Puerto Rican military veterans known as Borinqueneers are having their own national day after Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act during an unprecedented vote that overturned President Donald Trump’s veto of the broad military policy bill.
“With the United States Senate voting to override the President’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act, our legislation is already the law to designate April 13 as National Day for Borinquenists !!!!!”, Rep. Jenniffer González, from Puerto Rico non-voting members of Congress tweeted in Spanish on Saturday.
The April 13 designation as National Borinquene Day “recognizes the bravery, service and sacrifice” of the 65th Infantry Regiment, a unit of the US Army that consisted mainly of soldiers from Puerto Rico, under the new law. They fought in the World Wars and in Korea. The regiment carried the name of Borinqueneers, in reference to the pre-colonial name of Puerto Rico, Borinquen.
April 13 marks the day that members of the Borinqueneers received the Congress Gold Medal in 2016.
“Throughout the service, they suffered persistent discrimination. For a long time, their contribution to our history was neglected, so today, today we are setting the right record, giving them the biggest prize in our possession, the Congressional Gold Medal, ”said former Mayor Paul Ryan , R-Wis. , when he presented the tribute to three Borinqueneers at the 2016 ceremony.
National Borinqueneers Day also seeks to “honor the sacrifices and adversities overcome by Puerto Rican and Hispanic members of the Armed Forces”, as well as “recognize the significant contributions to the history of the United States made by the Borinqueneers,” says the law.
González, a Republican, led an effort in the House alongside Democratic Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy of Florida to celebrate the Borinqueneers with a national day. Republican Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio of Florida, along with Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, also worked in a successful Senate effort to pass a similar provision in July 2020.
