Bill Text: FL S1724 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

Florida Senate Resolution 1724 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Women's History Month

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-11 - Died, not introduced [S1724 Detail]

Download: Florida-2016-S1724-Introduced.html

       Florida Senate - 2016                            (NP)    SR 1724
       
       
        
       By Senators Joyner and Thompson
       
       19-01845C-16                                          20161724__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing March 2016 as “Women’s
    3         History Month” in Florida.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, women have made historic contributions to the
    6  growth and strength of this state in countless ways, recorded
    7  and unrecorded, and
    8         WHEREAS, women have played, and continue to play, a
    9  critical economic, cultural, and social role in every sphere of
   10  life by constituting a significant portion of the labor force,
   11  working inside and outside the home, and
   12         WHEREAS, women have played a unique role throughout the
   13  history of this nation by providing the majority of our
   14  volunteer labor force, and were particularly important in the
   15  establishment of early charitable, philanthropic, and cultural
   16  institutions, and
   17         WHEREAS, women of every race, class, and ethnic background
   18  served as early leaders in the forefront of every major
   19  progressive movement to improve society, and
   20         WHEREAS, women have been leaders not only in securing their
   21  own rights of suffrage and equal opportunity, but also in the
   22  abolitionist movement, the industrial labor movement, the civil
   23  rights movement, the environmental justice movement, and other
   24  social justice campaigns, especially the peace movement,
   25  creating a more fair and just society for all, and
   26         WHEREAS, despite these contributions, the role of women has
   27  been consistently overlooked and undervalued in literature and
   28  in the teaching and study of history, and
   29         WHEREAS, in recognition of the contributions of women,
   30  Congress has passed a resolution each year since 1987
   31  designating the month of March as “Women’s History Month,” and
   32         WHEREAS, in 2016 the theme of Women’s History Month is
   33  “Working to Form a More Perfect Union: Honoring Women in Public
   34  Service and Government” and the month of March presents special
   35  opportunities to celebrate the accomplishments of women,
   36  including Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, who have shaped
   37  America’s history and its future through their public service
   38  and leadership, and
   39         WHEREAS, among the 2016 Women’s History Month national
   40  honorees are Sonia Pressman Fuentes, who graduated first in her
   41  class from the University of Miami School of Law in 1957, was a
   42  co-founder of the National Organization for Women, and became
   43  the first woman attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at
   44  the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; Nadine Smith, a
   45  civil rights activist in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
   46  transgender civil rights movement and executive director of
   47  Equality Florida; and the late Betty Mae Tiger Jumper, the first
   48  and only female chief of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, who was
   49  a nurse and the co-founder and editor of the tribe’s first
   50  newspaper, the Seminole News, and
   51         WHEREAS, on January 27, 2016, three outstanding women,
   52  Carol Jenkins Barnett of Lakeland, Helen Aguirre Ferré of Miami
   53  Shores, and Elmira Louise Leto of Key West, will be inducted
   54  into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame, and
   55         WHEREAS, we honor women pioneers in the Florida
   56  Legislature, including the late Representative Edna Giles Fuller
   57  and the late Senator Beth Johnson, both of whom represented
   58  Orange County, the first women to serve in their respective
   59  chambers in 1929 and 1962, respectively; the late Senator Mary
   60  R. Grizzle, the first Republican woman to serve in the Florida
   61  Legislature, who was elected to the House of Representatives in
   62  1963; the late Representative Gwen Sawyer Cherry, who, in 1970,
   63  became the first black woman elected to serve in the Florida
   64  Legislature; Senator Carrie Meek, who, in 1982, became the first
   65  black woman elected to the Florida Senate; Representative Ileana
   66  Ros-Lehtinen, who now represents Florida’s 27th district in
   67  Congress and who, in 1982, became the first Hispanic woman to
   68  serve in the Florida House of Representatives and, in 1986,
   69  became the first Hispanic woman to serve in the Florida Senate;
   70  Senator Gwen Margolis, who was elected Senate President in 1990,
   71  making her the first legislative woman presiding officer in this
   72  state and the first woman Senate President in any state; and
   73  Senator Toni Jennings, who became the first Republican woman
   74  presiding officer when she was elected Senate President in 1996,
   75  NOW, THEREFORE,
   76  
   77  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   78  
   79         That March 2016 is recognized as “Women’s History Month” in
   80  Florida, and we call upon the residents of this state to
   81  participate in programs, ceremonies, and activities to foster an
   82  awareness of and appreciation for the contributions made by
   83  women which have benefited and improved society.