Biden signs bill to make Juneteenth a holiday
Bill sets June 19 as 12th federal day off to mark the end of slavery in U.S.
President Joe WASHINGTON —
Biden signed legislation Thursday establishing a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery, saying he believes it will go down as one of the greatest honors he has as president.
Biden signed into law a bill to make Juneteenth, or June 19, the 12th federal holiday. The House voted 415-14 on Wednesday to send the bill to Biden, while the Senate passed the bill unanimously the day before.
“This is a day of profound weight and profound power, a day in which we remember the moral stain, the terrible toll that slavery took on the country and continues to take,” Biden said.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas — two months after the Confederacy had surrendered. That was also about 2 1/2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the Southern states.
It’s the first new federal holi
day since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created in 1983.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which is the human resources office for the federal government, tweeted Thursday that most federal employees will observe the new holiday — Juneteenth National Independence Day — on Friday since June 19 falls on a Saturday this year.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said that most state offices will also be closed today in observance of Juneteenth.
“This action by the president also makes June- teenth a state holiday, pursuant to Ohio Revised Code §124.19, which defines state holidays as including ‘any day appointed and recommended by the governor of this state or the president of the United States,’ “DeWine said in a statement.
Biden noted the over- whelming support for the bill from lawmakers in both parties.
“I hope this is the beginning of a change in the way we deal with one another,” Biden said.
The White House moved quickly after the House debated the bill and then voted for it.
“Our federal holidays are purposely few in number and recognize t he most important milest o nes,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. “I cannot think of a more important milestone to commemorate than the end of slavery in the United States.”
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, speaking next to a large poster of a Black man whose back bore mas- sive scarring from being whipped, said she would be in Galveston on Satur- day to celebrate along with Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.
“Can you imagine?” said Jackson Lee. “I will be stand- ing maybe taller than Sen.
Cornyn, forgive me for that, because it will be such an elevation of joy.”
The Senate passed the bill on Tuesday under a unani- mous consent agreement that expedites the process for con- sidering legislation. It takes just one senator’s objection to block such agreements.
Several members of the Congressional Black Caucus went to the floor to speak in favor of the bill. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., said she viewed Juneteenth as a commemoration rather than a celebration because it represented something that was delayed in happening.
“It also reminds me of what we don’t have today,” she said. “And that is full access to justice, freedom and equality. All these are often in short supply as it relates to the Black community.”
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and had 60 co-sponsors. Democratic leaders moved quickly to bring the bill to the House floor after the Senate’s vote the day before.
Some Republican lawmak- ers opposed the effort. Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Montana, said creating the federal holi- day was an effort to celebrate “identity politics.”
“Since I believe in treating everyone equally, regardless of race, and that we should be focused on what unites us rather than our differences, I will vote no,” he said in a press release.
The vast majority of states recognize Juneteenth as a holiday or have an official observance of the day, and most states hold celebrations. Juneteenth is a paid holiday for state employees in Texas, New York, Virginia and Washington.
Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., said he would vote for the bill and that he supported the establishment of a federal holiday, but he was upset that the name of the holiday included the word “independence” rather than “emancipation.”