Congress approves Juneteenth Day as a federal holiday, now awaits Biden’s signature
WASHINGTON — For the first time in nearly 40 years, the U.S. will have a new federal holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the U.S. in 1865.
The House voted 415-14 Wednesday evening to make Juneteenth, or June 19th, the 12th federal holiday. The measure sailed through the Senate just a day earlier after Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson dropped his objections to the holiday.
Johnson had blocked the creation of the new holiday last year, arguing it would “give federal workers a paid day off that the rest of America has to pay for.” Johnson said in a statement Tuesday there was no “appetite in Congress to further discuss the matter.”
It’s the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created in 1983.
“Our federal holidays are purposely few in number and recognize the most important milestones,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY. “I cannot think of a more important milestone to commemorate than the end of slavery in the United. States.”
President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation took effect in 1863, but slaves in Texas did not learn of their freedom until Union soldiers reached the city of Galveston on June 19, 1865.
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.
Under the legislation, the federal holiday would be known as Juneteenth National Independence Day.
President Biden is expected to sign it into law before Saturday, June 19.
With News Wire Services
