizes another suit against the federal
government and he asked if anyone had assessed the
likelihood of success of the suit and what the costs would
be. He also noted the resolution did not have a fiscal note
and that a suit against the federal government would cost
money. Representative Navarre stated that the resolution
ought to be referred to the Finance Committee so that the
costs could be considered.
Number 030
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked if Representative Navarre had
any suggested amendments.
REPRESENTATIVE NAVARRE suggested amending the bill on page 2
to delete lines 17-19.
MR. WILCOX stated that the sponsor would accept that
amendment. He stated that the point was there are 512
people still unaccounted for, so the government has failed
somewhere. Mr. Wilcox requested that lines 17-19 on page 2
be deleted.
REPRESENTATIVE NAVARRE moved the amendment.
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked if there was any objection to
the amendment. Hearing none, the amendment passed.
Number 036
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER stated that he had the same question
regarding a fiscal note for the bill. He asked if the other
states who had approved this type of legislation have
recommended suit or authorized suit.
MR. WILCOX answered that the other states had recommended
suit. Mr. Wilcox further stated that this resolution
respectfully requests the Governor to authorize suit and
that the Governor does not have to do this if he so chooses.
Mr. Wilcox stated that this was a nationwide effort among
all 50 states.
Number 044
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT asked Representative Navarre what his
concerns were on page 2, line 21.
REPRESENTATIVE NAVARRE stated that he did not have any.
Number 050
MR. WILCOX told Representative Navarre that he would not a
oppose changing the word "inferior" on page 2, line 20, to
"lower."
REPRESENTATIVE NAVARRE said that he would suggest that.
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked Representative Navarre if he
would like to offer that as an amendment.
REPRESENTATIVE NAVARRE replied that he would and moved the
amendment.
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER stated that it had been moved that the
committee amend page 2, line 20, to read "Whereas the lower
courts of the federal judiciary . . ." and asked if there
was any objection. Hearing none, the amendment passed.
Number 056
REPRESENTATIVE NAVARRE stated that he was concerned with
this problem, but he really did not know enough about it
because his only exposure on this was from the media. He
stated that he would not propose moving this bill out of
committee because he did not feel he knew enough about the
facts presented in this bill.
MR. WILCOX offered to provide Representative Navarre with
further background.
Number 066
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER stated that he thought the delegation
has been good proponents for greater information, release
and exploration for those unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.
He further stated that his reasons for cosponsoring this
legislation and scheduling it for a hearing is that while
there are still individuals lost or unaccounted for, it is
worthwhile in his mind to continue the pursuit of closure,
not only for the affected families, but for the sake of the
country as a whole.
REPRESENTATIVE NAVARRE said that he was aware that when
President Clinton opened trade relations with Vietnam he
made comments that he was concerned with this problem and
that this might help get more information on POW's and
MIA's.
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT called the member's attention to lines
1-3 on page 2. He asked if the resolution was using the
correct terminology in referring to Russia and Soviet Union.
MR. WILCOX stated that the Soviet Union no longer exists and
that Russia still exists as a state.
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT asked if the reference to "the president
of Russia" on page 2, line 1, referred to the current
president of Russia.
MR. WILCOX replied that that was correct.
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT stated that since the resolution made
reference to "General Tran Von Kwong" on page 1, line 12,
maybe the resolution should also specify the president of
Russia by name as well.
Number 085
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked if it was President Yeltsin.
MR. WILCOX stated that he did not remember.
Number 087
REPRESENTATIVE NAVARRE suggested that perhaps the committee
could make a conceptual amendment to find the proper name of
the president of Russia.
Number 088
MR. WILCOX stated that the presidents of the Soviet Union
are the ones that we are familiar with and that the
presidents of Russia have been less well known. He again
stated that he did not recall what the name was.
Number 089
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked if the sponsor would consider a
friendly conceptual amendment to list that individual by
name.
MR. WILCOX stated that Representative James would consider
that a friendly amendment.
Number 091
REPRESENTATIVE NAVARRE referenced page 2, lines 1-2,
"...that the Soviet Union took members of the American armed
forces into Russia..." and asked if that was the Soviet
Union or Russia.
MR. WILCOX replied that it stated that they were taken into
Russia and also said that the sponsor would consider adding
this to the conceptual amendment since there is some
confusion over the proper names in that part of the world.
Number 095
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER stated that it could be more clearly
specified. Representative Mulder said that there was a
conceptual amendment made to page 2, lines 1 and 2, in
relation to specifying who the president of Russia is and
where exactly in Russia U.S. personnel were held.
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked if there were any objections to
the amendment. Hearing none, the amendment was adopted.
REPRESENTATIVE KOTT moved HJR 51 as amended from committee
with individual recommendations.
Number 104
REPRESENTATIVE MULDER asked if there was any objection to
moving HJR 51 as amended from committee. Hearing no
objection, HJR 51 was passed out of the committee.
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