Governor Frank Murkowski and Attorney General Gregg Renkes admit that despite the request of the Alaska Legislature they have not fought the giveaway of 8 strategic Alaskan islands and vast oil-rich seabeds to the Russians.  (See letters from the Governor and Attorney General below.)       

“The giveaway of these islands and seabeds by the U. S. State Department allows the Russians to sell billions of barrels of Alaskan oil back to Americans at the sky-high price of $50 a barrel,” stated Carl Olson, Chairman of State Department Watch, a nonpartisan foreign policy watchdog group headquartered in Washington, D. C.

 Under the sponsorship of Representative John Coghill Jr. (R-Fairbanks) the Legislature passed House Joint Resolution 27 with nearly virtually unanimous votes in both houses to stop the giveaway.

 At stake in the Arctic Ocean are Wrangell, Herald, Bennett, Jeannette, and Henrietta Islands, and Copper Island, Sea Lion Rock, and Sea Otter Rock at the western end of the Aleutian Chain.  Along with the islands go the 200-mile exclusive economic zones in the ocean with their oil, fishery, and other resources.

 The legislature asked the Governor, Attorney General, the Congressman, and two U. S. Senators to intercede to stop the giveaway.  Governor Murkowski and Attorney General Renkes have not taken any actions to stop the giveaway.   U. S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens and Congressman Don Young have strongly backed the giveaway.

             When he was in the U. S. Senate, Frank Murkowski published a letter to the editor of The Wall Street Journal of December 2, 1985, in which he considered introducing a bill to get a complete report on all the issues surrounding the giveaway, but he never fulfilled the promise.  (See copy below.)