[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 8043]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         CELEBRATING JUNETEENTH

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today I rise to mark ``Juneteenth,'' the 
day in 1865 when General Gordon Granger issued his order proclaiming 
America's remaining slaves free.
  On June 19, 1865, MG Gordon Granger and a group of Union soldiers 
landed at Galveston, TX. With their landing, they announced that the 
war had ended and that the slaves were now free. This was more than 2 
years after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which had 
little impact in Texas.
  Though initially celebrated in Galveston, TX, Juneteenth is now 
observed nationwide. Americans from all racial and ethnic backgrounds 
celebrate Juneteenth. And while this day holds a special resonance for 
descendants of slaves, Juneteenth provides an important opportunity for 
us all to commemorate a central tenent of our great country: that we 
are all created equal. This Juneteenth let us all celebrate this 
milestone in the struggle for liberty by recommitting ourselves to the 
advancement of justice for all.
  The stain of slavery can never be erased from the history of our 
Nation, and should never be forgotten. In celebrating Juneteenth, we 
also honor those who suffered under slavery and help to further our 
understanding of our Nation's history.
  One of the most common elements of Juneteenth celebrations is the 
singing of ``Lift Every Voice and Sing,'' written by James Weldon 
Johnson. I am happy to provide these lyrics of this great American 
song:

                       Lift Every Voice and Sing

     Lift every voice and sing
     Till earth and heaven ring,
     Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
     Let our rejoicing rise
     High as the listening skies,
     Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
     Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught 
           us,
     Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us,
     Facing the rising sun of our new day begun
     Let us march on till victory is won.

     Stony the road we trod,
     Bitter the chastening rod,
     Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
     Yet with a steady beat,
     Have not our weary feet
     Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
     We have come over a way that with tears have been watered,
     We have come, treading our path through the blood of the 
           slaughtered,
     Out from the gloomy past,
     Till now we stand at last
     Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

     God of our weary years,
     God of our silent tears,
     Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;
     Thou who has by Thy might
     Led us into the light,
     Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
     Lest our feet stray from the places, Our God, where we met 
           Thee;
     Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget 
           Thee;
     Shadowed beneath Thy hand,
     May we forever stand.
     True to our GOD,
     True to our native land.

  --James Weldon Johnson.

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