Revision: Nov. 17, 2021, 10:47 a.m.
HB 1159 - AS INTRODUCED
2022 SESSION
22-2474
07/10
HOUSE BILL 1159
AN ACT recognizing November 7 as Victims of Communism Memorial Day.
SPONSORS: Rep. Prudhomme-O'Brien, Rock. 6; Rep. Soti, Rock. 7; Rep. Yakubovich, Merr. 24; Rep. Berezhny, Graf. 9; Rep. Cambrils, Merr. 9
COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration
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ANALYSIS
This bill requires the governor to annually proclaim November 7 as Victims of Communism Memorial Day and encourage observance of the day with appropriate events.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
22-2474
07/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Two
AN ACT recognizing November 7 as Victims of Communism Memorial Day.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Declaration of Purpose.
I. 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 under communist regimes throughout the world.
II. 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, H? Chí Minh, and Pol Pot.
III. 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.
IV. 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.
V. 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.
VI. In addition to violating basic human rights, communist regimes have suppressed intellectual freedom, cultural life, and self-determination movements in more than 40 nations.
2 New Section; Victims of Communism Memorial Day. Amend RSA 4 by inserting after section 13-cc the following new section:
4:13-dd Victims of Communism Memorial Day. The governor shall annually issue a proclamation declaring November 7 as Victims of Communism Memorial Day and shall urge cities, towns, school administrative units, school districts, state community colleges, state colleges, and state universities throughout the state to observe the day in an appropriate manner including, but not limited to, education 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, H? Chiยด Minh in Vietnam, and Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, and how the victims suffered under these regimes through suppression of speech, poverty, starvation, migration, and systemic lethal violence against civilians.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.