Tuesday, April 2, 2013, Juneau, Alaska – Members of the 28th Alaska Legislature’s House Interior Delegation today issued a statement condemning the behavior of colleague Representative Scott Kawasaki during Monday night’s floor session to pass the instate gasline bill.

Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks, made crude and disrespectful gestures to the public television camera recording the proceedings while Alaska Speaker of the House Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, spoke in favor of the bill to bring affordable energy and energy security to Alaskans.

Statement

“Representative Scott Kawasaki does not speak for us. His actions in no way reflect the feelings of the Interior Delegation toward the Speaker of the House, or toward House Bill 4. Our number one issue in this Legislature is securing short- and long-term solutions to our Interior energy crisis.

“We work hard in the Capitol to build relationships, and show our fellow legislators the upmost respect. The floor of the Alaska House is sacred, and his conduct last night was patently inexcusable and disrespectful to a man who has worked so hard with us to find a way to help Interior Alaskans gain access to affordable energy.

“He owes us, his constituents and the Speaker an apology. We must remember that we are sent to Juneau to work for our districts and that everything we do while in office should be measured against protecting the institution of the legislature and reputation of our districts.”