[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 135 (Thursday, July 30, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4612-S4614]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Unanimous Consent Request--S. 4019
Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I thank the assistant Democratic leader.
We come back to the floor today, the Senator from Minnesota and I, to
reoffer a unanimous consent request that Senator Markey, the Senator
from Massachusetts, and I offered previously.
After the death of George Floyd and, unfortunately, similar
incidents, it has become increasingly obvious that our country is in
need of reconciliation--racial reconciliation and personal
reconciliation.
One of the things we could do to honor the memory of George Floyd and
to attempt to take one small step toward that reconciliation is to make
Juneteenth a Federal holiday. We previously had offered this unanimous
consent request, and my friend from Wisconsin has his reasons for
objecting, but one of the major newspapers in my State said to me: Try
again. So I am coming here to the floor to reoffer.
Juneteenth has been a holiday in Texas for 40 years because of the
distinct Texas connection. Just to remind my colleagues, Juneteenth was
the day when the Union Army Major General Gordon Ganger showed up in
Galveston and told people who had previously been slaves that they were
no longer slaves 2\1/2\ years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
I believe, in all sincerity, we need to remember our history because,
you know what, we learn from our mistakes, and if we don't remember our
history, we will not learn from our mistakes, and we will commit those
mistakes over and over and over again.
The tragic and brutal killing of George Floyd earlier this year has
shown a light on the injustices that still exist in our society. Now,
for somebody who looks like me, my experiences have been much different
from those of our friend Tim Scott, the Senator from South Carolina, or
the experiences of a pastor whom I encountered in Houston the other day
at a roundtable that Sylvester Turner, the mayor of Houston, convened
so that they could share with me their experiences.
This pastor, who was head of the local NAACP chapter, told me: I
honor the police. I respect the police. I support the police. But my
son, he is afraid of the police.
So, we clearly have a long way to go in treating all people the same,
regardless of the color of their skin. And when the perception among
some in the minority community is that they are being treated
differently, that is a problem that we should all try to address
together.
So one way we could attempt to make this small step toward that
reconciliation and continue to remind ourselves on an annual basis of
how far we have come but how far we still have to go would be to take
up this bill, pass it, and get it to the President's desk without
further delay.
At this point, before I ask for unanimous consent, I would yield to
the Senator from Minnesota.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
Ms. SMITH. Madam President, I thank my colleague from Texas. I
appreciate his leadership on this.
Juneteenth is among the oldest celebrations of emancipation and is
certainly worthy of a Federal holiday. I want to read an op-ed from the
Washington Post, written by the musician Usher, which I think
eloquently sums up why it is not only important to honor this day as a
Federal holiday, but it is also important to recognize it as a part of
American history.
I ask unanimous consent to introduce the Washington Post op-ed in
full into the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[June 18, 2020]
Usher: Why It's So Important That Juneteenth Become a National Holiday
(By Usher Raymond IV)
Usher Raymond IV is a musician, actor and entrepreneur.
At the 2015 Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, I wore a
T-shirt that caught a lot of people's attention. The design
was simple. The words ``July Fourth'' were crossed out and
under them, one word was written: ``Juneteenth.'' I wore the
shirt because, for many years, I celebrated the Fourth of
July without a true understanding that the date of
independence for our people, black people, is actually June
19, 1865: the day that the news of the Emancipation
Proclamation finally reached some of the last people in
America still held in bondage.
I have no issue with celebrating America's independence on
July 4. For me, wearing the shirt was an opportunity to
inform others who may not necessarily know the history of
black people in America, and who are not aware that
Juneteenth is our authentic day of self-determination. It is
ours to honor the legacy of our ancestors, ours to celebrate
and ours to remember where we once were as a people. And it
should be a national holiday, observed by all Americans.
Growing up in Chattanooga, Tenn., I was taught in school
one version of U.S. history
[[Page S4613]]
that frequently excluded the history of my family and my
community. The black history I learned came from the ``Eyes
On the Prize'' documentary that aired during Black History
Month. That was where I learned about Emmett Till, Rosa Parks
and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. When I moved to Atlanta
at age 13, I went deeper and discovered more about the
movement, the horrors of slavery and the resilience of our
people. I came to understand Juneteenth's history a decade
ago during a period of reflection and in pursuit of any
ancestral history that would tell me who I am.
