PRINTER'S NO. 1329
No. 110 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY WAUGH, LOGAN, ARMSTRONG, BELL, BODACK, BOSCOLA,
BRIGHTBILL, CONTI, CORMAN, COSTA, DENT, EARLL, ERICKSON,
FUMO, GERLACH, GREENLEAF, HELFRICK, HOLL, HUGHES, JUBELIRER,
KASUNIC, KITCHEN, KUKOVICH, LAVALLE, LEMMOND, MADIGAN,
MELLOW, MOWERY, MURPHY, MUSTO, O'PAKE, ORIE, PICCOLA, PUNT,
RHOADES, ROBBINS, SCARNATI, SCHWARTZ, STACK, STOUT,
TARTAGLIONE, THOMPSON, TOMLINSON, WAGNER, WENGER, D. WHITE,
M. WHITE, WILLIAMS AND WOZNIAK, SEPTEMBER 25, 2001
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, SEPTEMBER 25, 2001
A RESOLUTION
1 Expressing gratitude for and commending the heroic and selfless
2 participation of rescue workers in New York City, Washington,
3 D.C., and Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and expressing
4 condolences for those who died.
5 WHEREAS, On September 11, 2001, the United States was
6 attacked by terrorists who hijacked four flights departing the
7 east coast and headed for destinations in California; and
8 WHEREAS, The hijackers crashed two of the airliners into the
9 twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and one
10 airliner into the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., and the
11 fourth airliner crashed in Shanksville, Somerset County,
12 Pennsylvania; and
13 WHEREAS, These vicious attacks caused the loss of thousands
14 of lives, collapsed the two 110-story World Trade Center towers
15 and inflicted massive destruction on the entire New York
16 financial district and the Pentagon; and
1 WHEREAS, Countless police, firefighters, emergency medical
2 service personnel, doctors and other volunteers answered the
3 call of a nation in distress by engaging in fire suppression,
4 emergency medical assistance, search and rescue operations and
5 providing material support at the scene of these attacks; and
6 WHEREAS, Those who quickly responded to the attack on the
7 World Trade Center saved an untold number of lives through their
8 heroic efforts; and
9 WHEREAS, The collapse of the towers at the World Trade Center
10 took the lives of more than 300 emergency personnel, all of whom
11 placed the safety and well-being of others above their own; and
12 WHEREAS, Eighty-three members of the Pennsylvania Urban
13 Search and Rescue Task Force, an organization comprised of
14 municipal and volunteer fire and emergency medical service
15 personnel from across this Commonwealth and headquartered in
16 Harrisburg, provided countless hours of search and rescue
17 service at the scene of the World Trade Center from September 11
18 through September 19; and
19 WHEREAS, Hundreds of State and local police, municipal and
20 volunteer firefighters and emergency medical service personnel
21 provided support at the scene of the crash of United Airlines
22 Flight 93 in Shanksville; and
23 WHEREAS, An additional 4,821 Pennsylvanians from 184 fire
24 departments and emergency medical service organizations
25 responded to the call from Governor Thomas J. Ridge to stand
26 ready to assist our neighbor states of Virginia and New York;
27 and
28 WHEREAS, Within days of the attack, many more police, fire
29 and emergency medical service organizations in this Commonwealth
30 raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide financial
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1 assistance directly to the families of the fallen firefighters
2 and emergency medical service personnel in New York City;
3 therefore be it
4 RESOLVED, That the Senate commemorate and express profound
5 gratitude for the brave and heroic actions of the police,
6 firefighters and other rescue workers who were called upon to do
7 their duty and made the ultimate sacrifice so that others may
8 live; and be it further
9 RESOLVED, That the Senate applaud the selfless and heroic
10 efforts demonstrated by the many Americans who have provided
11 relief in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville,
12 Pennsylvania; and be it further
13 RESOLVED, That the Senate urge the residents of this
14 Commonwealth to look upon the police, firefighters, emergency
15 medical service personnel and search and rescue teams who
16 responded in this time of crisis as the finest examples of the
17 type of heroism, bravery and courage that renders this nation a
18 shining beacon of freedom to the rest of the world.
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