Crist Statement on House Vote to Make Juneteenth a Federal Holiday

Press Release

U.S. Representative Charlie Crist (D-St. Petersburg) released this statement following his vote in support of House passage of Juneteenth National Independence Day Act to make June 19th, Juneteenth, a federal holiday:
"June 19th is a landmark day for Black Americans. Though the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, it wasn't until June 19, 1865 - two and a half years later - that slaves in Texas were informed that they were free.

"In voting to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, we are urging Americans to study our past, including the horrors of slavery and Jim Crow, alongside the joys of civil rights and freedom. We will continue telling the truth about the sins of our past and the lingering effects of those sins today. And we will also celebrate the capacity of our nation to change, to right past wrongs, and to reach for our founders' vision that generations to come would continually build a more perfect union.

"I hope that our new federal holiday, the Juneteenth National Independence Day, will be both a day of solemnity and of celebration, a day that calls us to fight racism and strive even harder for true equality and equity."

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