[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 204 (Tuesday, December 19, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S18918-S18919]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-483. A resolution adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of Alaska; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 
     and Forestry:

                      ``Legislative Resolve No. 18

       ``Whereas the United States Department of Agriculture, 
     Forest Service, has issued a new strategic plan known as 
     ``Reinvention of the Forest Service''; and
       ``Whereas this plan has far-reaching implications and was 
     developed without consultation with key elected leaders, 
     including state governors, members of the United States 
     Congress, or community, tribal government, and the Alaska 
     Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) corporate leaders in 
     contradiction of President Clinton's Executive Order No. 
     12875 ``Enhancing Intergovernmental Partnerships''; and
       ``Whereas Vice-President Gore's ``Report on Reinventing 
     Government'' was developed with the promised intent of 
     empowering local governments and decentralizing decision-
     making power; and
       ``Whereas the ``Reinvention of the Forest Service'' 
     strategic plan approved by Secretary of Agriculture Mike 
     Espy, just before his resignation, eliminates the very 
     foundation of locally based authority that had the 
     responsibility of working with states, local communities, 
     tribal governments, and ANCSA corporations and masks and 
     diffuses decision-making authority and withdraws it to 
     Washington, D.C., making the Forest Service less 
     responsive to local concerns; and
       ``Whereas moving the Alaska Region Forest Service office to 
     Portland, Oregon, is an example of the flawed science being 
     used to define ecosystems and ecological boundaries; and
       ``Whereas the newly defined purpose of the Forest Service 
     to promote the sustainability of ecosystems without 
     specifically retaining the traditional Forest Service 
     objective of promoting community stability has already 
     created problems and crises for hundreds of communities 
     dependent upon the national forests and state and private 
     forest ecosystems; and
       ``Whereas the new strategic plan has seemingly turned away 
     from commitment towards providing a continuous flow of 
     renewable resources to meet the public need, as directed in 
     the Organic Act, Multiple-Use Sustained Yield Act of 1960, 
     the National Forest Management Act, and other Acts of the 
     Congress; and
       ``Whereas, under the new strategic plan, the Forest Service 
     is more inclined to present a nebulous plan for ecosystem 
     management where resource yields are simply the by-products 
     of management, with no predictable flows or commitments to 
     supply levels to sustain human life: Be it
       ``Resolved, That the Alaska State Legislature calls upon 
     the newly designated Secretary of Agriculture to suspend 
     implementation of the reinvention project's strategic plan 
     approved by Secretary Espy to allow for Congressional review 
     and for consultation with local governments; and be it 
     further
       ``Resolved, That the United States Department of 
     Agriculture, Forest Service, conduct true partnership 
     meetings with states, communities, tribal governments, and 
     ANCSA corporations to develop a new strategic plan; and be it 
     further
       ``Resolved, That the Forest Service acknowledge the United 
     States Department of Agriculture's legal obligations to 
     rebuild, restore, and promote the economic stability of 
     forest dependent communities; and be it further
       ``Resolved, That, in keeping with federal law, timber 
     commodities are a primary not a residual value of forest 
     management; and be it further
       ``Resolved, That the United States Department of 
     Agriculture, Forest Service, through a true partnership with 
     local communities, identify and implement strategies for 
     decentralizing decision making and empowering state and local 
     governments to more effectively manage forest ecosystems to 
     assure community stability, improve service to the public, 
     and reduce government cost.
       ``Copies of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable 
     Bill Clinton, President of the United States; the Honorable 
     Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 
     President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Dan Glickman, 
     Secretary of Agriculture; the Honorable Bruce Babbitt, 
     Secretary of the Interior; Jack Ward Thomas, Chief of the 
     Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; and the 
     Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. 
     Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, 
     members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.''
                                                                    ____

       POM-484. A resolution adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of Alaska; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
     Transportation.

                      ``Legislative Resolve No. 22

       ``Whereas 46 U.S.C. Appx. 861-889 (Merchant Marine Act of 
     1920), commonly known as the Jones Act, requires that 
     seaborne shipping between United States ports be done on 
     vessels that have been constructed in the United States and 
     that are crewed by United States crews; and
       ``Whereas this requirement has resulted in much higher 
     costs for shipping bulk commodities on United States vessels 
     between domestic ports than for shipping those commodities on 
     foreign carriers between United States and foreign ports; and
       ``Whereas there are currently no bulk carriers constructed 
     in the United States that are capable of servicing the large-
     scale movement of Alaska coal and coal derived fuels; and 
     
[[Page S18919]]

