Posted on 06/17/2021 9:20:16 AM PDT by Red Badger
KEY POINTS President Joe Biden is set to sign a bill establishing Juneteenth, the date marking the end of slavery in the United States, as a federal holiday.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are slated to deliver remarks in the East Room, according to the White House.
Juneteenth National Independence Day will become the 12th legal public holiday, and the first new one since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was signed into law in 1983 by then-President Ronald Reagan.
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President Joe Biden is set to sign on Thursday a bill establishing Juneteenth, the date marking the end of slavery in the United States, as a federal holiday.
The 3:30 p.m. ET signing event at the White House comes two days before Juneteenth itself, which falls on June 19 each year. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to deliver remarks in the East Room, according to the White House.
Juneteenth National Independence Day will become the 12th legal public holiday and the first new one created since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was signed into law in 1983 by then-President Ronald Reagan.
Juneteenth marks the date that the last enslaved African Americans were granted their freedom. On that day in 1865, Union soldiers led by Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in the coastal city of Galveston, Texas, to deliver General Order No. 3, officially ending slavery in the state.
The final act of liberation came months after the Confederate army’s surrender ended the Civil War, and more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
Lincoln was assassinated on April 15, 1865, two months before his proclamation made it to Texas.
The holiday legislation passed this week with overwhelming support in both chambers of Congress. The Senate approved the bill unanimously Tuesday night, and the House passed it in a 415-14 vote. The only votes against the bill came from Republicans.
On the House floor before the vote, some GOP lawmakers complained about the name of the holiday, and others expressed concern about the cost of giving the federal workforce another day off. Some also railed against Democrats for pushing the bill to a vote without first allowing committees to examine the legislation and offer amendments.
Still, most House Republicans, even those who objected to parts of the bill, ended up voting for it.
The Juneteenth legislation was sponsored in the Senate by Edward Markey, D-Mass. The House version, sponsored by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, was co-sponsored by 166 lawmakers.
The 14 no votes were:
Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.
Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn.
Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis.
Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif.
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala.
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas
Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.
Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif.
Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont.
Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga.
It makes total sense.
Actually, the date was to be EFFECTIVE Jan 1 1863, so perhaps that would be the day (God help us tying in the martyrdom to NYD).
This is just like Cinco De Mayo (not as bad because that’s Mexico)….it is NOT any kind of National date, just a local thing.
Takes effect tomorrow, since the 19th is on Saturday.
Fried chicken watermelon Cadillac cars….
“ Federal Workers do not need another day off.”
Federal workers need EVERY day off.
Let’s start with the FBI, IRS and CIA
STUPID illiterate name for a holiday
Any reluctance to celebrate this new holiday will be considered racist behavior.
Until Trump scheduled a rally on it.
BS. Not One Inch.
Not one to these wannabe martyrs.
You are spinning your wheels on a treadmill going nowhere with that Union Republican nonsense.
Dems embrace Lincoln. Consider that.
They are very few Conservative Republicans. And the GOP is working hand in clove with the RINOs to make it even fewer. The Lady From Georgia and Matt Getz are the only two in Congress I know about and the Republicans are fighting tooth and nail to get rid of both of them. There may be others I don’t know but they are keeping a low profile and their numbers don’t exceed 10. Bona fide Conservatives are scarce as hen’s teeth.
And I no longer give a rip.
Yeah it’s a horrible name.
I hate it even more because it is MY SISTER’s birthday, may she Rest In Peace. Disgusting.
But that was just to sell tequila and Mexican beer. What's this for - selling Colt45 Malt Liquor?!
There are generally others but I’m highly disappointed to see our one Repub from MD not on the “No list”.
Sounds like ebonics
Not even that. It only happened because somebody, who was looking for anything to pin Trump supporters as being racists, noticed that Trump scheduled a rally on it, and made a big stink about it. Then all these people, who had never even heard of Juneteenth before, said "Yeah, see, Trump and his supporters are racists!"
I think that's the worst part of it. An Ebonics holiday!
My husband says that. I say it perfectly coordinates with the huge illegal push. Make everything “Spanish” seem normal. I see it as undermining the US.
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