1999 Alaska House Joint Resolution 27

1999 Alaska House Joint Resolution 27

This resolution was sponsored by Representative John Coghill Jr. (R-Fairbanks). It
passed the House on a vote of 31-5 (4 absent). The opponents were Eric Croft
(D-Anchorage), John Davies (D-Anchorage), Mary Kapsner (D-Bethel), Beth Kerttula
(D-Juneau), and Albert Kookesh (D-Angoon). It passed the Senate on a vote of 16-4.
The opponents were Al Adams (D-Kotzebue), Kim Elton (D-Juneau), Lyman Hoffman
(D-Bethel), and Georgianna Lincoln (D-Rampart). Governor Steve Cowper signed it in
May 1999.

President Bill Clinton wrote a letter in response to this resolution on Oct. 7, 1999.
It stated, in part, "My Administration is not considering efforts to alter the 1990 boundary
agreement." [See text of President Clinton Letter.]

STATE DEPARTMENT WATCH assisted in drafting the resolution, as reflected in
the letter of appreciation from Representative Coghill (reproduced below).

00 CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 27(STA)
01 Relating to the maritime boundary between Alaska and the former Union of
02 Soviet Socialist Republics.

                                       
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:

04  WHEREAS, on June 1, 1990, United States Secretary of State James A. Baker III
05 signed the United States - U.S.S.R. Maritime Boundary Agreement without the participation
06 or consent of Alaska in the negotiations or terms of the proposed treaty agreement; and
07  WHEREAS the maritime boundary described in the proposed treaty agreement places
08 on the U.S.S.R. side the following eight islands and their entire territorial seas and seabeds:
09 Wrangell, Herald, Bennett, Henrietta, and Jeannette Islands in the Arctic, and Copper Island,
10 Sea Lion Rock, and Sea Otter Rock on the west end of the Aleutian Chain; and
11  WHEREAS the maritime boundary described in the proposed treaty agreement
12 delimits the territorial sea and seabeds of Little Diomede Island at less than the normal 3-mile
13 or 12-mile extent; and                                                                         
14  WHEREAS Alaska has sovereignty and potential or actual property interests in these
01 islands and their territorial seas and seabeds; and
02  WHEREAS the Fifteenth Alaska State Legislature unanimously passed Senate Joint
03 Resolution 12, which requested that a representative of Alaska be included in the United States
04 Department of State's negotiations on setting a maritime boundary between Alaska and the
05 Soviet Union; however, a reply was never received from the United States Department of
06 State, and a representative of Alaska was never included in the negotiations; and
07  WHEREAS the views of 28 bipartisan members of the Alaska House of
08 Representatives and eight bipartisan members of the Alaska Senate were expressed on the
09 proposed treaty agreement in a letter dated May 17, 1991, to Senator Joseph Biden, Jr., of the
10 United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, stating in part:
11            "We firmly believe United States interests and Alaskan interests are at stake
12 and in jeopardy in the proposed treaty. . . No Alaskan official has ever been
13 invited to participate in the treaty negotiations, in spite of abiding Alaskan  
14 interests in fisheries, petroleum and other potential continental shelf resources
15 and the considerations of navigation in the area.  In the entire history of the
16 treaty negotiations, Alaska has had no official voice.  Alaska has not been fully
17 consulted in the entire matter. . . It is our purpose to urgently recommend that
18 the presently-proposed treaty not be ratified by the U.S. Senate, and that
19 negotiations be continued to include appropriate Alaskan officials and current
20 United States and Alaskan historic, territorial, and resource interests";
21 and                         
22  WHEREAS the California Legislature unanimously passed in 1991 Senate Joint
23 Resolution 20 supporting Alaska, and the resolution requested the President to withdraw the
24 proposed treaty agreement from consideration by the United States Senate and requested the
25 United States Senators from California to decline to consider the proposed treaty agreement
26 until Alaska has been able to participate fully in negotiations and has been guaranteed that its
27 consent will be required for any agreement affecting its boundaries; and
28  WHEREAS the U.S.S.R. and its successor, Russia, have not approved the proposed
29 treaty agreement, and the agreement has not been put into force as a treaty; and
30  WHEREAS, at the same time he signed the proposed treaty agreement on June 1,
31 1990, Secretary of State Baker signed an executive agreement with the U.S.S.R. Foreign
01 Minister that stated that, pending the entry into force of the proposed treaty agreement, the
02 two governments agreed to abide by the terms of the proposed treaty agreement as of June 15,
03 1990; and                                                                 
04  WHEREAS the executive agreement was not publicly revealed at the time or
05 mentioned in the transmittal of the proposed treaty agreement to the United States Congress,
06 in the United States Department of State testimony to the United States Senate Committee on
07 Foreign Relations, in the committee report, or in the Senate floor debate; and
08  WHEREAS the United States Department of State is currently negotiating with the
09 Russian government over its demand to redraw the maritime boundary under the executive
10 agreement so as to take from the American side and give to the Russians an additional 40,000
11 square miles of ocean and seabed that would yield 300,000,000 pounds of fish a year without
12 any quid pro quo for the United States;
13  BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that, because the proposed United
14 States - U.S.S.R. Maritime Boundary Agreement has not been put into force, negotiations for
15 the proposed treaty should include participation by the State of Alaska, and any discussion of
16 terms in a new proposed treaty regarding Alaska's territory, sovereignty, or property should
17 involve representatives of the State of Alaska; and be it
18  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature considers participation of
19 the State of Alaska to be essential to the validity of the executive agreement, requests the
20 United States Department of State to report any and all acts and directives regarding
21 implementation of the executive agreement, and respectfully requests the Governor and the
22 Attorney General of Alaska to investigate whether any actions in this matter are not consistent
23 with law and to report on their findings to the legislature before the convening of the Second
24 Regular Session of the Twenty-First Legislature; and be it
25  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Alaska delegation
26 in the United States Congress to promote and pursue the views expressed in this resolution,
27 especially the need for Alaska representation in negotiations over setting a maritime boundary
28 between the state and eastern Russia; and be it
29  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature finds that setting a
30 maritime boundary between Alaska and eastern Russia is a constitutional issue of states' rights
31 and respectfully requests the Governor and the Attorney General of Alaska to actively pursue
01 the matters described in the previous resolves; and be it
02  FURTHER RESOLVED that the current negotiations by the United States Department
03 of State with the Russian government over conceding more seabed and fishing rights to the
04 Russians under the executive agreement on the maritime boundary should be opened to
05 include representatives of the State of Alaska and to provide hearings for public input before
06 signing.                                                                          
07  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the
08 United States; the Honorable Madeleine K. Albright, U.S. Secretary of State; the Honorable
09 Janet Reno, Attorney General of the United States; the Honorable Jesse Helms, Chair of the
10 U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; the Honorable Benjamin A. Gilman, Chair of
11 the U.S. House Committee on International Relations; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr.,
12 Ranking Minority Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; the Honorable
13 Sam Gejdenson, Ranking Minority Member of the U.S. House Committee on International
14 Relations; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S.
15 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska
16 delegation in Congress.