[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9297]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         CELEBRATING JUNETEENTH

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as we reflect on our colleagues and 
pray for their speedy recovery, let me stop for a moment to pay tribute 
to a very special time in certain parts of the United States now being 
celebrated, really, across the land.
  As I go home this weekend, we will be celebrating, commemorating 
Juneteenth. As President Lincoln gave the Emancipation Proclamation in 
1863, my constituency's ancestors did not hear of the freeing of the 
slaves until more than 2\1/2\ years later when Major Granger landed in 
Galveston to announce that the slaves were free and emancipated.
  It is a serious time to honor those and the legacies of all of those 
who gave to this country, and we celebrate it with excitement and honor 
and dignity.
  Today, or this weekend, I am excited that we will rededicate the 
Emancipation Park. We will name the street Emancipation Street. We are 
delighted that the OST/Almeda TIRZ donated $33 million, along with 
foundations, to the city of Houston and community dollars.
  We will acknowledge those who bought the land, some many, many years 
ago, and this restoration will give the opportunity, not only for those 
in the Third Ward, where I am privileged to represent, and all of those 
heroes and sheroes, but it will be a park that will welcome everyone, 
from not only around the community and the city, but it will welcome 
those from across the Nation.
  Today, I introduce a Juneteenth resolution honoring Juneteenth with 
51-plus sponsors. I am proud to acknowledge that, yes, we got the news 
late, but we celebrate freedom and we recognize that America is at her 
greatest because we are free, and freedom is cherished.
  To all the fathers across the land, to my husband and relatives, and 
in memory of my late father, Ezra C. Jackson, I honor those who 
celebrate Father's Day as well on Sunday. Happy Father's Day.

                          ____________________