SPIRO T. AGNEW, Governor                     1729

The people of this State learned with deep shock of the sudden
passing of Lt. Col. Virgil I. Grissom, Lt. Col. Edward H. White II,
and Lt. Cmdr. Roger B. Chaffee. The three spacemen were going
through preliminary drills about three weeks before opening the
most ambitious space program in the history of the United States.
They were scheduled to have left Cape Kennedy on February 21, 1967
in the inauguration of the final phases of this nation's drive to land
men on the moon.

The State of Maryland joins in the wave of sorrow which swept
over the United States and all the world at the unfortunate acci-
dent which snuffed out the lives of these three men.

They join the long list of American heroes who have made the
supreme sacrifice for their country. America will miss their ex-
perience, knowledge, and skill but America will long remember their
devotion to duty and their high-minded endeavors on behalf of
their country and their fellow countrymen. All of them willingly
faced danger for the progress and protection of this nation.

The thanks of every American are due to these three brave astro-
nauts and on behalf of the people of the State of Maryland, this
General Assembly expresses regrets of all our people over their
untimely passing; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the General Assembly of Maryland, That the deep sym-
pathies and regrets of every citizen in Maryland are expressed over
the unfortunate accident which suddenly took the lives of Lt. Col.
Virgil I. Grissom, Lt. Col. Edward H. White II, and Lt. Cmdr. Roger
B. Chaffee; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of State of Maryland is directed under
the Great Seal of Maryland, to send copies of this resolution to the
families of the late Col. Grissom, Col. White and Commander Chaffee,
to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and to insti-
tutions from which they graduated.

Approved May 4, 1967.

No. 41
(House Joint Resolution 19)

House Joint Resolution urging the Maryland Constitutional Conven-
tion to consider certain changes relating to a newly elected Gov-
ernor and General Assembly.

Whereas, The 1967 General Assembly is a newly elected and reap-
portioned legislature but it is apparent that the procedures for
installing a newly elected Governor and a newly elected General
Assembly are inadequate; and

Whereas, The new General Assembly, because of the limitations
of the present State Constitution, has been unable to conduct its
business with the greatest dispatch; and