PRINTER'S NO. 696
No. 28 Session of 1979
INTRODUCED BY O'DONNELL, FEE, COLE, REED, ITKIN, FREIND,
ALDEN, BROWN, McCALL, JONES, DiCARLO, PERZEL, TRELLO,
KUKOVICH, SEVENTY, GIAMMARCO, W. D. HUTCHINSON, McKELVEY,
DAWIDA, E. H. SMITH AND COHEN, MARCH 12, 1979
REFERRED TO FEDERAL-STATE RELATIONS, MARCH 12, 1979
In the House of Representatives, March 12, 1979
1 WHEREAS, It is a reprehensible policy that would assume that
2 the moral obligation for the mass murder of over 11,000,000
3 innocent victims of the Holocaust can be eliminated by the
4 passage of time; and
5 WHEREAS, The statute of limitations of the German Federal
6 Republic relating to Nazi war criminals is scheduled to expire
7 on December 31, 1979; and
8 WHEREAS, If said statute of limitations does expire no
9 investigation of murder, including genocide, committed by Nazi
10 war criminals can be initiated after that date; and
11 WHEREAS, If said statute of limitations does expire thousands
12 of Nazi war criminals who were actively involved in the
13 calculated and brutal murder of millions of innocent victims
14 will be rewarded for having evaded justice; and
15 WHEREAS, Crimes of lesser horror than genocide are subject to
16 no statute of limitations either in Pennsylvania or numerous
1 other jurisdictions; and
2 WHEREAS, It is in the interest of all free people that new
3 generations not be allowed to forget the dangers and
4 consequences of the crime of genocide; and
5 WHEREAS, An international campaign to convince the German
6 Federal Republic to eliminate or extend the current statute of
7 limitations has been initiated by a broad base of concerned
8 organizations and individuals; therefore be it
9 RESOLVED, (the Senate concurring), That the General Assembly
10 of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requests the Government of
11 the United States to urge the German Federal Republic and the
12 legislators of that nation to abolish or extend to the end of
13 the century, the statute of limitations relating to Nazi war
14 criminals; and be it further
15 RESOLVED, That the General Assembly requests that the
16 President and the Secretary of State of the United States
17 communicate the contents of this resolution on behalf of the
18 people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the following
19 national leaders of the West German Federal Republic: the
20 President, the Chancellor, the Ambassador to the United States,
21 the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the National
22 Legislators; and be it further
23 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be sent to the
24 following United States Government officials: The President, the
25 Secretary of State, the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
26 the Majority Leader of the Senate, the Members of the National
27 Security Council and the Members of the Pennsylvania
28 Congressional Delegation.
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