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For Immediate Release
3/20/07
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Committee Approves Pippy Bill for Honor Guards at National Cemetery of the Alleghenies

Would provide burial details for citizens who served their country 

Harrisburg – Legislation sponsored by Sen. John Pippy (R-37) to provide honor guards for burials at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies was approved by a Senate committee today. 

Senate Bill 180 was approved unanimously by the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee and sent to the full Senate for consideration.  

Under the legislation, the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs would contract with veterans service organizations to perform honor guard duties at the site. The program would be similar to the one administered at the Fort Indiantown Gap National Cemetery. 

The 260-acre National Cemetery of the Alleghenies opened in 2005 in Cecil, Washington County. 

"The National Cemetery of the Alleghenies celebrates the lives and contributions of veterans from the region," said Pippy. "There are more than 323,000 veterans living in western Pennsylvania, and it's important that those who choose to be laid to rest here be accorded the dignified tribute they have earned."