Legislature(2001 - 2002)
02/07/2002 03:13 PM House MLV
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HCR 20 - EMERGENCY SERVICE PROVIDER DAY Number 0077 CHAIR CHENAULT announced the first order of business, HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 20, Relating to declaring September 11, 2002, as Emergency Service Providers and Armed Forces Appreciation Day. CHAIR CHENAULT pointed out a new proposed committee substitute (CS) in packets. [Prepared by the committee aide, it bore the title, "Relating to declaring September 11, 2002, as a Day of Remembrance."] Number 0116 REPRESENTATIVE GARY STEVENS, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor, noted that HCR 20 had been discussed at a previous meeting. He pointed out that [the proposed CS] asks the governor to declare September 11, 2002, as a day of remembrance. Included are [the people on] Flight 93 [which crashed in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001], as well as those who were at the Pentagon. He stated the intention of paying respect to and honoring the people who were so deeply involved in that tragedy. He expressed satisfaction with the new proposed CS. CHAIR CHENAULT voiced appreciation for the cooperative effort to try to "round this out" so it [encompasses] all of the groups being discussed with regard to September 11. Number 0239 REPRESENTATIVE MURKOWSKI referred to the second "Whereas" clause in the proposed CS, relating to Flight 93; she suggested that the name of the airline should be specified. She noted that some people truly fought to take that plane down in order to avoid the taking of more human life [by the hijackers]. At first, she expressed concern that the resolution talks about everybody on that flight; she then acknowledged that all the people on the plane certainly sacrificed their lives. REPRESENTATIVE STEVENS agreed it should say "American Airlines" for clarity. He also agreed that everyone [on that flight] sacrificed his or her life, even if unable to respond. Number 0414 CHAIR CHENAULT clarified that the first "Whereas" clause deals with New York City and the World Trade Center, specifying the 343 firefighters and 23 police officers. [In the following "Whereas" clauses] Flight 93 is the flight [that went down] in Pennsylvania, and those who died in the attack on the Pentagon are included. Number 0527 REPRESENTATIVE HAYES proposed recognizing the people on the other planes as well. REPRESENTATIVE STEVENS said that is a good point. He suggested it may go best in the first "Whereas" clause, which deals with New York City. CHAIR CHENAULT offered that it could go after "collapsed". He indicated perhaps the airlines and flight numbers should be specified. Number 0616 REPRESENTATIVE MURKOWSKI suggested that if it were to be put chronologically, the first "Whereas" clause might recognize the United Airlines and American Airlines flights that crashed into the World Trade Center, as well as the lives lost onboard; the second "Whereas" clause could cite the firefighters [and police officers] who lost their lives there. REPRESENTATIVE MURKOWSKI turned attention to the "Whereas" clause that mentions the lives lost at the Pentagon. She said it sounds impersonal to say "casualties". She proposed saying that 125 lives were lost, so it sounds less like a military statistic. REPRESENTATIVE STEVENS replied that he was comfortable with that. He specified that it could read, "125 lives were lost in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon". Number 0795 REPRESENTATIVE MURKOWSKI asked whether the 125 included the people on the airliner as well as those in the Pentagon. REPRESENTATIVE STEVENS offered his belief that it was a cumulative total. Number 0846 REPRESENTATIVE HAYES suggested specifying the flight number of the plane [that crashed into the Pentagon], for consistency. Number 0930 MARK JOHNSON, Chief, Community Health & Emergency Medical Services, Division of Public Health, Department of Health & Social Services, came forward to testify in support of the intent behind the resolution. Mentioning that he hadn't seen a copy of the proposed CS, he pointed out that he'd noted a couple of items in the original bill that sound as if they have been addressed. He mentioned law-enforcement people who died in New York City as an example. MR. JOHNSON also said he was pleased that the resolution recognizes emergency responders in Alaska; many of them were involved in responding to the events after September 11. He expressed hope that the revision would include those as well. He pointed out that most of the firefighters and EMS [emergency medical service] providers in Alaska are volunteers. Number 1016 CHAIR CHENAULT announced that the resolution would be fine-tuned and then brought back before the committee on February 12. Number 1062 REPRESENTATIVE STEVENS recapped the earlier discussion. The first "Whereas" clause would deal with the two airplanes that struck the World Trade Center. What would become the third "Whereas" clause would relate to Flight 93; American Airlines would be added as a clarification. In the "Whereas" clause about the Pentagon, included would be language about [the people] aboard the flight, specifying the airline and the flight number. He added that in response to Mr. Johnson's testimony, he wanted to include a comment in the next-to-the-last "Whereas" clause about Alaskan participants. CHAIR CHENAULT added that "lives lost" would be a change in the fourth "Whereas" clause. REPRESENTATIVE STEVENS concurred. [HCR 20 was held over.]
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