SB 1606 — Victims of Communism

Florida Senate - 2021 CS for SB 1606 By Senatorthe RodriguezCommittee 39-01480B-21on 20211606__Governmental AOversight billand toAccountability; be entitled An act relating to victims of communism;

and Senators Rodriguez, Garcia, Hutson, and Rodrigues 585-03333-21 20211606c1 A bill to be entitled An act relating to victims of communism;

requiring high school students in a United States Government course to receive certain instruction on “Victims of Communism Day”;

911 WHEREAS, over 100 years have passed since the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and the formation of the first communist government under Vladimir Lenin, leading to decades of oppression and violence under communist regimes throughout the world, and WHEREAS, based on the economic philosophies of Karl Marx, communism has proven incompatible with the ideals of liberty, prosperity, and dignity of human life and has given rise to such infamous totalitarian dictators as Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Hồ Chí Minh, and Pol Pot, and WHEREAS, communist regimes worldwide have killed more than 100 million people and subjected countless others to exploitation and unspeakable atrocities, with victims representing many different ethnicities, creeds, and backgrounds, and WHEREAS, through false promises of equality and liberation, communist regimes have systematically robbed their own citizens of the rights of freedom of worship, freedom of speech, and freedom of association through coercion, brutality, and fear, and WHEREAS, many victims of communism were persecuted as political prisoners for speaking out against these regimes, and others were killed in genocidal state-sponsored purges of undesirable groups, and WHEREAS, in addition to violating basic human rights, communist regimes have suppressed intellectual freedom, cultural life, and self-determination movements in more than 40 nations, NOW, THEREFORE, 3840 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

4042 Section 1. Present paragraphs (q) through (u) of subsection (1) of section 683.01, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as paragraphs (r) through (v), respectively, and a new paragraph (q) is added to that subsection, to read:

Section 3. This3. Beginning actin shallthe take2022-2023 effectschool Julyyear, 1,high 2021.school students enrolled in the United States Government class required by s.

1003.4282, Florida Statutes, must receive at least 45 minutes of instruction on “Victims of Communism Day” on topics such as Mao Zedong in China, Joseph Stalin and the Soviet System, Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution, Vladimir Lenin and the Russian Revolution, Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, and Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela and how the victims suffered under these regimes through suppression of speech, poverty, starvation, migration, and systemic lethal violence against civilians.

Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.