HCR 4 – FINAL VERSION
05/26/05 1493s
05/26/05 1667s
29Jun2005… 1919cofc
2005 SESSION
05/04
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 4
A RESOLUTION urging Congress to find that the Piscataqua River and Portsmouth Harbor lie within the state of New Hampshire.
SPONSORS: Rep. Newton, Straf 1; Rep. Heon, Straf 2; Rep. Pantelakos, Rock 16; Rep. Welch, Rock 8; Rep. Twombly, Straf 1; Sen. Clegg, Dist 14; Sen. Boyce, Dist 4; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 24; Sen. Green, Dist 6
This resolution asks the New Hampshire congressional delegation to introduce legislation and take such additional steps as may be needed to resolve the border dispute between New Hampshire and Maine and to establish that the Piscataqua River and Portsmouth Harbor are in New Hampshire.
05/26/04 1493s
05/26/05 1667s
29Jun2005… 1919cofc
05-0612
05/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five
A RESOLUTION urging Congress to find that the Piscataqua River and Portsmouth Harbor lie within the state of New Hampshire.
Whereas, jurisdiction and control over the whole of the Piscataqua River is and always has been entirely within the county of Rockingham and this state; and
Whereas, complete dominion and ownership of the tidal waters and submerged lands of the whole of the Piscataqua River, including Portsmouth Harbor, are solely vested in the sovereign people of the state of New Hampshire, encumbered only by the national navigational servitude over the river and its harbor as a navigable inland waterway and arm of the sea; and
Whereas, the Piscataqua River and those geographic features located within it are of immense value to New Hampshire; and
Whereas, the state of New Hampshire holds absolute right and title to those lands submerged under the navigable waters of the whole of the Piscataqua River in trust for the people of the state; and
Whereas, the public trust in the Piscataqua River for the public use of the people of this state may only be ensured by the adequate protection, management, and control by the state over the entirety of the river and its submerged lands in which the whole of the people of this state are interested; and
Whereas, the state of New Hampshire petitioned the United States Supreme Court to decide the location of the boundary, the Court refused to hear the case and establish the location of the boundary of the inner Piscataqua River and its harbor; and
Whereas, the legislative boundary commission established by 2003, 103 (HB 343) found in its October 29, 2004 final report that the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth Harbor is not patrolled and laws are not enforced in a manner that ensures the people of New Hampshire the utmost security and protection; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
That the general court finds that the inland Piscataqua river boundary between New Hampshire and Maine runs along the same line at the river and that the continuing dispute on this point undermines New Hampshire’s ability to ensure that the state’s only port of entry is adequately protected; and
That the general court asks the New Hampshire congressional delegation to introduce legislation and take such additional steps as may be necessary and appropriate to establish the location of the boundary between New Hampshire and Maine in the inner Piscataqua River; and
That copies of this resolution, signed by the speaker of the house of representatives and the senate president, be sent by the clerk of the house of representatives to each member of the New Hampshire congressional delegation.
Approved: June 29, 2005