PRINTER'S NO. 1700

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

No.

304

Session of

2019

INTRODUCED BY BURGOS, KENYATTA, HILL-EVANS, McNEILL, KORTZ,

SAMUELSON, DiGIROLAMO, KINSEY, RYAN, LONGIETTI, SCHLOSSBERG,

ROTHMAN, MILLARD, ISAACSON, MURT, T. DAVIS, CALTAGIRONE,

Independence Day" in Pennsylvania.

WHEREAS, On February 27, 2019, the Dominican Republic will

celebrate the anniversary of its independence from Haiti in

1844; and

WHEREAS, Before the Dominican Republic declared its

independence, the shared island of Hispaniola had been under

Haitian rule for more than two decades after centuries of

colonialism, first by the Spanish and then by the French; and

WHEREAS, Nationalist Juan Pablo Duarte helped organize the

war against the Haitian regime and is considered one of the

the Caribbean's second-largest economy and third-largest country

in terms of population and land mass, its large bilateral trade

with the United States and its proximity to the United States

and other Caribbean nations; and

WHEREAS, The family unit within Dominican society is

incredibly important and has formed the basis of stability

throughout all of the Dominican Republic's political and

economic upheaval; and

WHEREAS, Whenever possible, the extended family, which

usually encompasses three generations, lives within the same

actress Dascha Polanco, Maryland State Delegate Joseline Peña-

Melnyk, NASA aerospace engineer and inventor Dr. Victor Carreño,

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Junot Díaz and countless other

accomplished individuals; and

WHEREAS, Dominicans are the fifth-largest population of

Hispanic origin living in the United States, and the cities of

Reading and Philadelphia both have sizable populations of

Dominican people; and

WHEREAS, The Dominican-American community contributes to our

nation's economic vitality and culture while maintaining a deep