PRINTER'S NO. 1807
No. 177 Session of 1997
INTRODUCED BY STERN, GEORGE, GIGLIOTTI, FEESE, CAPPABIANCA,
BARLEY, READSHAW, BELARDI, COLAIZZO, SANTONI, JAROLIN,
LAUGHLIN, DEMPSEY, GEIST, NAILOR, TIGUE, FICHTER, PESCI,
ROBINSON, SURRA, SEYFERT, LEDERER, BROWN, MELIO, ROSS,
THOMAS, CHADWICK, MICHLOVIC, HERMAN, BAKER, HALUSKA, BUXTON,
DENT, WOJNAROSKI, MANDERINO, CORRIGAN, HERSHEY, SHANER,
GODSHALL, TRUE, SATHER, McCALL, KAISER, COY, TANGRETTI,
PIPPY, JOSEPHS, OLASZ, ROBERTS, WOGAN, SAYLOR, MUNDY,
McGEEHAN, RUBLEY, ARMSTRONG, FARGO, BEBKO-JONES, ARGALL,
KENNEY, RAYMOND, ROEBUCK, B. SMITH, MARSICO, HESS, HENNESSEY,
WAUGH, MASLAND, McGILL, ROONEY, ORIE, DONATUCCI AND CIVERA,
MAY 13, 1997
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
MAY 13, 1997
A RESOLUTION
1 Honoring the memory of the six police officers who gave their
2 lives in the line of duty in this Commonwealth in 1996 and
3 recognizing the memorial service in their honor in
4 Martinsburg, Blair County, on May 18, 1997.
5 WHEREAS, Officer Lauretha Vaird of the Philadelphia Police
6 Department made the ultimate sacrifice on January 2, 1996; and
7 WHEREAS, Officer Robert Porter of the Philadelphia Police
8 Department made the ultimate sacrifice on January 19, 1996; and
9 WHEREAS, Special Agent Charles L. Reed of the Federal Bureau
10 of Investigation made the ultimate sacrifice on March 22, 1996;
11 and
12 WHEREAS, Chief Fred Pfeister of the Cresson Borough Police
13 Department made the ultimate sacrifice on June 8, 1996; and
1 WHEREAS, Officer Paula Harness of the Philadelphia Police
2 Department made the ultimate sacrifice on June 19, 1996; and
3 WHEREAS, Officer John Cousin of the Philadelphia Police
4 Department made the ultimate sacrifice on August 15, 1996; and
5 WHEREAS, The deaths of these police officers make a total of
6 nearly 600 officers who made the ultimate sacrifice since the
7 beginning of law enforcement within this Commonwealth; and
8 WHEREAS, National Police Memorial Day is held on May 15th of
9 each year; and
10 WHEREAS, The week in which May 15 occurs is known as
11 "National Police Week"; and
12 WHEREAS, The first National Police Memorial Day was held on
13 May 15, 1962, following a proclamation signed by President John
14 F. Kennedy, and has continued to be observed annually in memory
15 of those police officers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the
16 line of duty; therefore be it
17 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor the memory
18 of Lauretha Vaird, Robert Porter, Charles L. Reed, Fred
19 Pfeister, Paula Harness and John Cousin, the six police officers
20 who gave their lives in the line of duty in this Commonwealth in
21 1996; and be it further
22 RESOLVED, That the memorial service given in their honor on
23 May 18, 1997, at Martinsburg Grace Brethren Church, in
24 Martinsburg, Blair County, be recognized as a fitting tribute to
25 these heroic police officers.
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