House Bill 9515

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HR 9515

        By Representative Brennan






  1                         House Resolution

  2         A resolution recognizing the 150th anniversary

  3         of The Irish Famine.

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  5         WHEREAS, a historic man-made tragedy occurred in

  6  Ireland 153 years ago, the year of the potato blight, and

  7         WHEREAS, between 1845 and 1850 in "The Great Famine,"

  8  also known as "The Irish Holocaust," more than 1.5 million

  9  people died from starvation, fever, cold, and execution for

10  food theft, and

11         WHEREAS, the potato crop failure was an Act of God, the

12  systematic acts of men through the enforcement of the inhumane

13  Penal Laws, the withholding of education, and the use of a

14  value system which favored pocketbooks over people and thus

15  compounded the tragedy, resulting in the devastating loss of

16  life, and

17         WHEREAS, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said last

18  year, "That one million people should have died in what was

19  then part of the richest and most powerful nation in the world

20  is something that still causes pain as we reflect on it

21  today," and

22         WHEREAS, as Blair also said, "Let us therefore today

23  not only remember those who died but also celebrate the

24  resilience and courage of those Irish men and women who were

25  able to forge another life outside Ireland, and the rich

26  culture and vitality they brought with them. Britain, the

27  United States, and many Commonwealth countries are richer for

28  their presence," NOW, THEREFORE,

29

30  Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of

31  Florida:

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HR 9515

    220-151D-98






  1         That the Florida House of Representatives recognizes

  2  the 150th anniversary of The Irish Famine.

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