HJR 30-URGE U.S. SUPPORT OF REFUGEES  8:39:27 AM CO-CHAIR PARISH announced that the final order of business would be HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 30, Urging the United States Congress to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to promote the safety, health, and well-being of refugees and displaced persons; urging the United States government to uphold its international leadership role in responding to displacement crises with humanitarian assistance and to work with the international community and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to find solutions to conflicts and protect refugees; and urging the President of the United States to continue to mitigate the burden placed on frontline refugee host countries. 8:39:51 AM REPRESENTATIVE ANDY JOSEPHSON, Alaska State Legislature, as prime sponsor, presented HJR 30. He said the source for legislation comes from a variety of sources, including citizens, agencies, and the government. He revealed that the genesis for HJR 30 came from Abby Weiss, an eighth-grade student at Colony Middle School, in Palmer, Alaska. The proposed joint resolution would encourage the federal government to do what it can in its share of carrying the burden in caring for people displaced by humanitarian crises occurring in their nations, including sexual violence, human trafficking, persecution based on religion or nationality, forced conscription, genocide, or exploitation. He said there is no dispute about the crises; the dispute is over what the federal role should be. He said he thinks it is important for the legislature to take note of critical moments in time. 8:44:12 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON said he and Legislative Legal and Research Services reviewed the data in the proposed joint resolution. He explained that the data is "a moving target" depending on the status of a civil war or refugee crisis. Even so, he said he confirmed that the data is "largely accurate - certainly within a span of accuracy" and "grounded in fact." He noted that Ms. Weiss had found her own set of data, which she could share with the committee. 8:45:16 AM REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER said there is a philosophical question raised by HJR 30. He pointed to the phrase "40,300,000 internally displaced people", on page 1, line 11, and asked, "Who are we, in the United States, to establish where people should be inside the borders of their own countries?" REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON said the invasion of France, on June 6, 1944, is one example of a time when the U.S. intervened to impact what is going on domestically [in another country]. He said refugees are a biproduct of internally displaced people. He added, "When people are persecuted within, they leave within and move without." He said he thinks that is the significance of the number Representative Saddler quoted. REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER said certainly neither he nor anyone else wishes to see people being displaced from their homes; however, he questioned what the obligation of the U.S. is to take care of the rest of the world and whether the U.S. is "the world's policeman." REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON responded that he thinks there is a sharing of the duty and many countries do not think the U.S. is doing its share. He elucidated as follows: ... There was a system in place that ... scrutinized refugees that might come to this country in a way that was protective of those of us who live in the country, and ... we have toughened those standards in a way that is harmful to the world community, and as a consequence, we haven't done our share of dealing with displaced persons crises and ... we've asked for Europeans, largely, and some countries like Jordan to bear that ... burden. REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON said HJR 30 states that as a matter of principle, the Alaska State Legislature is sympathetic and believes [the U.S.] has the resources, power, and moral courage to do its share "and be cognizant of the breadth of the problem." REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER said the U.S. does not necessarily follow the directives of other countries. He said the U.S. is involved in the United Nations and gives foreign aid; therefore, he opined that the country is doing "an awful lot for refugees." He offered his understanding that the sponsor had said that the U.S. has a refugee policy that is protective of its citizens but tougher on the world community. He posited that that is an appropriate function of the government, to consider the benefits of its current residents over the benefits of potential residents. He said most everyone wants to come to the U.S., as it is a place of opportunity; however, he asked if the obligation of the U.S. is to allow everyone to "join the United States" who desires to do so. REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPHSON offered his understanding that in 1916 U.S. President Woodrow Wilson "ran against helping Europe with its war problem" and then "entered us into war within two years"; therefore, "you can see how those things can change quickly." He said he thinks President [Franklin D.] Roosevelt would have like to get the country into war faster but "the country wasn't interested." He added, "But then the problem came to us anyway." He said he thinks that is why he likes HJR 30, because it is hard to not participate in the problems that are "headed your way." He said he does not think the proposed joint resolution would call for the U.S. to "house and care for a certain number of refugees" but simply that the U.S. recognize the crisis is there, be sympathetic to it, and play a role in helping find a solution. He said resolutions tend to be aspirational rather than spelling out "we will do X, Y, and Z." REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER reiterated that the US government contributes heavily in the United Nations, whose mission is "just this kind of international and intranational global refugee enumeration." 8:53:40 AM GABBY WEISS testified in support of HJR 30. She read her written statement, which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: Good morning, my name is Gabby Weiss and I am from Palmer, Alaska. I have come here today to explain the importance of House Joint Resolution No. 30 and to urge all the committee members to help make this resolution a reality. First off, a brief recap of the magnitude of the refugee crisis and refugees in general. