近40年来，国会第一次决定设立一个新的全国性节日，这一次是在六月刚好赶上星期六156周年纪念日，这一天标志着内战结束后最后一批非裔美国奴隶在德克萨斯州获得自由。

众议院周三晚上投票通过了这项立法。它放在乔·拜登总统的桌子旁边，等待签名。正如他所料，当拜登签署它时，6月10日将正式成为联邦假日——这是自1983年马丁·路德·金日签署成为法律以来的第一次。

在一名共和党参议员放弃反对后，参议院周二罕见地一致通过了这项措施。

去年反对这项立法的威斯康星州共和党参议员罗恩·约翰逊(Ron Johnson)在当天早些时候的一份声明中表示，他将不再在会上提出反对意见，不过截至上周，该法案已经获得了60名共同提案人的支持，以克服阻挠议事的问题。

“虽然我强烈支持庆祝解放，但我反对成本和缺乏辩论，”约翰逊说，指的是他以前的立场。“虽然现在要求纳税人为联邦雇员提供带薪休假来庆祝奴隶制的结束似乎仍然很奇怪，但很明显，国会没有兴趣进一步讨论这个问题。”

副总统卡玛拉•哈里斯很可能会陪同拜登出席签字仪式，他去年与德克萨斯州参议员约翰·科宁一起在参议院提出了这项法案。

六月是什么?

六月——也被称为自由日、解放日和解放日——标志着1865年6月19日，联邦军队抵达德克萨斯州的加尔维斯顿，以确保在《解放宣言》签署和内战结束后仍被奴役的非洲裔美国人获得自由。

1863年1月1日，亚伯拉罕·林肯总统签署了《解放宣言》，宣布“所有在任何州或州的指定部分被作为奴隶的人，凡是反抗美国的人，从那时起，都将永远自由。”

霍顿档案馆/盖蒂图像，文件

一幅画描绘了亚伯拉罕·林肯在1862年9月22日签署《解放宣言》时的样子。

但是由于七个邦联州在他们自己的总统领导下运作，南方的奴隶并不完全自由。罗伯特·李于1865年4月在阿波马托克斯法院投降后，又过了两个月，军队才到达加尔维斯顿，释放在那里被奴役的最后25万人。大多数人离开了这个地区，尽管联邦军队告诉他们可以留下来，作为雇员为他们的主人工作。

几个月后，1865年12月，宪法第13修正案被批准，废除了奴隶制。

在哪里庆祝?

像大多数节日一样，六月节在全国各地的聚会上得到认可，主要是在黑人社区。在社交媒体的帮助下，在学校里并不总是教授的节日里传播意识，这在最近几年变得更加主流。

庆祝活动可以包括反思、游行、食物和饮料、音乐——甚至是宣传。

例如，2016年，德克萨斯州的澳普·李，一位现年94岁的活动家，从她在沃思堡的家走到国家的首都，试图将6月10日命名为国家假日。

乔·雷德尔/盖蒂图像，文件

2020年6月19日，亚特兰大百年奥林匹克公园，人们在6月10日的活动中一起祈祷。

1979年，德克萨斯州成为第一个正式将6月18日定为法定假日的州。现在，49个州和地区分别承认这一天，南达科他州是唯一的例外，尽管今年早些时候进行了立法尝试。

耐克(Nike)、推特(Twitter)、谷歌(Google)和通用汽车(General Motors)等公司也已签署协议，将6月10日定为公司带薪假期，去年乔治·弗洛伊德(George Floyd)遇害后，几家公司也采取了这一政策。

接下来呢?

该法案刚好在周六假期前通过，但尚不清楚拜登何时签署该法案。他预计会从美国回来作为总统的首次出访周三晚些时候。

凯文·拉马克/路透社，文件

乔·拜登总统在东部的一个仪式上签署了《新冠肺炎仇恨犯罪法案》，使之成为法律

尽管两党都取得了胜利，倡导者们说，修复美国奴隶制的创伤仍有工作要做。

《人力资源40》，具体来说呼唤创造成立了一个委员会，研究“并审议一项全国性的道歉和赔偿提案，以弥补奴隶制制度、其随后在法律上和事实上对非裔美国人的种族和经济歧视，以及这些力量对生活在美国的非裔美国人的影响，并就适当的补救措施和其他目的向国会提出建议。”

