PRINTER'S NO. 3295
No. 2474 Session of 1998
INTRODUCED BY MAYERNIK, RAMOS, READSHAW, THOMAS, GEORGE, JAMES,
PISTELLA, DeWEESE, ORIE, MARKOSEK, CALTAGIRONE, PESCI,
GIGLIOTTI, KAISER, SANTONI, BEBKO-JONES, FAIRCHILD, ARGALL,
WOJNAROSKI, SAINATO, BAKER, BISHOP, STABACK, JOSEPHS, WALKO,
HERSHEY, SCHULER, TIGUE, YOUNGBLOOD, BARD, DALEY, BELARDI,
GODSHALL, LEDERER, MELIO, FICHTER, LAUGHLIN, DALLY, ROBERTS,
ROSS, BOSCOLA, OLASZ, EGOLF, GEIST, SCHRODER, SEYFERT,
C. WILLIAMS, SERAFINI, TRELLO, CIVERA AND J. TAYLOR,
MARCH 25, 1998
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY
PREPAREDNESS, MARCH 25, 1998
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 51 (Military Affairs) of the Pennsylvania
2 Consolidated Statutes, providing for halls of fame in
3 veterans' homes.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Title 51 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
7 Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:
8 § 1705. Veterans' home hall of fame.
9 (a) General rule.--Each veterans' home operated by the
10 Commonwealth shall establish and dedicate a hall of fame to
11 recognize and honor the postmilitary achievements of outstanding
12 veterans who have completed honorable, active duty military
13 service and who reside in the geographic region served by the
14 veterans' home. The area or space in the veterans' home
1 dedicated to the hall of fame may be used for other purposes.
2 (b) Selection of inductees.--The advisory council for each
3 veterans' home shall, consistent with the guidelines established
4 by the commission in subsection (c), nominate eligible veterans
5 for induction into the hall of fame by the commission and
6 perform such other duties relating to the hall of fame as
7 approved by the commission. Any Medal of Honor recipient shall
8 be automatically inducted into the hall of fame.
9 (c) Oversight.--The commission shall develop guidelines for
10 the halls of fame. The guidelines shall include, but not be
11 limited to:
12 (1) Eligibility. Eligible veterans are those veterans
13 who were born in Pennsylvania and who have been awarded any
14 of the following medals:
15 (i) The Pyramid of Honor.
16 (ii) The Medal of Honor.
17 (iii) Army Medal of Honor.
18 (iv) Navy Medal of Honor.
19 (v) Air Force Medal of Honor.
20 (2) Procedures for nomination of candidates and
21 selection of inductees.
22 (3) Length of placement of the inductees in the halls of
23 fame.
24 (4) Ceremonies to officially honor the inductees.
25 (5) Manner of recognizing or presenting the inductees in
26 the halls of fame.
27 (6) Maintenance of the halls of fame.
28 (7) Duties of the advisory councils of the veterans'
29 homes relating to the halls of fame.
30 (d) Documentation.--Each eligible veteran shall be
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1 responsible for obtaining the documentation necessary to
2 establish his eligibility from the National Archives in
3 Washington, D.C., or the National Personnel Record Center in St.
4 Louis, Missouri.
5 (e) Centralized list.--The State Veterans' Commission shall
6 keep a centralized list of all hall of fame inductees from all
7 regional veterans' homes.
8 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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