Florida Senate - 2024                            (NP)    SR 1138
       
       
        
       By Senator Avila
       
       
       
       
       
       39-00062A-24                                          20241138__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing February 27, 2024, as
    3         “Dominican-American Heritage Day” in Florida.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, the island of Hispaniola is home to two countries,
    6  with Haiti on the west and the Dominican Republic on the east,
    7  and
    8         WHEREAS, the people of the Dominican Republic were under
    9  Haitian rule for 22 years before the Dominican War of
   10  Independence set them free in 1844, and
   11         WHEREAS, the Dominican Republic was re-colonized by Spain
   12  between 1861 and 1865, and
   13         WHEREAS, with the help of Haiti, the Dominican Republic
   14  gained its freedom from Spain in 1865, when black Dominican
   15  rebels, who feared that Spain would reestablish slavery, fought
   16  to overthrow Spanish rule in the Dominican Restoration War, and
   17         WHEREAS, migration from the Dominican Republic to the
   18  United States began in the 1960s in the wake of economic and
   19  political turbulence that occurred after dictator Rafael
   20  Trujillo was killed by rebels, and
   21         WHEREAS, since 1990, the immigrant population from the
   22  Dominican Republic residing in the United States has been larger
   23  than other immigrant populations from the Caribbean, with the
   24  exception of immigrants from Cuba, and
   25         WHEREAS, Florida is the third of five states with the
   26  largest concentration of Dominican Americans, with approximately
   27  12 percent of Dominican Americans residing in this state, and
   28         WHEREAS, Dominican Americans have made significant
   29  contributions to the United States in several fields, including
   30  government, finance, education, sports, fashion, and the arts
   31  and sciences, and continue to enrich the diversity of this state
   32  by sharing their unique accomplishments, traditions, culture,
   33  and cuisine, NOW, THEREFORE,
   34  
   35  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   36  
   37         That February 27, 2024, is recognized as “Dominican
   38  American Heritage Day” in Florida to celebrate Dominican
   39  Republic Independence Day and the invaluable economic, social,
   40  and cultural contributions of Dominican Americans throughout
   41  this state.