By Jalen Maki
Tomahawk Leader Editor
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) was one of 14 House Republicans who voted against making Juneteenth a federal holiday.
The bill passed the Senate unanimously on Tuesday, June 15. The House of Representatives passed the bill with a 415 to 14 vote on Wednesday, June 16.
Andy Biggs (R-Arizona), Mo Brooks (R-Alabama), Andrew Clyde (R-Georgia), Scott DesJarlais (R-Tennessee), Paul Gosar (R-Arizona), Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), Doug LaMalfa (R-California), Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), Tom McClintock (R-California), Ralph Norman (R-South Carolina), Mike Rogers (R-Alabama), Matt Rosendale (R-Montana), and Chip Roy (R-Texas) joined Tiffany in voting against the legislation.
President Joe Biden signed the bill into law on Thursday, June 17, making Juneteenth National Independence Day the first new federal holiday since President Ronald Reagan signed Martin Luther King Jr. Day into law in 1983.
“Great nations don’t ignore their most painful moments. They embrace them,” Biden said. “In short, this day doesn’t just celebrate the past. It calls for action today.”
In a statement, Tiffany said House Democrats “used their majority to balkanize our country and fuel separatism by creating a race-based ‘Independence Day.’”
“There is only one Independence Day in America, just as there is only one National Anthem, one American flag and one America – under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” Tiffany stated. “It is unfortunate that some have chosen to politicize the naming of this important historical event – one of many momentous milestones in America’s shared journey that began in 1776 to create a more perfect union – to turn Americans against one another and foment division based on skin color instead of uniting us.”
Juneteenth is a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, two months after the surrender of the Confederacy and about two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln, Union soldiers led by General Gordon Granger delivered General Order No. 3 in Galveston, Tex., ending slavery in the state.
Governor Tony Evers celebrated Juneteenth in his Democratic Radio Address on Thursday, June 17.
“This Juneteenth, as we recognize the trials Black Americans have overcome and celebrate the resilience, vibrancy, and countless contributions of Black Wisconsinites, we must also recognize our work toward equity and justice in this state is far from finished,” he stated.