The liberation Juneteenth commemorates is cause for
celebration, but it also reminds us how equality can be
delayed. On June 19, 1865, on the shores of Galveston, Tex.,
Union Gen. Gordon Granger arrived by boat to announce to
enslaved African Americans that the Civil War had ended and
they were now free. While President Lincoln's Emancipation
Proclamation was issued two and a half years prior, and the
Civil War had ended in April of that year, it wasn't until
June 19, 1865, that almost all of our ancestors were free. We
should honor their lives and celebrate that day of freedom
forever.
I cherish the words of Nina Simone. I respect the legacy of
Harry Belafonte and the unapologetic blackness of James
Brown. I admire the entrepreneurship of Madam C.J. Walker. I
have learned from my elders. Their wisdom has taught me to
use my voice to support my people, so many of whom are
hurting right now. Making sure that our history is told is
critical to supporting and sustaining our growth as a people.
The least we deserve is to have this essential moment
included in the broader American story.
I am humbled by the platform that has been given to me
because of my musical talents, but I know I must do more with
it. As an artist, it is my duty to reflect the trying times
in which we live. My heart is shattered by the ongoing
injustices in this country, incited by its long history of
racism that has led to deadly outcomes for too many of our
people. This country must change.
And it must change quickly.
Recognizing Juneteenth as a national holiday would be a
small gesture compared with the greater social needs of black
people in America. But it can remind us of our journey toward
freedom, and the work America still has to do.
We could observe it, as many black Americans already do, by
celebrating both our first step toward freedom as black
people in America and also the many contributions to this
land: the construction of Black Wall Street; the invention of
jazz, rock n' roll, hip-hop and R&B; and all the
entrepreneurship and business brilliance, extraordinary
cuisine, sports excellence, political power and global
cultural influence black Americans have given the world.
And rather than observing Juneteenth as we do other
holidays, by taking it off, we can make it a day when black
culture, black entrepreneurship and black business get our
support. A national Juneteenth observance can affirm that
Black Lives Matter!
What changes do you hope will come out of protests and
debates about police and race? Write to us.
I proudly join the incredible people and organizations who
have been working on this for years, among them the inspiring
Opal Lee, a 93-year-old from Fort Worth, Tex., who has
campaigned for the recognition of Juneteenth at the state and
local level. There has never been a more urgent time than now
to get this done. On Thursday, Sens. Tina Smith (D-Minn.),
Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.)
and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) announced that they are introducing
legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. Congress
must pass this bill immediately.
As we celebrate today, let's stay open to possibility.
Let's support black-owned businesses today and every day.
Let's uplift our resilient history. Let's honor our people.
Happy Juneteenth, America.
Ms. SMITH. Usher wrote:
The liberation Juneteenth commemorates is cause for
celebration, but it also reminds us of how equality can be
delayed. On June 19, 1865, on the shores of Galveston, Tex.,
Union Gen. Gordon Granger arrived by boat to announce to
enslaved African Americans that the Civil War had ended and
they were now free. While President Lincoln's Emancipation
Proclamation was issued two and a half years prior, and the
Civil War had ended in April of that year, it wasn't until
June 19, 1865, that almost all of our ancestors were free. We
should honor their lives and celebrate that day of freedom
forever.
Usher continues:
Recognizing Juneteenth as a national holiday would be a
small gesture compared to the greater social needs of black
people in America. But it can remind us of our journey toward
freedom, and the work America still has to do.
We could observe it, as many black Americans already do, by
celebrating both our first step toward freedom as black
people in America and also the many contributions to this
land.
So thank you to my colleague from Texas. I am glad to stand with him
in making Juneteenth a Federal holiday.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Young). The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, as in legislative session, I ask unanimous
consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further
consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. 4019; further, that the
bill be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Wisconsin
Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, let me
first state and make perfectly clear that I think the emancipation of
slaves is a day worth celebrating. I have no argument whatsoever with
the fact that we should probably celebrate it better than we have in
the past. But there are other ways of celebrating it--a resolution in
the Senate creating a national day of celebration without declaring it
a national holiday.
The effect of declaring it a national holiday is primarily one thing:
It gives Federal workers a paid day off. Now, Federal workers are
compensated quite well, and I want to quickly go through this again, as
we did last week. I have some charts up here.
