THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

INTRODUCED BY METCALFE, AUMENT, BAKER, BEAR, BOBACK, BOYD, BROOKS, CALTAGIRONE, CAUSER, CLYMER, COHEN, CONKLIN, P. COSTA, COX, DALEY, DONATUCCI, ELLIS, EVERETT, FARRY, FLECK, GEIST, GEORGE, GIBBONS, GILLEN, GINGRICH, GODSHALL, GOODMAN, GRELL, GROVE, HAHN, HARKINS, HENNESSEY, HESS, HICKERNELL, HUTCHINSON, F. KELLER, M. K. KELLER, KNOWLES, LONGIETTI, MAHONEY, MAJOR, MANN, MARSHALL, MARSICO, METZGAR, MILNE, MURT, MUSTIO, OBERLANDER, O'NEILL, PAYNE, PETRARCA, PYLE, RAPP, READSHAW, REED, ROCK, ROEBUCK, ROSS, SCAVELLO, CULVER, SCHRODER, SONNEY, STABACK, STEVENSON, SWANGER, TALLMAN, THOMAS, TOOHIL, VEREB, VULAKOVICH, WATSON AND YOUNGBLOOD, DECEMBER 16, 2011

INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, DECEMBER 16, 2011  

A RESOLUTION

Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Civil Air Patrol.

WHEREAS, The Civil Air Patrol was founded December 1, 1941,

by a fledgling group of volunteers led by civilian pilots who

flew their own planes at their own expense to support America's

efforts in World War II, primarily by flying reconnaissance

missions near the country's coasts to protect cargo ships,

especially vital oil tankers, being sunk at an alarming rate;

and

WHEREAS, The Civil Air Patrol, forged by a late-century

revolution in search and rescue technology, became known

worldwide for its unique emergency services operations by

performing vital search and rescue, disaster relief and other

important emergency missions for what now numbers more than

1,600 communities across the 50 states, as well as the nation's

capital and Puerto Rico; and

WHEREAS, The Civil Air Patrol, supported by the world's

largest fleet of single-engine aircraft equipped with high-tech

toolboxes like full-motion video, infrared cameras and glass

cockpit aircraft has established itself among the nation's

search and rescue elite, now participating in up to 90% of the

Air Force's inland search and rescue missions; and

WHEREAS, In the past year alone, many of the Civil Air

Patrol's professional volunteers, backed by their own experts in

cell phone forensics and radar tracking experts, left their

families and their homes, often in adverse weather conditions,

to participate in 1,016 search and rescue missions in which they

were credited with saving 113 lives; and

WHEREAS, As a top resource for disaster relief, the Civil Air

Patrol is often first on the scene and provides aerial

photography and damage assessment to help emergency officials

pinpoint critical infrastructure needs in real time as well as

ground team support, often provided door to door, which includes

water, food and supply delivery and even laundry services for

victims; and

WHEREAS, Recent high-visibility Civil Air Patrol missions

have included:

(1)  responses to tornadoes that ravaged communities

across America;

(2)  forest fires in numerous states;

(3)  Hawaiian Island and Pacific Coast tsunamis;

(4)  hurricanes Katrina and Ike;

(5)  wildfires in the Southwest and Midwest flooding;

(6)  responses during 9/11; and

(7)  counterdrug missions across the nation that have

helped remove more than $1 billion in illegal drugs from our

communities;

and

WHEREAS, The aircraft of the Civil Air Patrol were the only

nonmilitary planes allowed in the skies over the United States

in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks in 2001, and

the Civil Air Patrol has since performed admirably in other

homeland security missions, including responding to the

Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a 118-day

continuous effort, by taking tens of thousands of aerial

photographs necessary for assessing environmental damage,

deploying containment assets and successfully working

side‑by‑side with numerous Federal and state agencies all the

while saving the Federal Government between $22,000,000 to

$28,000,000 for these services; and

WHEREAS, The Civil Air Patrol sets the world standard for

volunteer aviation emergency services, prompting other nations,

like Denmark and the United Kingdom, to use the Civil Air Patrol

model to establish or improve their own similar volunteer

programs; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives commemorate the

70th anniversary of the founding of the Civil Air Patrol.