Florida Senate - 2022 CS for SB 268
By the Committee on Appropriations; and Senator Diaz
576-03570-22 2022268c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the proclamation of “Victims of
3 Communism Day”; creating s. 683.334, F.S.; requiring
4 the Governor to proclaim November 7 annually as
5 “Victims of Communism Day”; requiring the day to be
6 observed in public schools and by public exercise;
7 requiring a day other than November 7 to be observed
8 by public schools under a specified circumstance;
9 requiring certain high school students to receive
10 specified instruction on Victims of Communism Day;
11 requiring the State Board of Education to adopt
12 specified revised social studies standards; providing
13 an effective date.
14
15 WHEREAS, more than 100 years have passed since the
16 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and the formation of the first
17 communist government under Vladimir Lenin, leading to decades of
18 oppression and violence under communist regimes throughout the
19 world, and
20 WHEREAS, based on the economic philosophy of Karl Marx,
21 communism has proven incompatible with the ideals of liberty,
22 prosperity, and dignity of human life and has given rise to such
23 infamous totalitarian dictators as Joseph Stalin, Vladimir
24 Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Pol Pot, and
25 WHEREAS, communist regimes worldwide have killed more than
26 100 million people and subjected countless others to
27 exploitation and unspeakable atrocities, with victims
28 representing many different ethnicities, creeds, and
29 backgrounds, and
30 WHEREAS, through false promises of equality and liberation
31 or through coercion, brutality, and fear, communist regimes have
32 systematically robbed their own citizens of the rights of
33 freedom of worship, freedom of speech, and freedom of
34 association, and
35 WHEREAS, many victims of communism were persecuted as
36 political prisoners for speaking out against these regimes, and
37 others were killed in genocidal state-sponsored purges of
38 undesirable groups, and
39 WHEREAS, in addition to violating basic human rights,
40 communist regimes have suppressed intellectual freedom, cultural
41 life, and self-determination movements in more than 40 nations,
42 NOW, THEREFORE,
43
44 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
45
46 Section 1. Section 683.334, Florida Statutes, is created to
47 read:
48 683.334 Victims of Communism Day.—
49 (1) The Governor shall annually proclaim November 7 as
50 “Victims of Communism Day,” which must be suitably observed in
51 the public schools of this state as a day honoring the 100
52 million people who fell victim to communist regimes across the
53 world and which must be suitably observed by public exercise at
54 the State Capitol and elsewhere as the Governor may designate.
55 (2) If November 7 falls on a day that is not a school day,
56 Victims of Communism Day must be observed in the public schools
57 in this state on the preceding school day or on such school day
58 as may be designated by local school authorities.
59 (3)(a) Beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, high school
60 students enrolled in the United States Government class required
61 by s. 1003.4282(3)(d) must receive at least 45 minutes of
62 instruction on Victims of Communism Day to include topics such
63 as Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution, Joseph Stalin and the
64 Soviet System, Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution, Vladimir
65 Lenin and the Russian Revolution, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge,
66 and Nicolás Maduro and the Chavismo movement, and how victims
67 suffered under these regimes through poverty, starvation,
68 migration, systemic lethal violence, and suppression of speech.
69 (b) No later than April 1, 2023, the State Board of
70 Education must adopt revised social studies standards for
71 inclusion in the United States Government course required by s.
72 1003.4282(3)(d) which incorporate the requirements of this
73 subsection.
74 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.