       ``Whereas, because the transportation cost for a high-
     tonnage, low-value bulk commodity is often a significant part 
     of the total delivered cost of that commodity, a higher 
     shipping cost can frequently keep a bulk commodity from being 
     competitive; and
       ``Whereas Alaska coal and coal derived fuels are a 
     potential fuel source for utilities and industries on the 
     west coast of the United States and in Hawaii; and
       ``Whereas the current difference between Jones Act shipping 
     rates and foreign shipping rates has made the delivered cost 
     of foreign coal significantly less expensive than domestic 
     coal as evidenced by the current supply agreements between a 
     Hawaiian independent power producer and an Indonesian coal 
     supplier; and
       ``Whereas greatly increased coal usage figures prominently 
     in the future generation plans for Hawaiian utilities and 
     thus will create prospective markets for Alaska coal; and
       ``Whereas it is the policy of the State of Alaska under AS 
     44.19.035 to persuade the Congress to repeal the Jones Act: 
     Be it
       Resolved, That the Alaska State Legislature opposes the 
     application of the Jones Act to bulk commodities, such as 
     coal and coal derived fuels, because of the Acts detrimental 
     effect on Alaska commerce; and be it further
       Resolved, That the Alaska State Legislature respectfully 
     requests the Congress to pass legislation exempting Alaska 
     bulk commodities, such as coal and coal derived fuels, from 
     provisions of the Jones Act.
       ``Copies of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable 
     Bill Clinton, President of the United States; the Honorable 
     Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 
     President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Federico Pena, 
     Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation; the 
     Honorable Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the U.S. House of 
     Representatives; the Honorable Bob Dole, Majority Leader of 
     the U.S. Senate; and the Honorable Ted Stevens and the 
     Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable 
     Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 
     delegation in Congress.''
                                                                    ____

       POM-485. A resolution adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of Alaska; to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
     Resources:

                      ``Legislative Resolve No. 26

       ``Whereas the State of Alaska entered into the Union on an 
     equal footing with all other states, and the Statehood 
     Compact specifically granted authority over fish and wildlife 
     to the State of Alaska; and
       ``Whereas the issue of fisheries management was one of the 
     most prominent justifications for statehood; and
       ``Whereas the State of Alaska contends that the Statehood 
     Compact cannot be legally modified by either party without 
     the consent of the other party; and
       ``Whereas the Congress and the President of the United 
     States are presently embarking on a campaign to return rights 
     and authority to the states; and
       ``Whereas Title VIII of the Alaska National Interest Lands 
     Conservation Act (ANILCA; P.L. 96-487), enacted in 1980, 
     grants a subsistence priority on federal public land in 
     Alaska; and
       ``Whereas the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 
     of Agriculture have threatened unilateral federal preemption 
     of state fish and wildlife management on state and private 
     land and water in Alaska; and
       ``Whereas the State of Alaska, the federal government, and 
     other parties are attempting to sort out the complexities of 
     the federal law related to jurisdictional issues created by 
     ANILCA; and
       ``Whereas the legal process for developing a final 
     resolution to the jurisdictional questions is extremely slow, 
     and major social and economic disruption is imminent if the 
     federal government continues on a course to illegally and 
     unconstitutionally preempt state management of fish and 
     wildlife; and
       ``Whereas the Congress specifically declined to grant 
     preemption authority to the Secretary of the Interior and the 
     Secretary of Agriculture in ANILCA; and
       ``Whereas the Congress specifically reemphasized that the 
     jurisdiction and authority of the state were to be 
     maintained; and
       ``Whereas the Alaska State Legislature is confident that 
     the Alaska delegation in the Congress and the people of 
     Alaska would never have agreed to the final compromise ANILCA 
     package had they been advised that ANILCA contained 
     provisions to allow federal preemption of all state fish and 
     wildlife management in Alaska; and
       ``Whereas the federal agencies and some parties are arguing 
     in recent court cases concerning state/federal jurisdiction 
     that federal reserved water rights and the navigational 
     servitude provide legal basis for a claim of federal title to 
     land and resources; and
       ``Whereas this interpretation of federal laws related to 
     federal reserved water rights and the navigational servitude 
     is contrary to all existing related laws and policies adopted 
     by the Congress and threatens to undermine existing reserved 
     water rights and navigable waters policies that are critical 
     to all western states: Be it
       ``Resolved, That the Alaska State Legislature respectfully 
     and urgently requests the Congress to amend the Alaska 
     National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) to clarify 
     that the original intent of the Congress was not to violate 
     the Statehood Compact or to preempt state management of fish 
     and wildlife in Alaska; and be it further
       ``Resolved, That the Alaska State Legislature respectfully 
     requests that the Congress amend ANILCA to clarify that the 
     definition of ``public lands'' means only federal public land 
     and water; and be it further
       ``Resolved, That, while the federal courts are resolving 
     the federal/state conflicts created by Title VIII of ANILCA, 
     the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that 
     the Congress amend ANILCA to expressly prohibit preemption 
     of state jurisdiction on state and private land and water 
     unless specifically authorized by the Congress and the 
     State of Alaska; and be it further
       ``Resolved, That the Alaska State Legislature respectfully 
     requests the Congress to clarify that neither ANILCA nor 
     another federal law provides authority for the federal 
     agencies to claim title to resources or land through federal 
     reserved water rights or through the navigational servitude; 
     and be it further,
       ``Resolved, That the Alaska State Legislature respectfully 
     requests the Alaska delegation in Congress to oppose any 
     other amendments to ANILCA until the Congress takes action to 
     confirm state management and to limit the definition of 
     ``public lands.''
       ``Copies of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable 
     Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 
     President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Newt Gingrich, 
     Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable 
     Strom Thurmond, President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate; the 
     Honorable Bob Dole, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; and 
     to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank 
     Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. 
     Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.

                          ____________________