[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 113 (Thursday, June 18, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S3087]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Juneteenth

  Madam President, on another matter. One of the most defining days in 
our Nation's history was when President Lincoln issued the Emancipation 
Proclamation on January 1, 1863, finally freeing all slaves in 
Confederate territory, but slaves in Texas wouldn't learn this life-
altering news for 2\1/2\ years.
  I know it is hard for us to understand. Now, we can tweet and 
communicate instantaneously, but it took 2\1/2\ years for slaves in the 
South to learn that they were free. That day came on a day we now 
celebrate as Juneteenth. That was the day that Major General Gordon 
Granger and the Union troops arrived in Galveston, TX, and shared the 
news to formerly enslaved people that they were now free. These free 
men and women set out to spread this news, with many traveling toward 
Houston, and eventually reaching more than 250,000 slaves throughout 
Texas.
  As we do every year, tomorrow, Texans will celebrate Juneteenth and 
the 155th anniversary of the end of slavery in our State. It is an 
opportunity to reflect on our history, the mistakes we have made, but 
yet how far we have come in the fight for equality and a reminder of 
just how far we still have to go. That is especially true this year.
  Over the last several weeks, Americans of all races, backgrounds, and 
of all ages have raised their voices in the fight against inequality 
and injustice that continues to exist in our society, especially those 
in our criminal justice system. As the list of Black men and women 
killed by police officers in custody grows, the calls for action are 
getting louder and louder, as they must and as they should. There is a 
clear and urgent need for leaders at every level to come together and 
to deliver the change that we need to deliver in order to match up with 
our ideals.
  I and others have said before, slavery was the original sin of the 
United States of America. We said: We hold these truths to be self-
evident, that all men are created equal and at the same time embraced a 
system that didn't acknowledge African Americans as being fully human. 
That was a sin. We have been paying a bitter price throughout our 
Nation's history. While we have come a long way, we know there is more 
we need to do.