'Victims Of Communism Day' Teed Up In Florida House

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) – Students would be taught each year about how people have suffered and died under communist regimes, under a bill expected to get House approval on Wednesday.

The House on Tuesday took up the bill (HB 1553), which also would require the governor to annually issue a proclamation designating Nov. 7 as "Victims of Communism Day."

Public high school students enrolled in U.S. government classes would be required, starting in the 2022-2023 school year, to get at least 45 minutes of instruction on topics that include "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 Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela."

On Nov. 7, 1917, the Bolsheviks stormed the Winter Palace as part of Russia's October Revolution.

The Senate version of the bill (SB 1606) needs approval from the Appropriations Committee before it could go to the full Senate.