Esta ley establece que el 10 de mayo de cada año se observará en todas las jurisdicciones del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico como el "Día de Antonio Fernós Isern", en reconocimiento a sus contribuciones al desarrollo político y económico de Puerto Rico, incluyendo su papel en la redacción de la Constitución del Estado Libre Asociado.
(Approved on October 28, 2002)
To provide that the $10^{ ext {th }}$ of May of each year shall be observed in all the jurisdictions of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as "Antonio Fernós Isern Day."
Doctor Antonio Fernós-Isern, physician, politician, patriot and humanist, was born on May 19, 1985, in the Municipality of San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico. He attended primary and secondary school on the Island, transferring later to the Pennsylvania State Normal School in the city of Bloomburg, Pennsylvania. In May 1915, he obtained his college degree from the School of Physicians and Surgeons of Maryland State University.
Later, Dr. Fernós-Isern returned to Puerto Rico, where he practiced medicine. From 1919 to 1933, he took several positions of an administrative nature, among which one finds: Assistant Health Commissioner of Puerto Rico (1920-1931) and Health Commissioner (1931-1933 and 1942-1946). By 1933, due to political differences with the Coalition government in Puerto Rico, he resigned as Health Commissioner. He then moved to the State of New York where he finished his residency in cardiology, at Columbia University, becoming the first Puerto Rican cardiologist. Upon returning to his Country of birth, he was a professor at the Tropical School
of Medicine and continued his private practice in San Juan from 1933 to 1942.
In 1937, Dr. Fernós-Isern participated, along with Luis Muñoz-Marin, in the organization of the Liberal Party, which later became the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). In 1940 he proclaimed his candidacy for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in Washington, being defeated in his attempt.
In 1945, the then Governor of Puerto Rico, Jesús T. Piñero, selected him as the new Resident Commissioner in Washington, a position to which he was re-elected four consecutive times (1948, 1952, 1956 and 1960). He occupied that post from September 11, 1946 until January 3, 1965.
During the two decades that he honorably occupied such a high position, Dr. Fernós-Isern played a predominant role in obtaining self government for Puerto Ricans. His participation in the approval of the Puerto Rico Elective Governor Act was extremely important.
After the Congress of the United States of America's approval of Public Act No. 600 of 1950, which authorized Puerto Ricans to draft their own Constitution, Dr. Fernós-Insern was elected President of the Constituent Convention of Puerto Rico, which drafted the Commonwealth's Magna Carta, which, next year, in 2002, shall be fifty decades old.
This outstanding Puerto Rican did not run for a fifth term in the 1964 elections, when he presented his candidacy for the Commonwealth's Senate, being elected to said legislative position. He occupied his lectern in the Senate until 1968.
To our people's grief, Dr. Antonio Fernós expired on January 19, 1974. For the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, however, it is extremely important that on the occasion of celebrating, in 2002, the first fifty years of the Commonwealth's Constitution, Dr. Fernós-Insern be
recognized and his contributions to the political and economic development of our people be immortalized and appreciated. His contributions toward the advancement the Country are, doubtlessly, immeasurable and indelible.
With the approval of this Act, the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico celebrates having had such an outstanding person as one of our own and attempts to educate our new generations about his immense contributions to our history as a nation.
Section 1.- To provide that the 10th of May of each year shall be observed in all the jurisdictions of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as "Antonio Fernós-Isern Day".
Section 2.- The Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as the Legislature shall give full compliance to the purposes of this Act and, through a proclamation to that effect, shall exhort all the Puerto Rican people to perform activities conducive to celebrating and educating the citizenry about the importance and the work of Antonio Fernós-Isern every year.
Section 3.- The Government's agencies and instrumentalities, as well as the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall offer their cooperation and support in the promotion and celebration of the activities to be performed pursuant to this Act.
Section 4.- This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 250 (H.B. 2183) of the $4^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to provide that the $10^{ ext {th }}$ of May of each year shall be observed in all the jurisdictions of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as "Antonio Fernós-Isern Day", has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $6^{ ext {th }}$ of August of 2004.
Elba Rosa Rodríguez-Fuentes Director