(No ) (Approved December 26, 2012) AN ACT

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1 (H. B. 3891) (No ) (Approved December 26, 2012) AN ACT To amend Section 4, add a new Section 5, and renumber the following subsections of Act No , in order to correct the annual appropriation of funds granted to the Rafael Martínez-Nadal Program; establish an annual contribution to the Museo Prócer Rafael Martínez- Nadal; and for other purposes. STATEMENT OF MOTIVES Rafael Martínez-Nadal was born on April 22, 1877, in the City of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, where he lived with his father, Mr. Rafael Martínez- Santana, during the first years of his life. His mother, Mrs. Estebanía Nadal-Freyte, passed away hours after he was born. Young Rafael was only 5 years old when his father also passed, so he moved to the town of Maricao to live with relatives who would take charge of his upbringing. He began attending the Rafael Janer School in that municipality, and later the Instituto Provincial de Segunda Enseñanza de San Juan, from which he graduated in At the age of sixteen, Rafael traveled to Barcelona, Spain, to begin studying Law, but he interrupted the same and decided to move to the City of Paris, France. He stayed in Paris for a few years and eventually moved to Madrid, devoting his life to different businesses among which were the meat distribution, theater production, and coffee import.

2 2 In 1904, he returned to his hometown and became involved once again in the coffee industry. During this period, Rafael Martínez-Nadal began to publish several newspaper articles describing his political ideology and beliefs. He thought Puerto Rico should join the U.S.A. permanently, which lead him to become a member of the Puerto Rican Republican party founded by Don José Celso Barbosa in True to his ideal of statehood for Puerto Rico, he entered the political arena in 1914 and was elected to the House of Delegates as a representative for the district of Ponce under the Puerto Rican Republican Party. In 1920, he was elected to the Senate of Puerto Rico. After the Alliance between the Puerto Rican Republican Party and the Union Party of Puerto Rico, Rafael decided to abandon his party, believing that said union pact did nothing to Puerto Rico s progress and enable the Island to become a state of the United States of America. Abandoning the Puerto Rican Republican Party did not mean that Rafael Martínez-Nadal would forget about politics and his ideals. On the contrary, his ideological beliefs became stronger and he founded the Partido Constitucional Histórico, whose members were known as Pure Republicans. The coalition it formed with the Socialist Party lead by Don Santiago Iglesias-Pantín faced the Alliance in the 1924 and 1928 elections. In both electoral events, Rafael Martínez- Nadal was elected to the Senate of Puerto Rico. After the dissolution of the alliance between the Pure Republicans and the Socialist Party, Rafael Martínez-Nadal founded the Partido Unión Republicana, for which he was elected to the Senate in the following election. He presided this High Body from 1933 to 1941, leaving his seat as President and Senator, not because of electoral defeat, but due to losing his fight against cancer. The day he died, all of Puerto Rico mourned the loss of one of its favorite sons, who devoted

3 3 most of his life to eradicating poverty in our towns, establishing justice in our courts and safety in our streets, and striving to see Puerto Rico thrive as a state of the United States of America. His political career left a mark in the Puerto Rican statehood movement, and his endeavors as a legislator made him an example for those who wish to hold public office. However, if it is indeed true that his public life is worthy of imitation, his professional career as a lawyer, which was equally or more successful in the former, always came before his political career. That is why they say in our Island s law schools and courtrooms that the court shivered, the prosecutor shivered, the judges shivered, when Martínez-Nadal arrived. Preserving the memory of Rafael Martínez-Nadal is of utmost importance. For such reason, his family and friends have undertaken the task to keep his legacy alive by establishing the Museo Prócer Rafael Martínez-Nadal, Inc., a non-profit organization that celebrates his life and teachings for the enjoyment and knowledge of present and future generations. Since the approval of Act No , funds have been appropriated for the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture to establish the Rafael Martínez-Nadal Program in seeking to preserve the works of such an illustrious and loved Puerto Rican within the political, social, financial, and cultural arenas. The purpose of preserving his works and life has been accomplished with the opening of the Museo Prócer Rafael Martínez-Nadal in recent years. Therefore, this Legislative Assembly deems it meritorious to reduce the contribution received by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture for the Rafael Martínez-Nadal Program and, in lieu thereof, establish an annual contribution to the non-profit organization Museo Prócer Rafael Martínez-Nadal, Inc.

4 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF PUERTO RICO: Section 1.- Section 4 of Act No is hereby amended to read as follows: Section 2.- The sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000) is hereby appropriated to the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture for fiscal year from unencumbered funds in the Commonwealth Treasury to begin implementing the provisions of this Act. Section 2.- A new Section 5 is hereby added to Act No , to read as follows: Section 5.- For fiscal year , the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) is hereby appropriated to the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture from unencumbered funds in the General Budget to be transferred to Museo Prócer Rafael Martínez-Nadal, Inc., as an annual contribution from the Government of Puerto Rico for its operating expenses, functions, purposes, and related activities. In subsequent years, the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) shall be consigned in the Operating Budget of the Government of Puerto Rico to be transferred to Museo Prócer Rafael Martínez-Nadal, Inc. by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture through the non-profit organization of Museo Prócer Rafael Martínez-Nadal, Inc., in order to achieve the purposes set forth in the preceding paragraph of this Section. Section 3.- Sections 5 and 6 of Act No are hereby renumbered to read as follows: Section 6.- Section 7.- Section 4.- This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.

5 5 CERTIFICATION I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No (H. B. 3891) of the 5 th Special Session of the 16 th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico: AN ACT to amend Section 4, add a new Section 5, and renumber the following subsections of Act No , in order to correct the annual appropriation of funds granted to the Rafael Martínez-Nadal Program; establish an annual contribution to the Museo Prócer Rafael Martínez-Nadal; and for other purposes. has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, on this 29 th day of June, Juan Luis Martínez Martínez Director