Senate Bill 2634

    Florida Senate - 2000        (NP)                      SR 2634

    By Senator Kurth





    15-1877-00                                              See HB

  1                    Senate Resolution No.     

  2         A resolution designating April 4, 2000, as

  3         "Puerto Rico Day" in Florida.

  4

  5         WHEREAS, Puerto Rico is a self-governing island and

  6  commonwealth of the United States discovered by Christopher

  7  Columbus on November 19, 1493, and colonized by the Spaniards

  8  during the 16th century, and

  9         WHEREAS, Puerto Rico and Florida have a relationship

10  dating back to 1513, when Ponce de Leon, Puerto Rico's first

11  governor, embarked on a voyage to explore the New World and

12  came upon a bountiful land he called "La Florida," and

13         WHEREAS, Puerto Rico became part of the United States

14  in 1898 at the end of the Spanish-American War; on March 2,

15  1917, the Jones Act was signed declaring all Puerto Ricans to

16  be citizens of the United States, sharing in the full rights

17  and duties of citizens; and the island was granted

18  commonwealth status in 1952, and

19         WHEREAS, Puerto Ricans have fought in every major war

20  and conflict of the United States, from World War I to the

21  conflict in Bosnia, and have exhibited outstanding heroic

22  action at a very high cost, for Puerto Rico has the highest

23  per-capita military combat death rate of any state in the

24  Union, with more than 20,000 having given their lives in

25  battle, and

26         WHEREAS, today trade between the state and the

27  commonwealth amounts to more than $2.5 billion annually, and

28  many Puerto Ricans, eager to explore the opportunities offered

29  by the state's robust economy, continue to come both from

30  abroad and from other states to join the more than 400,000

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






    Florida Senate - 2000        (NP)                      SR 2634
    15-1877-00                                              See HB




  1  individuals from Puerto Rico who already make their homes in

  2  Florida, and

  3         WHEREAS, it is fitting and proper that the ties between

  4  the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the State of Florida be

  5  recognized, taking note of the positive impact made on the

  6  economic and cultural growth of the state, NOW, THEREFORE,

  7

  8  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

  9

10         That the Florida Senate pauses in its deliberations to

11  acknowledge the enrichment of the state's diverse culture

12  afforded by the presence of its Floridians of Puerto Rican

13  heritage and to wholeheartedly designate April 4, 2000, as

14  "Puerto Rico Day" in Florida.

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