[ad_1]
President Joe Biden has signed legislation that makes Juneteenth, the day marking the end of slavery in the United States, a federal holiday.
Biden held a signing ceremony at the White House on Thursday afternoon, after a bill appointed on June 19 passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support.
“Great nations do not ignore their most painful moments. They embrace them, ”Biden said in statements before the signing.
“The great nations are not moving away,” he added. “We come to terms with the mistakes we have made and, remembering those moments, we begin to heal.”
Juneteenth, the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. was appointed in 1983, will bring the total to 11. Non-essential government offices are closed and federal employees receive paid days off on federal holidays, which are also often recognized by private entrepreneurs.
Juneteenth, a June 19 word, commemorates the date of 1865 when Union troops delivered news of freedom to Texas slaves more than two months after the end of the U.S. Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln had published his proclamation of emancipation, formally declaring slaves free, more than two years earlier.
The commemorations originated in Texas, but eventually spread to U.S. states. The date was adopted by American companies following the assassination of George Floyd, a black man, from a Minneapolis police officer last year.
“With this step, Congress ensures that one of the most momentous events in our history, particularly black Americans, has been officially recognized for 150 years and is collected in our history books and takes its place. ‘Honor our nation,’ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday before a vote in the lower house of Congress.
Juneteenth’s bill passed the Democratic-controlled House on Tuesday with a 415-14 vote after the Senate passed it through a procedure called unanimous consent, meaning no senator opposed it. It will become law when it is signed by the president.
The 14 members of the House who opposed the legislation were all Republicans, including representatives Mo Brooks of Alabama, Chip Roy of Texas and Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
The legislation comes at a time when lawmakers are still arguing about federals police reform legislation first drafted shortly after Floyd’s assassination in May 2020.
Biden had asked Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act before the first anniversary of Floyd’s death. But lawmakers missed the deadline because of a protracted disagreement over qualified immunity, a legal principle that protects police from being responsible for actions they take in the workplace.
Tim Scott, the Republican senator from South Carolina, and Cory Booker, the Democratic senator from New Jersey – the only two black senators in his 100-member chamber – have led the negotiations and continue to insist an agreement can be made.
[ad_2]
Source link
