Texas lawmaker salutes the power of Juneteenth



Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee spoke with pride Sunday of the elevation of Juneteenth to a national holiday.

“I introduced the first legislation dealing with making this a national holiday after 10 years of seeking recognition,” Lee (D-Texas) said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “For me, it is a moment of great emotion. It is a moment of passion and compassion, because slavery was enormously brutal.”

President Joe Biden signed legislation in 2021 making Juneteenth a federal holiday. The holiday, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States after the Union victory in the Civil War, originated in Texas.



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