[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 92 (Friday, June 20, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1320]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            JUNETEENTH, 2003

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM DeLAY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 19, 2003

  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, on June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon 
Granger of the United States Army rode into Galveston, Texas and issued 
General Order 3, informing the state of the Emancipation Proclamation.
  Thus, more than two months after the surrender at Appomattox, the 
last slaves in the Confederacy were granted their freedom. The Civil 
War was over, America was one nation again, and Lincoln's rebirth of 
freedom was realized.
  Every year since, Americans of all races have celebrated the events 
of that date, a holiday that has come to be known as Juneteenth.
  Though more than 200 cities across the nation commemorate Juneteenth, 
the largest celebration is in Galveston, where festivities have been 
going on all week.
  Texas is the only state in the Union that recognizes Juneteenth as an 
official holiday, so our citizens and students are better informed 
about its history and legacy.
  But that legacy warrants greater appreciation because of its 
relevance today.
  For despite generations of progress, the dark scourges of oppression, 
hatred, and human cruelty survive . . . but they will not win.
  Juneteenth teaches us one thing above all else: mankind will live in 
freedom.
  The people of the United States--of all races, religions, and 
ethnicities--have sacrificed too much and won too many victories to 
turn our backs now on the universal hopes of man: peace, justice, and 
freedom.
  Just as the oppressed now are powerless and voiceless, so too were 
one in eight Americans not so long ago.
  Yet now African Americans thrive. They contribute daily to the 
American experiment, and to the cause of freedom around the world, 
fulfilling the promise of Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of the first 
prominent African American poets:

     Never again shall the manacles gall you
     Never again shall the whip stroke defame!
     Nobles and Freemen, your destinies call you
     Onward to honor, to glory and fame.

  That is the legacy of Juneteenth: a universal commitment to human 
freedom.
  It's a legacy Americans should honor all year around, and I offer my 
best wishes to those in Galveston--and across the country--celebrating 
that legacy today.

                          ____________________