Senate Democrats are promising to introduce legislation to make Juneteenth a national holiday — a vow that came the same day Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, announced he would advance a similar bill.
In an announcement Thursday on MSNBC, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., said along "with my colleagues [Sens.] Cory Booker [D-N.J.], Tina Smith [D-Minn.], and Ed Markey [D-Mass.], we are proposing that Juneteenth be a national holiday."
The June 19 holiday marks the anniversary of the day Gen. Gordon Granger read the Emancipation Proclamation to formerly enslaved African Americans in Texas, the final state where the 1863 proclamation was read.
Earlier Thursday, Cornyn announced his legislation to make the day a federal holiday.
The day is "an opportunity to reflect on our history, the mistakes we have made, but yet how far we've come in the fight for equality, and a reminder of just how far we still have to go," Cornyn said on the Senate floor.
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas, has introduced corresponding legislation in the House, The Hill reported.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.