House passes bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday

The House on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of making Juneteenth a national federal holiday with a 415-14 tally, and Democrats are hopeful President Joe Biden will sign the measure into law by Saturday.

The June 19th holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States is already celebrated as a state or ceremonial holiday in 47 states and the District of Columbia. When signed into law, it will become the country's 11th federal holiday.

The House bill's sponsor, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, said it's "been a long journey," but "we're here."

"Juneteenth equals freedom and freedom is what America is about!" she tweeted. Jackson Lee said she and Democratic leaders plan to send the legislation to the president's desk by this Juneteenth.

Ahead of the vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called it "an exciting historic day," and one that was overdue.

The bill had strong bipartisan backing in both the House and the Senate, but one of the "no" votes, Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., said he'd call "an ace an ace. This is an effort by the Left to create a day out of whole cloth to celebrate identity politics as part of its larger efforts to make Critical Race Theory the reigning ideology of our country."

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the co-sponsor of the legislation, quote tweeted Rosendale's statement and called it “kooky.”

All 14 of the no votes were Republicans, included Reps. Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mo Brooks and Mike Rogers of Alabama, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Tom McClintock and Doug LaMalfa of California, Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin and two Texas congressmen, Ronny Jackson and Chip Roy.

The Juneteenth holiday —officially called Juneteenth Independence Day in the bill — has also been known as Emancipation Day and Black Independence Day.

The holiday honors the end of slavery by commemorating the date in 1865 that Union Army Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced to enslaved African Americans that the Civil War had ended and they were free. Granger's proclamation came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

The anniversary was celebrated by African Americans in Texas the following year, and soon began being celebrated in other states as well. It became an official state holiday in Texas in 1980.

"Juneteenth honors the end of the years of suffering and brutality that African Americans endured under slavery, America’s original sin, and celebrates the legacy of perseverance that has become the hallmark of the African American experience in the struggle for equality,” Jackson Lee said.

The Senate passed the measure by unanimous consent on Tuesday night. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., had blocked an earlier attempt to pass the bill, citing the potential cost to taxpayers, but he told NBC News earlier Wednesday that "I recognize reality."

"I support celebrating the emancipation of the slaves. I just didn't really understand why the only way to do that is to give two million federal healthcare workers, that would cost 600 million dollars a year, a day off. But apparently the rest of Congress wants to do that so I won't stand in the way," Johnson said.