BILL ANALYSIS �
AJR 48
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Date of Hearing: August 12, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Richard Pan, Chair
AJR 48 (Rodriguez) - As Introduced: June 18, 2014
SUBJECT : Federal memorials: emergency medical services.
SUMMARY : Urges the President and Congress of the United States
to enact legislation to authorize the National Emergency Medical
Services Memorial Foundation (Foundation) to establish the
National Emergency Medical Services Memorial (Memorial) in
Washington, D.C. Specifically, this resolution :
1)Makes declarations about emergency medical service (EMS)
providers, including:
a) EMS providers are the first line of defense in the
prevention and mitigation of harm from terrorist attacks,
man-made incidents, and natural disasters;
b) Men and women serve as career and volunteer EMS
providers, maintaining the domestic tranquility, safety,
and security of the country;
c) Nationally, each year, 850,000 EMS providers across the
country answer more than 30 million calls to serve 22
million patients in need of prehospital care and comfort at
a moment's notice and without reservation;
d) Statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor and
the National Highway Safety Administration indicate that
EMS providers die in the line of duty at a rate more than
twice the national average for all occupations and for
deaths resulting from violence, at a rate of seven times
higher than all other health care workers in service to the
country;
e) The Memorial Foundation, established in 2007, seeks to
give these silent heroes a fitting memorial and their loved
ones, coworkers, and counterparts a permanent place to
remember those the country has lost; and,
f) Legislation was introduced in the House of
Representatives on May 20, 2014, to authorize the Memorial
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Foundation to establish the Memorial.
2)Resolves that the Assembly and the Senate urge the President
and Congress to enact legislation to authorize the Foundation
to establish the Memorial, honoring the commitment and
ultimate sacrifice of EMS providers; and, that the Chief Clerk
of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the
President, Vice President, and members of Congress.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS RESOLUTION . According to the author, this
resolution would demonstrate the Legislature's support for
establishing a national EMS memorial and would encourage
Congress and the President to recognize the memorial as a
national memorial.
2)BACKGROUND . H. R. 4690 (Lynch - Massachusetts), introduced on
May 20, 2014, seeks to establish a Memorial and to authorize
the Foundation to undertake the effort of designing, siting,
and creating a memorial on federal land in Washington, D.C.,
to honor the service and sacrifices of our nation's EMS
providers. H.R. 4690 makes declarations regarding EMS
providers, including that, we as a Nation have historically
and continually relied on the selfless and ultimate sacrifice
made by more than 600 members of the nation's EMS, their
families, and loved ones in order to maintain the domestic
tranquility, safety, and security of this great Nation. H.R.
4690 provides that the U.S. shall not pay any expense of the
establishment of the Memorial.
3)NATIONAL EMS MEMORIAL FOUNDATION . According to the
Foundation's Website, in 2007, the Foundation was established
for the purpose of designing, building, and maintaining a
permanent memorial in Washington, D.C. The Foundation is a
501(c)(3) charitable organization which receives funding from
personal and corporate donations. The Foundation's Board was
originated by EMS providers from Boston, New York, Pittsburgh,
Delaware, Cleveland, and Detroit. Since its inception, the
Foundation has grown exponentially and now enjoys personal and
corporate support from coast to coast. While public safety
officers from law enforcement and the fire service have been
recognized for their sacrifice with national memorials, the
men and women of EMS have gone without recognition for too
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long. According to the Foundation, it is their mandate to
finally give these silent heroes a fitting memorial and their
loved ones, co-workers, and counterparts a permanent place to
remember those we have lost, "that others might live."
4)NATIONAL MEMORIAL . National memorial is a designation in the
U.S. for a protected area that memorializes a historic person
or event. The memorial is not required to be located on a
site directly related to the subject and many do not have the
word "national" in their titles. Currently there are 29
national memorials owned and administered by the National Park
Service (NPS) as official units. Five more are administered
by other organizations, but receive assistance from and are
considered affiliated areas of the NPS. The earliest and
perhaps most recognizable is the uniquely designated
Washington Monument, completed in 1884 and transferred to the
NPS in 1933. The most recent is the Martin Luther King, Jr.
Memorial, dedicated in 2011. National memorials are in 14
states and the District of Columbia. Occasionally, a private
organization will erect a memorial and use the word "national"
in the name without Congressional authorization.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Patty Rodgers / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097