Florida Senate - 2022                            (NP)    SR 1960
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       
       39-02156-22                                           20221960__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing the friendship between
    3         Florida and Puerto Rico.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, the people of Puerto Rico and Florida have common
    6  historical and political ties, and
    7         WHEREAS, Juan Ponce de León served as the first Governor of
    8  Puerto Rico and is credited with discovering Florida, and
    9         WHEREAS, the Spanish province of Florida was linked by
   10  Spanish rule to the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico at the time
   11  of its cession to the United States in 1819, and
   12         WHEREAS, Puerto Rico became part of the United States under
   13  the Treaty of Paris in 1898 following the Spanish-American War,
   14  and
   15         WHEREAS, the Jones Act of 1917, which conferred naturalized
   16  citizenship on residents of Puerto Rico, was replaced by the
   17  Nationality Act of 1940, which extended the rule of jus soli, or
   18  birthright citizenship, to Puerto Rico, thereby cementing United
   19  States citizenship as permanent and irreversible for island-born
   20  Puerto Ricans and their children for generations to come, and
   21         WHEREAS, with more than a century of United States
   22  citizenship, the main goal of the Jones Act, to augment the bond
   23  with the people of Puerto Rico, has clearly been achieved, as
   24  more than 5 million Puerto Ricans now reside stateside, and
   25         WHEREAS, according to the United States Census Bureau,
   26  there were more than 1.1 million people of Puerto Rican heritage
   27  residing in Florida in 2018, and
   28         WHEREAS, as residents of Florida, Puerto Ricans actively
   29  participate in public affairs, make significant cultural,
   30  political, and social contributions, and enhance the well-being
   31  of this state and its residents, and
   32         WHEREAS, the governments of Puerto Rico and Florida have a
   33  strong friendship, as demonstrated in 2017 when Florida helped
   34  Puerto Rico rebuild after Hurricane Maria and, again, in 2018
   35  when Puerto Rico reciprocated by sending aid to Florida after
   36  Hurricane Michael, and
   37         WHEREAS, these common ties and this strong friendship bind
   38  and unite the State of Florida and the Commonwealth of Puerto
   39  Rico and their residents, NOW, THEREFORE,
   40  
   41  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   42  
   43         That the friendship between the State of Florida and the
   44  Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and their residents is recognized,
   45  as is the hope that this friendship may continue to prosper.
   46         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the many contributions of
   47  Puerto Ricans to our state are acknowledged and appreciated.