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a refugee is defined as "a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster." That is all a refugee is. Just from the definition, it is known that the term refugee means a person, someone who is as human as you and me, who is fleeing their country because it isn't safe. I think that sometimes we people get caught up on the labels. Because we are referring to the people who are fleeing from violence as this new population, the "refugees," there is this barrier that is put up that makes us humans feel like we are somehow very different from each other. Another aspect is that makes it very intangible for us to grasp what refugees are going through because right now, we are inside, dry and warm, fed and watered, safe and sound, but there are men, women, and children, who are fleeing from war, persecution, or natural disaster...right now. And it isn't like it is just hundreds of people, or thousand[s] of people, and it's not even just a million people. No, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, it is 22.5 million people, women, men and children, fleeing for their safety. That means that if you take the population of Alaska and multiply it by 30, that number is still less than all the refugees in the world. And guess how many of that number of refugees are children. Is it a 10th, a 5th or a 3rd? No! More than one half of those 22.5 million people are children, under the age of 18. They didn't choose to be born into an unsafe area. That is a huge number of people facing adversity and trauma, but don't worry, even though we can't help everyone, we can still make a difference! If the United States uses its leadership to start encouraging other countries to take in refugees, as well as tries to prevent and help out in the events that create refugees, imagine how many lives we could lift up. Also, the United States can benefit from taking refugees in itself. In fact, the National Bureau of Economic Research explains, an adult refugee will generally pay 21,000 dollars more in taxes than they will receive in benefits in their first 20 years in the United States. A common thought preventing Americans from welcoming refugees is the idea that refugees are the same thing as terrorists. As of 2015, expert Kathleen Newland from the Migration Policy Institute says, "The United States has resettled 784,000 refugees since September 11, 2001. In those 14 years, exactly three resettled refugees have been arrested for planning terrorist activitiesand it is worth noting two were not planning an attack in the United States and the plans of the third were barely credible." To add to this, the US Department of State explains, that on average, it takes 18 to 24 months to process refugees into the US. This process includes in depth vetting. This long and vigorous process is another reason why terrorists would not choose to act as refugees to get into the US. The last reason why we should help is because these people, these refugees, need our help. The refugee crisis has created horrible situations for all refugees. Families become split apart and lives get put on hold. According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are 3.5 million refugee children who should be in school, but aren't. Also, rates sometimes as high as 86% project post traumatic stress disorder in refugees according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Lastly, according to the Mercy Corps Organization, one half of Syria's population before the war, that is 11 million plus people, have been killed or forced to abandon their homes due to the Syrian conflict. Because we are the lucky ones who get to have meetings, and eat lunch, and read the newspaper, and spend time with our friends and families, we need to take it upon ourselves to care and support the other humans who aren't as lucky as us. It is our duty because if we were running away from violence and persecution and natural disasters, we would want the people who were safe and healthy to stand up and support us. It is that simple. To conclude, I am asking all the committee members to please vote for House Joint Resolution No. 30. Thank you so much for your time. 8:58:48 AM REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER commended Ms. Weiss for her well-written and ably presented testimony. 8:58:57 AM CO-CHAIR PARISH concurred. He asked Ms. Weiss, "Why do you think we have this responsibility?" MS. WEISS answered that it is a moral responsibility, because "if we were in that situation, we would want people to stand up and help us." 9:00:07 AM NICHOLAS STEEN testified in opposition to HJR 30. He opined that the State of Alaska has no justification to interject itself into the international refugee problem, because international problems are reserved for the federal government. He stated, "We have elected representatives in Washington, D.C., responsible for reflecting our views on these matters." He said Alaska has a multitude of problems needing attention, including crime, education, deteriorating roads and infrastructure, and excessive spending depleting the state's spending account. He said he has yet to speak to any of his friends that support HJR 30, and he encouraged the committee not to support it. 9:01:49 AM ROBERT FAWCETT stated that he believes "we should help as much as we can" but, considering "all of the stuff our government struggles with," questioned who would be responsible for taking on refugees, "financially, physically," and regarding housing. 9:03:15 AM CHARLES DUNCAN opined that "we should take care of ourselves before we bring in any refugees." He explained that he is not worried about terrorists but about not being financially or mentally prepared to take on "as many refugees as we want." He continued: Taking care of yourself should be more important than taking care of other people. I know that doesn't sound right, but it's true. We should focus on our debt, our housing, and when we get to the point where we can help other people, that's when we should. 9:04:37 AM MELISSA KEMBERLING stated that testimony she has heard seems to reflect that "it's an either/or solution." She countered that she thinks the U.S. can take care of itself while working with other countries "to be a leader," which she said the U.S. has been viewed as for many years. As a leader, the U.S. could bring others to the table to co-solve the issue and co-fund [the efforts]. Ms. Kemberling said she does a lot of community work in the Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) area and problems are solved through cooperative effort. She said she does not view this issue as being any different. 9:06:08 AM CO-CHAIR PARISH closed public testimony on HJR 30. CO-CHAIR PARISH announced that HJR 30 was held over.