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Juneteenth was voted unanimously by the senate to be made into a federal holiday, according to The Western Journal.
The legislation will also have to pass the House.
“Although I strongly support celebrating Emancipation, I objected to the cost and lack of debate,” Johnson stated.
“While it still seems strange that having taxpayers provide federal employees paid time off is now required to celebrate the end of slavery, it is clear that there is no appetite in Congress to further discuss the matter.”
“Happy that my bill to recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday just passed the Senate. It has been a state holiday in Texas for more than 40 years.”
“But slaves in Texas wouldn’t learn this life-altering news for two and a half years.”
“It took two and a half years for the slaves in the South to learn that they were free. And that day came on a day we now celebrate as Juneteenth.”
From The Western Journal:
The bipartisan legislation was introduced by Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ed Markey, Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.
Markey announced the news in a tweet on Wednesday evening.
Army Major General Gordon Granger announced the end of slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865, based on Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Declaration in 1863.
Texas made Juneteenth a state holiday in 1980. Many other states have added the holiday, but the holiday has not yet been federally recognized.
During the 2020 push to pass the legislation, Cornyn said, “One of the most defining days in our nation’s history was when President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, finally freeing all slaves in Confederate territory.
