About the bill
Should the U.S. create its first new federal holiday since the 1980s?
Context
The Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in Confederate states, was issued by President Abraham Lincoln in January 1863. However, the news did not reach some states — notably parts of Texas — until two and a half years later. On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas and informed Black people there that they had been freed. (The National Archives this month located the original handwritten announcement.)
This event was celebrated in that area of Texas on the one-year anniversary in 1866. From there, it spread across the nation to become an annual festive commemoration celebrating the end of slavery, and more broadly celebrating Black history in the U.S. The combination of …
Sponsor and status
116th Congress (2019–2021)
This bill was introduced on June 18, 2020, in a previous session of Congress, but it did not receive a vote.
Although this bill was not enacted, its provisions could have become law by being included in another bill. It is common for legislative text to be introduced concurrently in multiple bills (called companion bills), re-introduced in subsequent sessions of Congress in new bills, or added to larger bills (sometimes called omnibus bills).
158 Cosponsors (152 Democrats, 6 Republicans)
Position statements
What legislators are saying
“icymi: reps. Veasey, jackson lee, lee urge congress to pass bill making juneteenth a federal holiday”
—
Rep. Marc Veasey [D-TX33]
(Co-sponsor)
on Sep 23, 2020
“Walker Becomes One of the First Republicans to Join Legislation Recognizing Juneteenth as Federal Holiday”
—
Rep. Mark Walker [R-NC6, 2015-2020]
(Co-sponsor)
on Jun 23, 2020
“Duckworth, Durbin Join Bipartisan Bill to Make Juneteenth a Federal Holiday”
—
Sen. Tammy Duckworth [D-IL]
on Jun 23, 2020
History
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Jun 18, 2020
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Introduced
Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber. |
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Feb 25, 2021
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Reintroduced Bill —
Introduced
This activity took place on a related bill, H.R. 1320 (117th). |
H.R. 7232 (116th) was a bill in the United States Congress.
A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.
Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number H.R. 7232. This is the one from the 116th Congress.
This bill was introduced in the 116th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2019 to Jan 3, 2021. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.
How to cite this information.
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“H.R. 7232 — 116th Congress: Juneteenth National Independence Day Act.” www.GovTrack.us. 2020. April 23, 2024 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr7232>
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Where is this information from?
GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.
