Florida Senate - 2021                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for HB 1553
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì133526'Î133526                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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                Floor: 1/AD/2R         .                                
             04/21/2021 01:03 PM       .                                
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       Senator Bracy moved the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Present paragraphs (k) through (m), (n) through
    6  (p), and (q) through (u) of subsection (1) of section 683.01,
    7  Florida Statutes, are redesignated as paragraphs (l) through
    8  (n), (p) through (r), and (t) through (x), respectively, and new
    9  paragraphs (k), (o), and (s) are added to that subsection, to
   10  read:
   11         683.01 Legal holidays.—
   12         (1) The legal holidays, which are also public holidays, are
   13  the following:
   14         (k)Emancipation Day, May 20.
   15         (o) Juneteenth Day, June 19.
   16         (s)Victims of Communism Day, November 7.
   17         Section 2. Section 683.21, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
   18         Section 3. On the final day of each regular legislative
   19  session, the Legislature shall, in recognition of “Victims of
   20  Communism Day,” engage in a moment of silence.
   21         Section 4. Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, high
   22  school students enrolled in the United States Government class
   23  required by s. 1003.4282, Florida Statutes, must receive at
   24  least 45 minutes of instruction on “Victims of Communism Day” on
   25  topics such as Mao Zedong in China, Joseph Stalin and the Soviet
   26  System, Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution, Vladimir Lenin
   27  and the Russian Revolution, Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, and Nicolas
   28  Maduro in Venezuela and how the victims suffered under these
   29  regimes through suppression of speech, poverty, starvation,
   30  migration, and systemic lethal violence against civilians. High
   31  school students enrolled in the United States Government class
   32  required by s. 1003.4282, Florida Statutes, must receive at
   33  least 45 minutes of instruction on the significance of
   34  “Emancipation Day” as it relates to the State of Florida.
   35         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.
   36  
   37  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   38  And the title is amended as follows:
   39         Delete everything before the enacting clause
   40  and insert:
   41                        A bill to be entitled                      
   42         An act relating to legal holidays; amending s. 683.01,
   43         F.S.; designating Emancipation Day, Juneteenth Day,
   44         and Victims of Communism Day as legal holidays;
   45         repealing s. 683.21, F.S., relating to Juneteenth Day;
   46         deleting provisions designating Juneteenth Day as a
   47         special observance, to conform to changes made by the
   48         act; requiring the Legislature to annually observe a
   49         moment of silence in recognition of the victims of
   50         communism; requiring high school students in a
   51         required United States Government course to receive
   52         certain instruction regarding Victims of Communism
   53         Day; requiring high school students to receive certain
   54         instruction on the significance of Emancipation Day;
   55         providing an effective date.
   56  
   57         WHEREAS, on January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln
   58  issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which afforded free status
   59  under federal law to the millions of enslaved African Americans
   60  who resided in states that had seceded from the Union, including
   61  Florida, and
   62         WHEREAS, despite the issuance of the Emancipation
   63  Proclamation, it was not fully enforced in certain regions of
   64  the United States for more than 2 years afterward, and
   65         WHEREAS, on or about June 19, 1865, federal authorities
   66  arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation
   67  Proclamation and further inform slaves that the Civil War had
   68  ended and that the enslaved were now free, and
   69         WHEREAS, thereafter, former slaves and their descendants
   70  continued to commemorate each June 19 to celebrate freedom and
   71  the emancipation of all slaves in the United States, and
   72         WHEREAS, emancipation in Florida was proclaimed in
   73  Tallahassee on May 20, 1865, and for this reason Floridians
   74  traditionally celebrate Emancipation Day on May 20 of each year,
   75  and
   76         WHEREAS, in 1991, the Florida Legislature officially
   77  designated June 19 of each year as “Juneteenth Day” to
   78  commemorate the freeing of slaves, but did not designate the day
   79  as an official legal holiday, and
   80         WHEREAS, this act designates Emancipation Day and
   81  Juneteenth Day as legal holidays in this state to commemorate
   82  the announcement of the abolition of slavery and to recognize
   83  the significant contributions of African Americans to this state
   84  and our nation, and
   85         WHEREAS, over 100 years have passed since the Bolshevik
   86  Revolution in Russia and the formation of the first communist
   87  government under Vladimir Lenin, leading to decades of
   88  oppression and violence under communist regimes throughout the
   89  world, and
   90         WHEREAS, based on the economic philosophies of Karl Marx,
   91  communism has proven incompatible with the ideals of liberty,
   92  prosperity, and dignity of human life and has given rise to such
   93  infamous totalitarian dictators as Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Hồ
   94  Chí Minh, and Pol Pot, and
   95         WHEREAS, communist regimes worldwide have killed more than
   96  100 million people and subjected countless others to
   97  exploitation and unspeakable atrocities, with victims
   98  representing many ethnicities, creeds, and backgrounds, and
   99         WHEREAS, many victims of communism were persecuted as
  100  political prisoners for speaking out against these regimes, and
  101  others were killed in genocidal state-sponsored purges of
  102  undesirable groups, and
  103         WHEREAS, in addition to violating basic human rights,
  104  communist regimes have suppressed intellectual freedom, cultural
  105  life, and self-determination movements in more than 40 nations,
  106  and
  107         WHEREAS, slavery robbed individuals of their most basic
  108  human rights, just as communism continues to deprive hundreds of
  109  millions of people worldwide of the rights of freedom of
  110  worship, freedom of speech, and freedom of association, through
  111  coercion, brutality, and fear, NOW, THEREFORE,