Speaker Pelosi Hosts Juneteenth National Independence Day Act Bill Enrollment Ceremony

Good morning. It is. It is one filled with joy and pride as the Congress takes this overdue action to declare Juneteenth a national holiday. We salute Sheila Jackson Lee, sponsor of the legislation, and Danny Davis. Danny, with us, the original sponsor of the legislation. Hey, Danny. Thank you. And let us salute the Congressional Black Caucus and the leadership of Joyce Beatty for their leadership on all of this. The Black Caucus, all of you have worked for this recognition for a long time, so this is a great day. And let us recognize the Texas delegation which received this message. Not this delegation, but Texas received this message in 1865. Nearly two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. Let's hear it for Texas. Not quite Sheila's district, but a budding. It's Galveston. It actually is where Barbara Lee, well, she was born, but also her grandfather lived. Ten years after this, he was born, and her great-grandfather's mother was a slave in Galveston when this proclamation came forth. So anyway, there's a connection. Activists and leaders over the years all deserve credit for this. This step is important, obviously, to the Congressional Black Caucus, but this is an important step for America as we ensure that one of the most momentous events in our history finally takes its official place of honor in our nation. Again, over the past 156 years, Juneteenth has evolved as a day not only of celebration, but of reflection, reminding us of a history much stained by brutality and injustice. We all remain committed to the fight to end racism and advance justice, which continues with a renewed urgency. In that spirit, let us strive to honor the ideal of equality, America's heritage, and hope. And a champion for that, whom I have received the Liberty and Justice for All Award with great pride, our House Democratic Whip, Jim Clyburn. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Speaker. And thanks to all my colleagues for just a tremendous effort on behalf of an issue that has taken more than a century and a half. I, on yesterday, told the story of Philip Reid. Philip Reid was born a slave in South Carolina. And he was bought and brought to Washington, D.C., to work in a foundry. And he worked in that foundry. That was the foundry that shaped, molded, if you please, Lady Liberty that's on top of this building. And all of us know that this great building was built on the backs of slaves. But few people know that all of the learned people that worked on this, all of the scientists and the architects, the ones who got Lady Liberty into form, for some strange reason, they could not get it on top of this building. They struggled out on these grounds to get it up there. Philip Reid, unlearned, came to the rescue. And it was Philip Reid who knew geometry. He could not read, but he knew geometry. And he got the method of getting that Lady Liberty on top of this building. That's the story. That's the story that Juneteenth is all about. It's a story that needs to be told because we need to learn to communicate with each other. Juneteenth came about because of a lack of communication. Congress passed the Emancipation Act in 1862 to free the slaves here in the District of Columbia. Abraham Lincoln sat down and wrote the Emancipation Proclamation to be effected January 1, 1863. But because of a lack of communication, it was not until June 19, 1865 that the word got detected. If we learn, as I said yesterday, the art and value of communication, we will save a whole lot of parts for the American people. Congratulations, my colleague. What you've done here today caps the long term. Thank you, Mr. Clyburn. Mr. Clyburn reminds us that when this word reached Texas, President Lincoln had already been assassinated. But before that, in March, he made what was called Lincoln's Greatest Speech at his second inaugural. It was the first inauguration that black folk were able to come as free people. Not just one person here or there, but as free people. And it was raining to the days before, and the streets were full of mud. Of course, they were mud anyway, but full of mud. And so white folk came in their foul weather here, but black folk came in their Sunday finery. And when people write about Lincoln's Greatest Speech, they write about the presence of the newly free African Americans, they can call them that, coming to the Capitol. How proud those people who came there that day would be of this Congressional Black Caucus, in largest number in history, serving in the Congress. So thank you, Congressional Black Caucus. And may I acknowledge we've been joined by Carolyn Maloney, the Chair of the Committee of Jurisdiction that brought the bill to the floor in real time yesterday. So let us get this signed, because we're signing. Thank you. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. This anthem is very sacred in our community. If you can, please rise. Lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring. Ring with the harmonies of liberty. Let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies. Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us. Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us. Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, let us march on till victory is won. This song is our national anthem. I'd like to ask you, you've got one national anthem. I appreciate your national anthem. And let's come up to the mic. What song was it? I don't know why, but this is what it was. It was first sung on 6th Amendment and 3rd Amendment and 2nd Amendment courts. So let me do it. Written by Abel Johnson and co-produced by Doug Johnson. And he's an American. He's an American. I can't hear you.