[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 87 (Friday, June 18, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H4659]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         CELEBRATING JUNETEENTH

  (Mr. LAMPSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow thousands and thousands of African 
Americans in Galveston, Texas, the birthplace of Juneteenth, and around 
the Nation will celebrate this holiday of freedom and justice. 
President Abraham Lincoln technically ended the right to own human 
beings in 1863, but most slaves gained their freedom only after Union 
troops took control of Confederate territory and released them from 
bondage.
  It took 2\1/2\ years after the Emancipation Proclamation for the 
Union Army to reach Texas, the last place where slavery was not only 
allowed, but also enforced.
  After Union General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston and announced 
to the States' 200,000 slaves that they were free, they immediately 
erupted into jubilant celebration, much like the 4th of July.
  As we look ahead to the next millennium, I challenge all of us to 
take this opportunity while we celebrate the rich history of this 
celebration of freedom to rededicate ourselves to the value of equal 
opportunity for all Americans, because that is at the heart of 
Juneteenth and the American ideal.

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