Bill Amendment: FL S0572 | 2017 | Regular Session

NOTE: For additional amemendments please see the Bill Drafting List

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Bill Title: Haitian Independence and Flag Day/Haitian, Haitian American, and Caribbean American Heritage Month

Status: 2017-05-09 - Signed by Officers and filed with Secretary of State, companion bill(s) passed, see HR 8015 (Adopted) [S0572 Detail]

Download: Florida-2017-S0572-Senate_Committee_Amendment_396826.html

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       Florida Senate - 2017                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SM 572
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì396826JÎ396826                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
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       The Committee on Commerce and Tourism (Campbell) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the resolving clause
    4  and insert:
    5         That the Congress of the United States is urged to
    6  recognize January 1 as “Haitian Independence Day,” the month of
    7  May as “Haitian American Heritage Month,” May 18 as “Haitian
    8  Flag Day,” and the month of June as “Caribbean American Heritage
    9  Month.”
   10         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State is
   11  directed to dispatch copies of this memorial to the President of
   12  the United States, to the President of the United States Senate,
   13  to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives,
   14  and to each member of the Florida delegation to the United
   15  States Congress.
   16  
   17  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   18  And the title is amended as follows:
   19         Delete everything before the resolving clause
   20  and insert:
   21                           Senate Memorial                         
   22         A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
   23         urging Congress to recognize January 1 as “Haitian
   24         Independence Day,” the month of May as “Haitian
   25         American Heritage Month,” May 18 as “Haitian Flag
   26         Day,” and the month of June as “Caribbean American
   27         Heritage Month.”
   28  
   29         WHEREAS, the United States of America has thrived as a
   30  country of immigrants, united by common values and the promise
   31  of a better tomorrow, and
   32         WHEREAS, the Republic of Haiti, an island nation located in
   33  the West Indies on the western third of the Island of
   34  Hispaniola, declared its independence from French colonial rule
   35  on January 1, 1804, following a slave revolt under the
   36  leadership of Generals Toussaint L’Ouverture, Jean-Jacques
   37  Dessalines, and Alexandre Pétion, becoming the first and only
   38  nation created from a successful slave rebellion, and
   39         WHEREAS, Haiti was the first independent nation in Latin
   40  America and the first postcolonial independent nation led by
   41  blacks in the world, and
   42         WHEREAS, as educators, authors, community leaders,
   43  activists, athletes, artists, musicians, and politicians,
   44  Haitian Americans have made their mark in every facet of society
   45  and have contributed to the betterment and diversity of this
   46  nation, and
   47         WHEREAS, the close proximity of Haiti to American shores,
   48  in conjunction with our common bond of mutual values and
   49  commitment to democracy, ensures lasting comity of nations and
   50  continued trade and diplomatic relations, and
   51         WHEREAS, an estimated 1.5 million persons of Haitian
   52  descent now live throughout this nation, and
   53         WHEREAS, the United States and Haiti share a history of
   54  freedom, a common belief in human rights, and diverse, complex,
   55  and resilient peoples who have impacted the world through
   56  vibrant cultures, democracy, and a wealth of talent and
   57  achievement, and
   58         WHEREAS, Haitian Independence Day is globally acknowledged
   59  and annually celebrated on January 1 as an affirmation of
   60  equality, freedom, and the abolition of slavery, and
   61         WHEREAS, Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson and Congressman
   62  Kendrick B. Meek, having acknowledged the importance of Haitian
   63  Americans in this nation’s history and diversity, have proposed
   64  resolutions in the United States House of Representatives to
   65  recognize the month of May as “Haitian American Heritage Month”
   66  in the United States, and
   67         WHEREAS, Haitian American Heritage Month is held to salute
   68  the Haitian and Haitian American communities and to exhibit
   69  appreciation for their culture and heritage, which have
   70  immeasurably enriched the lives of the people of this nation,
   71  and
   72         WHEREAS, the Haitian flag known today, a variant of which
   73  first came into use in 1806, is emblazoned with the country’s
   74  coat of arms and the colors red and blue, adopted from the flag
   75  of France, the country from which Haiti gained its independence,
   76  and
   77         WHEREAS, General Jean-Jacques Dessalines is regarded as the
   78  father of the Haitian flag, known to have dramatically cut the
   79  French tricolor with his saber at the May 1803 Congress of
   80  Arcahaie, ripping away the white of the French flag to symbolize
   81  an end to European influence and leaving two strips that
   82  Catherine Flon then sewed back together: the blue, which
   83  represented the former African slaves brought to Haiti by
   84  colonial powers, and the red, which symbolized a people of mixed
   85  ancestry, and
   86         WHEREAS, the Haitian flag is a definitive symbol of pride
   87  for the Caribbean nation, having become the second republic,
   88  after the United States, to defeat a European colonial power in
   89  the Americas, and
   90         WHEREAS, Haitian Flag Day events are annually observed and
   91  celebrated with pride and enthusiasm throughout the United
   92  States, and
   93         WHEREAS, from a region that conjures images of a scenic
   94  paradise, Caribbean Americans are as vibrant as the islands from
   95  which they come, possessing a wealth of talent and history that
   96  reverberates throughout this great state and nation, and
   97         WHEREAS, emigration from the Caribbean region to the
   98  American colonies began as early as 1619, with the arrival of
   99  indentured workers in Jamestown, Virginia, and since 1820,
  100  millions of people have emigrated from the Caribbean region to
  101  the United States, and
  102         WHEREAS, as educators, authors, community leaders and
  103  activists, musicians, and politicians, Caribbean Americans have
  104  made their mark on every facet of our society and have
  105  contributed to the betterment and diversity of our state and
  106  nation, and
  107         WHEREAS, counted among the many famous sons and daughters
  108  of the Caribbean are activist W. E. B. Du Bois; Secretary of the
  109  Treasury Alexander Hamilton; the first African American
  110  Secretary of State, Colin Powell; actress Cicely Tyson; actor
  111  Sidney Poitier, the first African American actor to receive the
  112  Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role; author, poet,
  113  and civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson; musician, actor,
  114  and activist Harry Belafonte; athlete Roberto Clemente, the
  115  first Latino inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame;
  116  and numerous others who have displayed great strength and
  117  resiliency while serving as pioneers among the people of the
  118  Caribbean, and
  119         WHEREAS, the modern political influences of Caribbean
  120  Americans are evident in the election of a former member of the
  121  Florida House of Representatives, Jennifer Carroll of Trinidad
  122  and Tobago, as Florida’s first Caribbean American Lieutenant
  123  Governor; the election of former Maryland Lieutenant Governor
  124  Anthony G. Brown, who is of Jamaican descent; and the continued
  125  representation in local, state, and national governments by
  126  members from the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Haiti, Jamaica,
  127  and other Caribbean nations, and
  128         WHEREAS, in June 2005, the United States House of
  129  Representatives unanimously adopted a concurrent resolution
  130  recognizing the significance of Caribbean people and their
  131  descendants in the history and culture of the United States and
  132  observing the month of June as “Caribbean American Heritage
  133  Month,” and
  134         WHEREAS, on February 14, 2006, the United States Senate
  135  unanimously passed the resolution, culminating a two-year
  136  bicameral effort, and
  137         WHEREAS, since the passage of the resolution in 2005, the
  138  White House has issued an annual proclamation recognizing June
  139  as “Caribbean American Heritage Month,” exemplifying the
  140  importance of this observance across the nation, NOW, THEREFORE,