If you take a look at just their wage, Federal workers, on average,
make about a little over $94,000 per year. In the private sector, the
average wage is $63,000, which is 67 percent of what Federal workers
make. If you also include benefits--total compensation--Federal workers
make, on average, about $135,000, almost $136,000 per year. In the
private sector, it is about $75,000, which is 55 percent of what
Federal workers make.
So if you strip out only the benefits, which is what we are talking
about with holiday pay and paid family leave and other things, Federal
workers, on average, get compensated about $41,000 annually, versus the
private sector's $12,000, which is only 29 percent of what Federal
workers make.
What we are talking about is a paid day off. Now, take a look at what
Federal workers get in terms of the number of days off with pay. It is
quite generous, particularly after last year's National Defense
Authorization Act, in which we added paid parental leave.
I have two charts here. Here is one: If a Federal worker gets paid
parental leave--and I realize that only happens a few times during
somebody's lifetime--but Federal workers get 10 paid holidays. That is
probably the max anybody gets in the private sector. In terms of paid
leave, minimum, they get 13 days off; maximum, they get 26; and by the
way, 26 is more than 5 weeks off with pay--basically paid vacation.
They get 4 weeks after only 3 years. That is virtually unheard of in
the private sector--very generous paid vacation in the Federal
workforce. Then, with paid parental leave, they get 60 days off
maximum.
So, a Federal worker taking advantage of paid parental leave will get
96 to 109 days off or, put a different way, for every 1.4 days a
Federal worker works, they get a day off.
Now, let's strip out paid parental leave. Let's look at people who
aren't having a child or adopting a child--again, same basic numbers:
10 paid holidays, 13 to 26 paid leave days, 13 sick days, for a total
of anywhere from 36 to 49 days of leave that is paid. For a more senior
worker, for every 4.3 days they work, they get a day off, which is
basically a 4-day workweek. By the way, if they don't take the paid
leave days, they can carry them over.
So, again, the private sector benefits aren't even close to this
generous. I am not objecting to celebrating Juneteenth. What I am
objecting to is the rest of America paying for another paid day off for
Federal workers. By the way, it costs about $600 million per year. The
CBO score is over 10 years; that is $6 billion. The sponsors of this
bill want to just go ahead and incur that additional cost on the
American economy and American taxpayers without a vote. They can't do
it just by unanimous consent, which is really what I am objecting to in
this process here.
So, again, I have a different proposal. We could either declare it a
national day of celebration. That would be fine. Or we can go ahead and
declare it and make it a national holiday, but if we are going to do
that, let's just take one of their paid days away. They come out whole.
Last week, I was accused of taking something away from Federal
workers. Not really--I am still leaving them
[[Page S4614]]
with the same 36 to 49 or 96 to 109 days off. I am just saying that it
strikes me as kind of strange that the only way we can properly
celebrate Juneteenth is by giving Federal workers a paid day off, paid
by every other American taxpayer, to the tune of $600 million a year.
So, again, what I would recommend is that modification: Declare
Juneteenth a national paid holiday but remove one of their paid sick
leaves. So I ask the Senator to modify his request to include my
amendment at the desk; that the amendment be considered and agreed to;
that the bill, as amended, be considered and read a third time and
passed; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid
upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator so modify his proposal?
The Senator from Minnesota.
Ms. SMITH. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, it is
notable to me that we are gathered here today, while in Atlanta we are
celebrating the life of John Lewis. In this moment, I think it is
worth remembering that when Congress was debating whether to make a
Federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.--Dr. King, in the
1980s--people made this same kind of argument about its potential cost.
Ronald Reagan made this argument. But President Reagan came around, and
he signed into law this bill, and now that holiday is celebrated
nationwide as a day of reflection and rededication to progress toward
racial justice. Just as the civil rights movement is honored as an
important milestone in the history of this country, so should be
emancipation.
Just as the argument that it is too expensive to give Federal
employees a day off was wrong regarding Martin Luther King Day, it is
wrong for Juneteenth. And just as Ronald Reagan got on the right side
of history, I think that we will get on the right side of history, and
we will finally have a full holiday to commemorate Juneteenth, not as a
holiday with an asterisk, not as a half holiday, but as a full holiday;
therefore, I object to this modification
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Is there objection to the original request?
The Senator from Wisconsin.
Mr. JOHNSON. I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.