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Legislative activity associated with Juneteenth

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Juneteenth, observed on June 19, is the annual holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.[1] On June 19, 1865, roughly two months after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Union Major General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, to deliver the news of the end of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. Celebrations ensued, marking the beginning of what has been called the longest-standing African American holiday.[2][3]

Juneteenth is also called "Juneteenth Independence Day," "Freedom Day," and "Emancipation Day."[2] The National Museum of African American History and Culture described Juneteenth as "our country’s second independence day."[4] The holiday's name comes from combining "June" and "nineteenth."

Federal legislation

Juneteenth established as federal holiday in 2021

On June 15, 2021, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill to establish June 19 as a legal public holiday called Juneteenth National Independence Day. The U.S. House passed the bill on the following day by a vote of 415-14.[5] President Joe Biden (D) signed the bill into law on June 17, 2021. He said, "This is a day of profound weight and profound power, a day in which we remember the moral stain, the terrible toll that slavery took on the country and continues to take."[6]

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who co-sponsored the bill, said, "Although our nation still has a long way to go to reckon with and overcome the dark legacy of slavery, the passage of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act represents a meaningful step forward in the journey of healing America is still reckoning with."[7]

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who also co-sponsored the bill, said, "The passage of this bill represents a big step in our nation’s journey toward equality."[8]

Opposition to 2021 bill

Fourteen Republican House members opposed the bill to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday:


Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) criticized the number of federal holidays: "We have enough federal holidays right now. I just don't see the reason in doing it. I don't think it rises to the level I'm going to support it."[9]

Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) said, "Let’s call an ace an ace. This is an effort by the Left to create a day out of whole cloth to celebrate identity politics as part of its larger efforts to make Critical Race Theory the reigning ideology of our country. Since I believe in treating everyone equally, regardless of race, and that we should be focused on what unites us rather than our differences, I will vote no.”[10]

Previous federal action

Previous presidents, including Barack Obama (D) and Donald Trump (R), recognized Juneteenth prior to it becoming a public holiday.[11][12]

The Senate passed SR 547 in June 2018 "designating June 19, 2018, as 'Juneteenth Independence Day' in recognition of June 19, 1865, the date on which slavery legally came to an end in the United States."[13] U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) introduced a similar resolution in the House of Representatives on June 19, 2018, but no actions were taken on the bill after it went to committee.[14]

On June 19, 2020, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D) introduced legislation to make Juneteenth an official federal holiday.[15] Rep. Jackson Lee also introduced corresponding legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that day.[16]

State legislation

The following section tracks state legislation related to Juneteenth, such as bills commemorating, establishing, observing, or recognizing the Juneteenth holiday or Juneteenth celebrations.[17] Bill information is provided by BillTrack50, which aggregates legislative data from all 50 states.

The chart below shows the number of bills or resolutions related to Juneteenth that state legislators introduced each year since 2011, compared to the number of bills that were approved that year. The data was last updated on June 17, 2025.


The map below shows the number of bills or resolutions related to Juneteenth that each state approved since the 2011 legislative session, as of June 17, 2025.

The tables below display bills introduced in state legislatures during the current session in which the word "Juneteenth" appears in the bill text, as well as historical bills related to Juneteenth introduced since 2011. Irrelevant bills—such as bills related to other holidays—are removed annually, before we update the numbers on this page. The tables are provided by BillTrack50.


State recognition of Juneteenth

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws observing Juneteenth. Texas, where Juneteenth originated, became the first state to do so in 1980.[18]

The following map shows the status of state recognition of Juneteenth as of June 2024, based on data from the Congressional Research Service and Pew Research Center.

Commentary

The following are excerpts from remarks the last four presidents have made recognizing Juneteenth.

