S-3427               _______________________________________________

                                          SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 8025

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1988 Regular Session

By Senator Pullen

Read first time 1/22/88 and referred to Committee on Governmental Operations.

TO THE HONORABLE RONALD REAGAN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED AND TO THE GOVERNOR OF ALASKA:

          We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

          WHEREAS, The boundaries of the State of Alaska are of vital concern to the state government of Alaska; and

          WHEREAS, The essence of sovereignty of a state within America's federal system requires that a state government have complete and unambiguous jurisdiction over well-defined geographical boundary lines; and

          WHEREAS, Any time that boundaries of a state are to be altered in any way, that state has an essential and overriding interest in the determination of the boundary; and

          WHEREAS, Alaska is unique among all American states in that it is the only state with the potential for having boundaries with more than one foreign country, both Canada and the Soviet Union; and

          WHEREAS, Boundaries with foreign countries and a state are, and ought to be, coterminous with America's national boundaries with those foreign countries; and

          WHEREAS, Negotiations are underway between the United States Department of State and the government of the Soviet Union over setting boundaries between the United States and the Soviet Union, and there have been at least seven rounds of negotiations on this issue since 1981; and

          WHEREAS, The economic issues of petroleum, fishery, and other valuable resources have great impact on Alaska's welfare and prosperity; and

          WHEREAS, At no time has the United States Department of State allowed, or even offered to invite, a representative of the state government of Alaska to be on any negotiating delegation, nor has it formally solicited the input or advice of the state government of Alaska over the content or form of these negotiations; and

          WHEREAS, These negotiating delegations that the United States Department of State has assembled have included representatives of various other agencies of the federal government; and

          WHEREAS, It is settled procedure for negotiation of boundaries that representatives of any affected state not only must be included in the negotiations, but also must consent to the proposed terms of the boundary treaty as was the case when Secretary of State Daniel Webster negotiated with Great Britain in 1842 over the boundary between Canada and the State of Maine; and

          WHEREAS, A usurpation of one state's rights and sovereignty is an attack on the entire federal system of the United States of America;

          NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the President and Congress of the United States ensure that any terms and conditions of any boundary agreement with respect to Alaska's boundaries is consented to by the State of Alaska, and that any such boundary agreement is drafted in the form of a treaty for ratification by the United State Senate; and

          BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, the Governor of Alaska, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington and from the State of Alaska.