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The United States is celebrating Juneteenth as a national holiday for the second time on Monday. <\/p>\n
The day commemorates 19 June 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops made their way to Galveston Bay, Texas, and announced the freedom of enslaved Black Americans under the Emancipation Proclamation that President Abraham Lincoln announced in 1863.<\/p>\n
Texas has long celebrated the day. Former president Donald Trump had pledged to make the day a national holiday. In 2021, the resolution passed the Senate by unanimous consent before President Joe Biden signed it into law.<\/p>\n
Nearly every House Republican voted to make Juneteenth a national Holiday in 2021, including now-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Reps Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). But 14 Republicans opposed making it a national holiday. Below is a list of the members. <\/p>\n
-Rep Andy Biggs (R-AZ): The former head of the House Freedom Caucus said at the time that he blamed Democrats for officially titling the day the \u201cJuneteenth National Independence Day\u201d, rather than it being a \u201cJuneteenth National Emancipation Day\u201d. \u201cLike with everything else, the Democrats weaponized this bill for their own agenda,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
-Rep Mo Brooks (R-AL): At the time, Mr Brooks was running for the Republican nomination for Senate in Alabama and he no longer serves in the House of Representatives. Mr Brooks said at the time that he while supported a holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people. But he said that the day was significant in Texas when a better day would be the day the Emancipation Proclamation was signed; when the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments of the Constitution passed; or the day the Civil War ended. \u201cHe would also prefer that another federal holiday be eliminated to offset the $1 billion price tag associated with giving federal workers the day off.\u201d<\/p>\n
-Rep Andrew Clyde (R-GA): Mr Clyde owns a gun shop in Athens. In 2021, he became infamous when he compared January 6 rioters to \u201ctourists.\u201d He also notably handed out pins of an AR-15 rifle to other members. <\/p>\n
-Rep Scott DesJarlais (R-TN): Mr DesJarlais\u2019s office said at the time that he believed it was \u201cbecause he believes it is fiscally irresponsible to continue to create new paid holidays for federal workers while the majority of hard-working private-sector employees get left to pay the bill.\u201d<\/p>\n
-Rep Paul Gosar (R-AZ): Mr Gosar, who in 2022 appeared via video at a conference held by white nationalist Nick Fuentes, joined fellow Arizonan Mr Biggs. In a statement at the time, Mr Gosar said \u201cJuneteenth is more debunked Critical Race Theory in action. I reject racism. I reject the racial division people are promoting. I voted no because this proposed holiday does not bring us together, it tears us apart,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cWe have one Independence Day, and it applies equally to all people of all races.\u201d <\/p>\n
-Rep Ronny Jackson (R-TX): Dr Jackson, a former White House physician, said at the time he opposed the creation of the holiday on fiscal grounds, saying \u201cJuneteenth is an important part of our history, especially in Texas. I support Texas\u2019 Juneteenth holiday and I support all Americans who celebrate it,\u201d but \u201cI do not support more days off for federal employees. Many Americans feel like the federal government is not doing a good job for them as it is.\u201d <\/p>\n
-Rep Doug LaMalfa (R-CA): The California Republican opposed it both for the name and fiscal grounds, saying at the time that the titling of National Independence Day \u201ccould lead to further racial division as it now appears we have two different Independence Days, rather than celebrating a more appropriately named Emancipation Freedom Day\u201d and said \u201cThis legislation to create another paid federal day off misses the mark, and costs American taxpayers an estimated $600 million.\u201d<\/p>\n
-Rep Thomas Massie (R-KY): The unorthodox libertarian Republican also objected to the name, tweeting, \u201cThe official name of the holiday is \u2018Juneteenth National Independence Day.\u2019 Bless your heart if you think that name wasn\u2019t chosen to divide this country and diminish the Independence Day we celebrate on July 4.\u201d <\/p>\n
-Rep Tom McClintock (R-CA): The longtime California Republican said that he objected to the creation of the holiday because \u201cJuneteenth aims to reach into the dead past, revive our most malevolent conflicts, and reintroduce them into our age to further racially divide our society\u201d and that \u201cThis national holiday designation is acting not as a tool of solidarity, rather a tool for division.\u201d<\/p>\n
-Rep Ralph Norman (R-SC): The South Carolina Republican opposed the creation of the holiday both on fiscal and political grounds, saying \u201cIf you want to call Juneteenth, for example, Freedom Day or Emancipation Day then fine \u2013 that\u2019s certainly worth considering. But calling it Independence Day is WHOLLY INAPPROPIATE.\u201d He also said \u201cSo given inflation and the obnoxious growth of the federal government, this means a Juneteenth holiday should easily cost the federal government over a billion dollars Every. Single. Year. in federal payroll & holiday premiums with no offsets!\u201d<\/p>\n
-Rep Mike Rogers (R-AL): The Alabama Republican did not offer an explanation for his opposition to the creation of the holiday at the time.<\/p>\n
-Rep Matt Rosendale (R-MT): The archconservative Montana Republican called Juneteenth \u201ca day out of whole cloth to celebrate identity politics as part of its larger efforts to make Critical Race Theory the reigning ideology of our country.\u201d He added that \u201cThe Left has made up what was primarily a Texas holiday, which they are now acting like they recently discovered, in order to continually make Americans feel bad and convince them that our country is evil.\u201d<\/p>\n
-Rep Chip Roy (R-TX): The hard-right former chief of staff to Sen Ted Cruz who also voted against an anti-lynching bill, said in the days following the vote that he \u201cunfortunately could not support the bill establishing the federal holiday, due to my disagreement with its naming in its rushed passage.\u201d<\/p>\n
-Rep Tom Tiffany (R-WI): The Wisconsin Republican was the only member of the Wisconsin delegation to vote against the legislation and said at the time that it \u201cfuel(ed) separatism by creating a race-based ‘Independence Day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington email The United States is celebrating Juneteenth as a national holiday for the second time on Monday. The day commemorates 19 June 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops made their way to Galveston […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n