[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 86 (Monday, June 21, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H4617]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         CELEBRATING JUNETEENTH

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, 2 days ago, many in the 
United States celebrated Juneteenth. June 19, 2004, was the celebration 
of what occurred in 1865 in places like Texas and Louisiana when the 
announcement finally came that the slaves had been emancipated.
  I rise today to congratulate the wonderful celebrations that occurred 
in Texas, and particularly in Houston, Texas. I congratulate Reverend 
C. Anderson Davis and Mrs. Davis who have, for many years, founded the 
Emancipation Association and celebrated and educated young people about 
what freedom truly means. The parades; the celebration at Herman Park; 
the gospel celebration; the hip-hop celebration; the Acres Home 
celebration, a long-standing historic African American community 
celebrated Juneteenth, sponsored by the Acres Home Citizens Council.
  Then, of course, our final celebration, in the evening at Jones Hall 
honoring Representative Al Edwards, the author of the legislation in 
1979 that made the Emancipation Proclamation, Juneteenth Day, a State 
holiday, 25 years of commemoration.
  I believe, Madam Speaker, that it is always important to celebrate 
freedom. That is the very underpinning of what this Nation stands for: 
democracy and freedom. June-teenth is just a very defined freedom, the 
day that many found out that they were free Americans to be part of the 
American dream.

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