[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 91 (Wednesday, June 19, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H6518]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             JUNETEENTH DAY

  (Mr. SOUDER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend those in my district who 
today are celebrating Juneteenth Day, marking the freedom of the last 
known slaves on June 19, 1865, almost 2\1/2\ years after President 
Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation and 65 days after Lincoln 
had been assassinated. Gen. Gordon Granger entered Galveston, TX, with 
1,800 troops, proclaimed Texas under U.S. Federal authority and 
declared the 250,000 slaves in Texas free.
  His remarks to the slaves and slave owners concluded with his reading 
of the Emancipation Proclamation. Upon hearing the final line of 
General Granger's reading, the slaves in Galveston immediately began 
the first Juneteenth celebration in response to their freedom.
  A story that has been passed down through the generations says that 
President Lincoln sent a messenger on a slow-stepping mule from 
Washington with the news which did not reach these States, deep 
southern States, until 2\1/2\ years later. This shows that some things 
never change. Historians have attributed the delay to the slow-moving 
Washington bureaucracy.
  Today this holiday is celebrated throughout America, not just in the 
South. I know that in my district, in addition to celebrations like 
picnics, parades, and pageants, very much like those going throughout 
the country, there are 150 community leaders meeting and how their 
groups work to better people's lives. I rise to congratulate them. We 
all must work together.

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