  • Pres. Joe Biden (D) made the following statement in 2020:
“ Juneteenth is a day of profound weight and power—a holiday whose very existence tells us so much about the soul of America. It reminds us of just how vulnerable our nation is to being poisoned by systems and acts of inhumanity. And it reminds us, too, of our incredible capacity to heal, to hope, and to emerge from our darkest moments of cruelty into a better version of ourselves. The Psalms tell us that ‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.’ Juneteenth contains both the long, hard night—the two-and-a-half years those enslaved in Galveston, Texas, endured before learning of their emancipation—and the promise of the brighter morning to come...Juneteenth is a powerful reminder of our ability to change—to close our deepest wounds, and reach new mornings. I believe that, together, we can emerge from this moment and lay the roots of real and lasting justice, so that we might finally become the extraordinary nation that was promised to all Americans.[19][20] ”
  • Pres. Donald Trump (R) made the following statement in 2019:
“ Melania and I send our best wishes to those celebrating Juneteenth. On this day in 1865, Major General Gordon Granger of the Union Army arrived in Galveston, Texas, to declare the end of the Civil War and issue a long-awaited order freeing the remaining slaves in Texas. Although President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation more than two years earlier, the freedom of most slaves depended on the advancement of the Union Army, which brought with it enforcement of the Proclamation. In Texas, General Granger’s order was a major step in our Nation’s effort to abolish slavery forever. This historic moment would not have been possible without the courage and sacrifice of the nearly 200,000 former enslaved and free African Americans who fought for liberty alongside more than 2 million Union servicemen. These brave individuals fought to defend the God-given rights of those unjustly held in bondage. As a Nation, we vow to never forget the millions of African Americans who suffered the evils of slavery. Together, we honor the unbreakable spirit and countless contributions of generations of African Americans to the story of American greatness. Today and every day, we recommit ourselves to defending the self-evident truth, boldly declared by our Founding Fathers, that all people are created equal.[12][20] ”
  • Pres. Barack Obama (D) made the following statement in 2014:
“ On this day in 1865 – more than two years after President Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation – word finally reached Galveston, Texas that the slaves there were free. Juneteenth marked an important moment in the life of our nation. But it was only the beginning of a long and difficult struggle for equal rights and equal treatment under the law. This year, as we also mark the 50th Anniversary of Freedom Summer, we honor those who continued to fight for equality and opportunity for Americans of every race and every background. And we recommit ourselves to the unending work of perfecting our Union.[11][20] ”
“ I send greetings to those celebrating Juneteenth. On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger and his Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, bringing word of the Emancipation Proclamation which had been issued more than 2 years earlier. On hearing the news that "all persons held as slaves" in the rebellious States were "thenceforward, and forever free," former slaves celebrated their new freedom. Today, African Americans in Texas and other parts of the country observe June 19, also known as Juneteenth, with cookouts, family gatherings, parades, and other community events. Juneteenth celebrates the truth that freedom is God's gift to every man and woman. This day also recognizes the progress America has made in ensuring that our Nation lives up to our founding principles of liberty, equality, and justice, and represents an occasion to reaffirm our commitment to these principles.[21][20] ”

Historical background

On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious Confederate states "shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free."[22] There are a number of unverified theories about what caused the more than two-year delay between the Emancipation Proclamation and Granger's declaration, including that the original messenger of the news was murdered or that slaveholders intentionally withheld the information in order to preserve control over the enslaved population.[1]

Separate and aside from these speculations, Texas and the other states that had seceded from the Union remained Confederate states until Lee's surrender in 1865. Insufficient Union troops and the ongoing Civil War meant that the Union Army had difficulty enforcing the Proclamation in the Confederacy.[23] This was particularly true in Texas, which many slaveholders saw as a safe haven. As the Union Army steadily advanced southwards, many slave owners fled to Texas, a state that experienced neither major battles nor widespread invasion by Union troops.[3] Historian Leon Litwack estimated that approximately 150,000 African American slaves traveled westward to Texas from other Confederate states. By the time Granger arrived in Galveston, there were 250,000 slaves in the state of Texas. The size of the population, and the state's dependence on slave labor, also likely contributed to the delay. News also traveled slowly through Texas; after the Battle of Appomatox Court House ended the Civil War on April 9, 1865, Confederate soldiers in the Trans-Mississippi Army continued fighting into late May.[23]

On June 19, 1865, Granger officially established Union control of Texas and delivered General Order Number 3, which declared that as of that date, all slaves were free:

“

The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, 'all slaves are free.' This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.

The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes, and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts, and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.[24][20]

”

The news prompted an immediate celebration despite ongoing violence against African Americans in the state—the former Confederate mayor of Galveston even attempted to force them back to work.[23] The first official Juneteenth was celebrated the following year in Texas, on June 19, 1866.[25] Early rituals consisted of family gatherings and prayer or religious services. Some former slaves and their descendants made annual trips back to Galveston for the holiday over the years.[1] As African Americans traveled throughout the United States during the Great Migration, grassroots celebrations of Juneteenth spread.[26]

Juneteenth observances increased markedly after 1872 after Black ministers from Houston bought ten acres of land expressly to establish a physical space to commemorate the day. They named it Emancipation Park and later donated the park to the city in 1916.[27] The early 1900s saw a decline in Juneteenth celebrations as The Great Depression prompted economic migration into cities, where employers often refused to grant time off for the holiday. The Civil Rights movement, however, and particularly the Poor Peoples March on Washington in 1968, marked a resurgence for the holiday that contributed to its first official statewide recognition in 1980.[1] Vann Newkirk II wrote in 2017, "The holiday exists as a national rather than a local Texan phenomenon today partly because of the decision by [Martin Luther King, Jr.’s] associate Ralph Abernathy and widow Coretta Scott King to cut short the posthumous Poor People’s March on June 19 and commemorate it with Juneteenth celebrations. The holiday dispersed through the post-Great Migration black American diaspora as a sort of homegoing for King and the other lives lost to insurgent white supremacist violence. And like many black homegoings, it found a way to fuse sorrow and jubilation."[28]

