Honorable Tony Knowles from Alaska

3/06/2020

Honorable Tony Knowles

1146 S Street

Anchorage, AK  99501-4230

Dear Honorable Knowles,

My name is Matt Winick from Ann Arbor, Michigan and I have a strong interest in learning history including social justice.  In these subjects, I like to learn the need for Civil Rights to be stronger to reduce discrimination, protect the environment from pollution, and many others. Honorable Knowles,  the main reason I’m writing you a letter is to explain how I find your work when you served as 7^th Governor of Alaska to be very inspiring to me.

When you served as 7^th Governor of Alaska from 1994-2002, I truly appreciated on how you were a strong supporter of Civil Rights by advocating for people with disabilities’ rights, pushing for laws to combat against hate-crime to help protect minorities including people who are different, and funding women including minorities businesses to help them compete in the economy.  Also on Civil Rights I liked on how you tried to push for an Equal Rights Amendment to help protect women from being discriminated based on gender even though the state legislature with both political parties weren’t supportive of it.   Supporting funds for renewable energy resources to help reduce addiction to oil with gas,  working with both political parties in the state legislature on expanding funds to help clean parks including water resources from being polluted while make them safe for people to use, and implementing more educational awareness programs to help educate people about the importance of protecting the environment is common sense to protect the environment while reduce pollution. On health care, I liked on how you established Denali Kid Care to provide children including pregnant women with basic health care and worked with rural areas to expand medical services to help assist people who live in rural areas get help when they can’t get access to a medical facility in the main cities.  In order to improve relations between the Alaska government and Native Americans, I liked on how you created Millennium Agreement which is to for Alaska Government to  provide assistance to tribes on delivery of different services like medical, education, and economic development.  Another thing that I liked about your work as Governor of Alaska was how you worked with Canadian official to create a safe passage principle to help protect Pacific salmon including their freshwater from being polluted by toxic chemicals while protect the wild life, advocated for the need for immigration reform to help protect immigrants including refugees from being oppressed, and expanded benefits to members of the Alaska National Guard to help them get medical care for their service.

Honorable Knowles, I have autism with a learning disability. Having a disability is hard for me because I have trouble comprehending on learning different advance subjects, sometimes I struggle to communicate my thoughts, and get teased.  Your commitment to be a strong supporter of Civil Rights including people with disabilities’ rights really inspires me to work hard on my disability.  Also your role as 7^th Governor of Alaska gives me motivation to continue to learn history including social justice.  My future goal is to someday work in these areas to help emphasize the need to make Civil Rights stronger to reduce discrimination, protect the environment from pollution, and many others.

I strongly believe that you made a great difference when you served as Governor of Alaska. I’m very proud on how you worked hard to support Civil Rights, protect the environment, expand healthcare, and improve Native American rights. You have inspired me to work hard on my disability, be interested in learning about your work, and continue to learn history including social justice.  Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, working hard to make a great difference, and inspiring me. I wish you the best to continue to advocate for common sense ideas.

Sincerely,

Matt Winick