WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate voted unanimously to create June 19 a national holiday – “Juneteenth” as it’s been celebrated in black communities. The bill now goes to the House. The holiday marks the 1865 date that word of Abraham Lincoln’s emancipation of slaves finally reached every state. The Senate vote became unanimous only when Senator Ron Johnson- R-Wisconsin, was pressured to vote in favor. Johnson, whose voting usually mirrors the values of white nationalists, said that racism was not the issue for him. Johnson, an Oshkosh industrialist, said he was dubious about the financial impact of another paid holiday on employers.
Johnson. The Wisconsin senator was a Juneteenth holdout until the end.
Federal hoidays
January: New Year’s
January: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
May: Memorial Day
July: independence Day
September: Labor Day
November: Veterans Day
November: Thanksgiving
December: Christmas