[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 93 (Tuesday, June 19, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S4304]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself, Mr. Levin, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. 
        Cardin, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mrs. Boxer, Ms. 
        Stabenow, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Begich, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Warner, Mr. 
        Webb, Mr. Nelson of Florida, and Mr. Akaka):
  S.J. Res. 45. A joint resolution amending title 36, United States 
Code, to designate June 19 as ``Juneteenth Independence Day''; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, on June 19, 1865, Union soldiers led 
by Major General Gordon Granger reached Galveston, Texas to announce 
that the Civil War had ended and that slaves had been emancipated.
  It was a bittersweet day; the news traveled slowly, reaching 
Galveston nearly 2\1/2\ years after President Lincoln's Emancipation 
Proclamation. But it was a joyous occasion, a triumph of freedom that 
has been remembered since. In commemoration of that historic day, I am 
delighted to introduce a Joint Resolution designating June 19 as 
``Juneteenth Independence Day,'' a National Day of Observance.
  It is a day to reflect on history and to celebrate freedom. To 
remember, in the words of W. E. B. Du Bois, that ``The cost of liberty 
is less than the price of repression.''
  This resolution offers recognition of the role that Juneteenth 
Independence Day has played in African-American culture in Texas and 
throughout the Southwest. Enshrining Juneteenth in our national 
consciousness will confer the recognition it merits and serve as 
inspiration for all Americans. I am proud to be part of this bipartisan 
joint resolution to commemorate this day that reminds us that in 
America, we are all blessed to live in freedom.
  United States law provides for the declaration of selected public 
observances by the President of the United States as designated by 
Congress or at the discretion of the President. I believe that marking 
Juneteenth Independence Day as a National Day of Observance will honor 
freedom and liberty, something that Americans of all races, creeds, and 
ethnic backgrounds can celebrate.
  This legislation is an important reminder of that extraordinary day 
in 1865, a day that carried liberty across America. My fellow Texan 
Barbara Jordan once said, ``A nation is formed by the willingness of 
each of us to share in the responsibility for upholding the common 
good.'' There is no plainer common good than commemorating American 
freedom. I encourage all of my colleagues to join in cosponsoring this 
resolution.

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