Florida Senate - 2021 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 490
Ì132172|Î132172
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
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Floor: NC/2R .
04/21/2021 01:01 PM .
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Senator Bracy moved the following:
1 Senate Substitute for Amendment (417806) (with title
2 amendment)
3
4 Delete everything after the enacting clause
5 and insert:
6 Section 1. Present paragraphs (k) through (m), (n) through
7 (p), and (q) through (u) of subsection (1) of section 683.01,
8 Florida Statutes, are redesignated as paragraphs (l) through
9 (n), (p) through (r), and (t) through (x), respectively, and new
10 paragraphs (k), (o), and (s) are added to that subsection, to
11 read:
12 683.01 Legal holidays.—
13 (1) The legal holidays, which are also public holidays, are
14 the following:
15 (k) Emancipation Day, May 20.
16 (o) Juneteenth Day, June 19.
17 (s) Victims of Communism Day, November 7.
18 Section 2. Section 683.21, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
19 Section 3. On the final day of each regular legislative
20 session, the Legislature shall, in recognition of “Victims of
21 Communism Day,” engage in a moment of silence.
22 Section 4. Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, high
23 school students enrolled in the United States Government class
24 required by s. 1003.4282, Florida Statutes, must receive at
25 least 45 minutes of instruction on “Victims of Communism Day” on
26 topics such as Mao Zedong in China, Joseph Stalin and the Soviet
27 System, Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution, Vladimir Lenin
28 and the Russian Revolution, Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, and Nicolas
29 Maduro in Venezuela and how the victims suffered under these
30 regimes through suppression of speech, poverty, starvation,
31 migration, and systemic lethal violence against civilians. High
32 school students enrolled in the United States Government class
33 required by s. 1003.4282, Florida Statutes, must receive at
34 least 45 minutes of instruction on the significance of
35 “Emancipation Day” as it relates to the State of Florida.
36 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.
37
38 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
39 And the title is amended as follows:
40 Delete everything before the enacting clause
41 and insert:
42 A bill to be entitled
43 An act relating to legal holidays; amending s. 683.01,
44 F.S.; designating Emancipation Day, Juneteenth Day,
45 and Victims of Communism Day as legal holidays;
46 repealing s. 683.21, F.S., relating to Juneteenth Day;
47 deleting provisions designating Juneteenth Day as a
48 special observance, to conform to changes made by the
49 act; requiring the Legislature to annually observe a
50 moment of silence in recognition of the victims of
51 communism; requiring high school students in a
52 required United States Government course to receive
53 certain instruction regarding Victims of Communism
54 Day; requiring high school students to receive certain
55 instruction on the significance of Emancipation Day;
56 providing an effective date.
57
58 WHEREAS, on January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln
59 issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which afforded free status
60 under federal law to the millions of enslaved African Americans
61 who resided in states that had seceded from the Union, including
62 Florida, and
63 WHEREAS, despite the issuance of the Emancipation
64 Proclamation, it was not fully enforced in certain regions of
65 the United States for more than 2 years afterward, and
66 WHEREAS, on or about June 19, 1865, federal authorities
67 arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation
68 Proclamation and further inform slaves that the Civil War had
69 ended and that the enslaved were now free, and
70 WHEREAS, thereafter, former slaves and their descendants
71 continued to commemorate each June 19 to celebrate freedom and
72 the emancipation of all slaves in the United States, and
73 WHEREAS, emancipation in Florida was proclaimed in
74 Tallahassee on May 20, 1865, and for this reason Floridians
75 traditionally celebrate Emancipation Day on May 20 of each year,
76 and
77 WHEREAS, in 1991, the Florida Legislature officially
78 designated June 19 of each year as “Juneteenth Day” to
79 commemorate the freeing of slaves, but did not designate the day
80 as an official legal holiday, and
81 WHEREAS, this act designates Emancipation Day and
82 Juneteenth Day as legal holidays in this state to commemorate
83 the announcement of the abolition of slavery and to recognize
84 the significant contributions of African Americans to this state
85 and our nation, and
86 WHEREAS, over 100 years have passed since the Bolshevik
87 Revolution in Russia and the formation of the first communist
88 government under Vladimir Lenin, leading to decades of
89 oppression and violence under communist regimes throughout the
90 world, and
91 WHEREAS, based on the economic philosophies of Karl Marx,
92 communism has proven incompatible with the ideals of liberty,
93 prosperity, and dignity of human life and has given rise to such
94 infamous totalitarian dictators as Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Hồ
95 Chí Minh, and Pol Pot, and
96 WHEREAS, communist regimes worldwide have killed more than
97 100 million people and subjected countless others to
98 exploitation and unspeakable atrocities, with victims
99 representing many ethnicities, creeds, and backgrounds, and
100 WHEREAS, many victims of communism were persecuted as
101 political prisoners for speaking out against these regimes, and
102 others were killed in genocidal state-sponsored purges of
103 undesirable groups, and
104 WHEREAS, in addition to violating basic human rights,
105 communist regimes have suppressed intellectual freedom, cultural
106 life, and self-determination movements in more than 40 nations,
107 and
108 WHEREAS, slavery robbed individuals of their most basic
109 human rights, just as communism continues to deprive hundreds of
110 millions of people worldwide of the rights of freedom of
111 worship, freedom of speech, and freedom of association, through
112 coercion, brutality, and fear, NOW, THEREFORE,