Florida Senate - 2021                                    SB 1606
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       
       39-01480B-21                                          20211606__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to victims of communism; amending s.
    3         683.01, F.S.; establishing November 7 as the Victims
    4         of Communism legal holiday; requiring the Legislature
    5         to annually observe a moment of silence in observance
    6         of the victims of communism; providing an effective
    7         date.
    8  
    9         WHEREAS, over 100 years have passed since the Bolshevik
   10  Revolution in Russia and the formation of the first communist
   11  government under Vladimir Lenin, leading to decades of
   12  oppression and violence under communist regimes throughout the
   13  world, and
   14         WHEREAS, based on the economic philosophies of Karl Marx,
   15  communism has proven incompatible with the ideals of liberty,
   16  prosperity, and dignity of human life and has given rise to such
   17  infamous totalitarian dictators as Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Hồ
   18  Chí Minh, and Pol Pot, and
   19         WHEREAS, communist regimes worldwide have killed more than
   20  100 million people and subjected countless others to
   21  exploitation and unspeakable atrocities, with victims
   22  representing many different ethnicities, creeds, and
   23  backgrounds, and
   24         WHEREAS, through false promises of equality and liberation,
   25  communist regimes have systematically robbed their own citizens
   26  of the rights of freedom of worship, freedom of speech, and
   27  freedom of association through coercion, brutality, and fear,
   28  and
   29         WHEREAS, many victims of communism were persecuted as
   30  political prisoners for speaking out against these regimes, and
   31  others were killed in genocidal state-sponsored purges of
   32  undesirable groups, and
   33         WHEREAS, in addition to violating basic human rights,
   34  communist regimes have suppressed intellectual freedom, cultural
   35  life, and self-determination movements in more than 40 nations,
   36  NOW, THEREFORE,
   37  
   38  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   39  
   40         Section 1. Present paragraphs (q) through (u) of subsection
   41  (1) of section 683.01, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as
   42  paragraphs (r) through (v), respectively, and a new paragraph
   43  (q) is added to that subsection, to read:
   44         683.01 Legal holidays.—
   45         (1) The legal holidays, which are also public holidays, are
   46  the following:
   47         (q) Victims of Communism Day, November 7.
   48         Section 2. The Legislature shall, on the final day of each
   49  regular legislative session, observe a moment of silence in
   50  observance of the victims of communism.
   51         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.