In 1994, Rev. John Mosley convened a meeting of leaders from around the United States at Christian Unity Baptist Church in New Orleans, Louisiana, to increase national recognition of the Juneteenth holiday. Following this meeting, the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, the National Association of Juneteenth Lineage, and other Juneteenth organizations were founded.[29] Through a network of advocates around the country, the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation promoted federal legislation to make Juneteenth a national day of observance or federal holiday.[30]

In 2016, 89-year-old Opal Lee marched from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., walking two and a half miles in cities across the country, to call on Congress to recognize Juneteenth as a federal holiday. By 2021, Lee had collected more than 1.6 million signatures on a petition to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.[31][32]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Juneteenth.com, "History of Juneteenth," accessed June 16, 2020
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 New York Times, "So You Want to Learn About Juneteenth?" June 15, 2020
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 History.com, "What is Juneteenth?" June 19, 2015
  4. ↑ National Museum of African American History and Culture, "Celebrating Juneteenth," accessed June 16, 2020
  5. ↑ Congress.gov, "S.475 - Juneteenth National Independence Day Act," accessed June 17, 2021
  6. ↑ Associated Press, "Biden signs bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday," June 17, 2021
  7. ↑ Texas Tribune, "Bipartisan effort led by Texans to make Juneteenth a federal holiday passes Congress," June 16, 2021
  8. ↑ Senate.gov, "Cornyn Bill to Make Juneteenth National Holiday Passes Senate," June 15, 2021
  9. ↑ USA Today, "Who are the 14 House Republicans who voted against a Juneteenth holiday? And why?" June 16, 2021
  10. ↑ House.gov, "Rep. Rosendale Statement on Juneteenth Vote," June 16, 2021
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 The White House - President Barack Obama, "Statement by the President on the Observance of Juneteenth," June 19, 2014
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 WhiteHouse.gov, "Presidential Message on Juneteenth, 2019," June 19, 2019
  13. ↑ Congress.gov, "S.Res.547 - A resolution designating June 19, 2018, as "Juneteenth Independence Day" in recognition of June 19, 1865, the date on which slavery legally came to an end in the United States," accessed June 16, 2020
  14. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.Res.948 - Recognizing June 19, 2018, as this year's observance of the historical significance of Juneteenth Independence Day," accessed June 16, 2020
  15. ↑ Congress.gov, "S.4019 - A bill to amend title 5, United States Code, to designate Juneteenth National Independence Day as a legal public holiday," accessed June 25, 2020
  16. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.7232 - To amend title 5, United States Code, to establish Juneteenth Independence Day as a Federal holiday, and for other purposes," accessed June 25, 2020
  17. ↑ Resolutions memorializing or recognizing individuals or groups are not included.
  18. ↑ Congressional Research Service, "Juneteenth: Fact Sheet," June 14, 2022
  19. ↑ Essence, "Juneteenth: A Reminder Of Black America's Long-Fought Fight For Justice," June 19, 2020
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  21. ↑ The White House - President George W. Bush, "Presidential Message: Juneteenth, 2004," June 18, 2004
  22. ↑ National Archives, "Transcript of the Proclamation," accessed June 16, 2020
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 PBS, "What Is Juneteenth?" accessed June 16, 2020
  24. ↑ New York Times, "FROM TEXAS; Important Orders by General Granger. Surrender of Senator Johnson of Arkansas. A SCATTERING OF REBEL OFFICIALS," July 7, 1865
  25. ↑ Congressional Research Service, "Juneteenth: Fact Sheet," June 3, 2020
  26. ↑ CNBC, "Juneteenth: The 155-year-old holiday’s history explained," June 15, 2020
  27. ↑ Houston Chronicle, "Juneteenth celebration draws thousands to historic Houston park," June 18, 2019
  28. ↑ The Atlantic, "The Quintessential Americanness of Juneteenth," June 19, 2017
  29. ↑ National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, "The History of the Modern Juneteenth Movement," archived June 18, 2020
  30. ↑ Time, "Activists Are Pushing to Make Juneteenth a National Holiday. Here’s the History Behind Their Fight," June 16, 2021
  31. ↑ CBS News, "'Grandmother of Juneteenth' Opal Lee reflects on her journey to secure a national holiday," June 15, 2022
  32. ↑ Washington Post, "Meet Opal Lee, the 94-year-old activist who marched for miles to make Juneteenth a federal holiday," June 19, 2021
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