Political Quotes

“I include in the Record the following letters in support of H.R. 434, the Emancipation National Historic Trail Act: City of Houston, Houston, TX, March 26, 2019. Hon. Raul M. Grijalva, Chairman, Natural Resources Committee, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Grijalva: I write today to express my support of Representative Sheila Jackson Lee's bill, H.R. 434, the Emancipation National Historic Trail Act. Passage of this bill will pave the way for the Emancipation National Historic Trail, which will extend approximately 51 miles from the Osterman Building and Reedy Chapel in Galveston, Texas, along Texas State Highway 3 and Interstate 45 North to Freedmen's Town and Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas. This trail follows the migration route taken by newly freed slaves from the major 19th century seaport town of Galveston to the burgeoning community of Freedmen's Town, which is now the 4th Ward of Houston, home to the 18th Congressional District. The start of the trail is located where General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, to announce the freedom of the last American slaves. His announcement belatedly freed 250,000 slaves nearly two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. The newly freed slaves traveled from Galveston to spread the news to neighboring communities.…”