PRINTER'S NO. 3132
No. 520 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY SEMMEL, TIGUE, ZUG, STERN, CORRIGAN, ARMSTRONG,
BAKER, BALDWIN, BELARDI, BEYER, BUNT, CALTAGIRONE, CAPPELLI,
COSTA, CRAHALLA, CRUZ, DALLY, DeWEESE, DiGIROLAMO, DONATUCCI,
FEESE, FICHTER, FLEAGLE, FORCIER, GEIST, GEORGE, GILLESPIE,
GINGRICH, GODSHALL, GOOD, GRELL, GRUCELA, HASAY, HERMAN,
HERSHEY, HESS, HUTCHINSON, JAMES, KAUFFMAN, M. KELLER,
LEDERER, LEH, MAITLAND, MANN, McGILL, McILHATTAN, MILLARD,
R. MILLER, MUNDY, MUSTIO, NAILOR, PALLONE, PISTELLA, RAMALEY,
RAPP, READSHAW, REED, ROSS, RUBLEY, SAINATO, SANTONI, SATHER,
SAYLOR, B. SMITH, STAIRS, R. STEVENSON, T. STEVENSON, TRUE,
VEON, WALKO, WILT AND YUDICHAK, NOVEMBER 21, 2005
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
NOVEMBER 21, 2005
A RESOLUTION
1 Commemorating the 250th anniversary of Pennsylvania's first
2 militia law and designating Friday, November 25, 2005, as
3 "National Guard Day" in Pennsylvania.
4 WHEREAS, In 1747 Benjamin Franklin organized the Associators
5 in Philadelphia; and
6 WHEREAS, Units of today's Pennsylvania National Guard trace
7 their lineage to the first Associators; and
8 WHEREAS, In 1755 the General Assembly of the Province of
9 Pennsylvania received a great number of petitions from the
10 several counties of the province "setting forth that the
11 petitioners were very willing to defend themselves and their
12 country and desirous of being formed into regular bodies for
13 that purpose, instructed and disciplined under proper officers
1 with suitable and legal authority"; and
2 WHEREAS, Responding to these petitions, the representatives
3 of the Province of Pennsylvania, meeting in General Assembly,
4 passed Pennsylvania's first militia law on November 25, 1755;
5 and
6 WHEREAS, The militia law, passed "for the better ordering and
7 regulating such as are willing and desirous to be united for
8 military purposes within this province," created the volunteer
9 militia and laid the legal foundation for the militia and the
10 Pennsylvania National Guard; and
11 WHEREAS, Enactment of the act of November 25, 1755, marked
12 the beginning of 250 years of cooperation and support from the
13 General Assembly for the Pennsylvania militia, the Pennsylvania
14 National Guard and the soldiers and airmen who proudly serve
15 this Commonwealth and our nation; and
16 WHEREAS, November 25, 2005, the day after Thanksgiving, marks
17 the 250th anniversary of Pennsylvania's first militia law; and
18 WHEREAS, For more than 250 years, in war and in peace,
19 Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers and airmen have served at
20 home and abroad, serving in every war and responding to floods,
21 blizzards and other emergencies at home; and
22 WHEREAS, The continued support of the General Assembly has
23 been and is today critical to the success of the Pennsylvania
24 National Guard; therefore be it
25 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives commemorate the
26 250th anniversary of Pennsylvania's first militia law and
27 designate Friday, November 25, 2005, as "National Guard Day" in
28 Pennsylvania; and be it further
29 RESOLVED, That a grateful Commonwealth ask all
30 Pennsylvanians, in giving thanks this Thanksgiving for all the
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1 blessings we enjoy, to pause a moment to give thanks for the
2 Pennsylvania National Guard and the service of generations of
3 soldiers and airmen from across Pennsylvania from our days as a
4 royal colony to the great Commonwealth we are today; and be it
5 further
6 RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to
7 the Governor and to the Adjutant General of Pennsylvania.
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