WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released the following statement after his bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday was signed into law by President Biden. You can download video of Sen. Cornyn discussing this here.
“For more than a century, Texans have celebrated Juneteenth and commemorated the anniversary of the day slaves in Texas were first informed of the news that they were indeed free.”
“It’s finally time to recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday. I reintroduced this bipartisan bill with the Senator from Massachusetts, Senator Markey, this year, and I have been proud to work alongside my fellow Texan, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee in the House to get the bill passed and signed into law.”
“I want to thank the dozens of senators on both sides of the aisle who have supported this effort. I think particularly now at this point in our nation’s history, a little reconciliation could go a long way. And it’s also an opportunity to learn from our past.”
“America is the greatest nation in the world, but we are not perfect. While America is not perfect, we continue to do the work to strive to be a more perfect union.”
Sen. Cornyn has been the lead author of a resolution honoring Juneteenth each year since 2011. He also authored a bill with Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18) for a federal study of a National Emancipation Trail from Galveston to Houston, following the path of slaves freed on June 19, 1865 to spread the news, which was signed into law.