Juneteenth National Independence Day Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. LAWRENCE. Madam Speaker, I rise here today in strong support of Juneteenth National Independence Day.

I want to say to my White colleague on the other side: Getting your independence from being enslaved in a country is different from a country getting independence to rule themselves. It is not a day that you can loop together. That is inappropriate.

It is a day for reflection and commemorating the end of slavery. It is also a recognition that we have so much work to do to rid this country of systemic racism, discrimination, and hate.

Let's talk about the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. We still have much work to do.

Juneteenth, what we are doing today, should empower us to fight even harder every single day for criminal justice reform, for racial equality, and for economic empowerment of Black people in America.

We are still today living through the blatant racism and slavery that denied us education, denied us opportunity for economic development and empowerment for ourselves, and denied us the right to have a job and own property. It is still today an issue in America.

We have a responsibility to teach every generation of Black and White Americans the pride of a people who have survived, endured, and succeeded in these United States of America despite slavery.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this legislation because Black history is American history. We cannot hold our heads and try to ignore the sins of this country, but we can come together and celebrate a time when we made the right decision.

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