Political Quotes

“Thank you for the kind introduction. I thank Chairwomen Beatty and all my Congressional Black Caucus colleagues for highlighting the significance of Juneteenth during today's Special Order hour. Madam Speaker, the date was Monday, June 19, 1865; the location, Galveston, Texas. It was 2\1/2\ years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and 2 months after the Civil War ended, 250,000 enslaved Black people in Texas still did not know they were free. That was until--on that Texas summer day--Federal troops rode into town and a Union general read aloud an order announcing their freedom. Emancipation didn't happen all at once, and slavery wasn't formally abolished until the passage of the 13th Amendment later that year. That 19th day in June came to be known as Juneteenth, a day celebrating the end of slavery in America. The year following the 1865 declaration, freedman in Texas organized the first of what became the annual June 19 celebration. Slowly but surely, Juneteenth celebrations spread across the country. Last year, thanks to the hard work of my friend, my colleague, the dynamic incomparable Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, President Biden signed a bill into law recognizing Juneteenth as a Federal holiday. Juneteenth is a time to celebrate, and it is a time to take pride in the many contributions of African Americans to our society and our country across the generations. It is also a time of remembrance and action.…”