安德鲁·卡瓦列罗-雷诺兹/法新社通过盖蒂图像

众议员希拉·李庚翔发言

自1989年以来，每一届立法会议都提出了一个版本，但今年首次由众议院委员会通过。

“我们给了美国一个救赎、修复和恢复的机会，也给了美国一个了解多元文化的新美国的机会，”德克萨斯州众议员希拉·李庚翔在4月份通过该法案后说。

这项立法仍在等待众议院的全面投票，预计将在参议院面临一场艰难的战斗。

马萨诸塞州参议员埃德·马基是支持将6月10日定为联邦假日的立法的主要民主党人，他也在一份声明中强调自录音再现装置发出的高音周三，即使通过，共和党人仍然攻击批判种族理论这将允许学生在学校研究事件的根源，如六月事件。

“即使在今天，当保守派试图通过攻击批判性种族理论和理解系统性种族主义的影响来抹去历史时，我们站在这里承认事实。马基在推特上说:“我们将把6月10日定为联邦假日。”。

周三早些时候在国会大厦前的新闻发布会上，包括李庚翔和其他支持6月10日立法的民主党人在内的一些议员说，仍有工作要做。

明尼苏达州参议员蒂娜·史密斯(Tina Smith)说:“当然，今天还不够，还有很多工作要做，但这是重要的一天，因为这是通往正义之路的一部分。这不是自满的时刻，这是我们重新致力于这项工作的时刻。”

Congress passes legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday

For the first time in nearly 40 years, Congress has moved to establish a new national holiday, this time for Juneteenth, andjust in time for Saturday's156th anniversary of the day which marks the last African American slaves being freed in Texas in the wake of the Civil War.

The House voted Wednesday night to pass the legislation. It heads next to President Joe Biden's desk for a signature. When Biden signs it, as he's expected to, Juneteenth will officially become a federal holiday -- the first since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was signed into law in 1983.

The Senate, in a rare move Tuesday, passed the measure by unanimous consent after one Republican senator dropped his opposition.

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who opposed the legislation last year, said in a statement earlier that day that he would no longer raise his objections on the floor, though, as of last week, the bill already had the support of 60 cosponsors to overcome a filibuster.

"Although I strongly support celebrating Emancipation, I objected to the cost and lack of debate," Johnson said, referring to his previous stance. "While it still seems strange that having taxpayers provide federal employees paid time off is now required to celebrate the end of slavery, it is clear that there is no appetite in Congress to further discuss the matter."

It's likely Biden will be accompanied for the signing by Vice President Kamala Harris, who introduced the legislation in the Senate last year alongside Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

What is Juneteenth?

Juneteenth -- also known as Freedom Day, Liberation Day and Emancipation Day --marks the day whenfederal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, to ensure that African Americans still enslaved were freed following both the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and end of the Civil War.

The advance by Union Army Gen. Gordon Granger came 30 months and 19 days after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, which had declared, "all persons held as slaves within any States, or designated part of the State, the people whereof shall be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free."

But with the seven Confederate states operating under their own president, slaves in the South weren't exactly free to go. It would take another two months after Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House in April 1865 that troops would arrive in Galveston to free the final 250,000 people enslaved there. Most left the area despite a message from Union troops that they could stay and work for their owners as employees.

A few months later, in December 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified and abolished slavery.

Where is it celebrated?

Like most holidays, Juneteenth is recognized in gatherings across the country, predominantly in the Black community. With the help of social media to spread awareness on a holiday not always taught in school, it has become more mainstream in recent years.

Celebrations can include reflections, parades, food and drink, music -- and even advocacy.

For instance, in 2016, Opal Lee of Texas, a now 94-year-old activist, walked from her home in Fort Worth to the nation's capital in an effort to get Juneteenth named a national holiday.

It was in 1979 that Texas became the first state to officially establish Juneteenth as an official holiday. Now, 49 states and the district separately recognize the day, with South Dakota as the only outlier, despite legislative attempts earlier this year.

Companies including Nike, Twitter, Google and General Motors have also signed on to make Juneteenth a paid company holiday, with several companies adopting the policy last year in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.

What's next?

The legislation has passed just in time for the holiday Saturday -- but it's unclear when Biden will sign the bill. He's expected to arrive back in the U.S. from hisfirst foreign trip as presidentlate Wednesday.

Despite the bipartisan victory, advocates said there is still work to be done to repair the wounds from American slavery.

Some point to HR 40, which specificallycalls for the creationof a commission to study "and consider a national apology and proposal for reparations for the institution of slavery, its subsequent de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African Americans, and the impact of these forces on living African Americans, to make recommendations to the Congress on appropriate remedies, and for other purposes."

A version has been introduced in every legislative session since 1989, but passed out of a House committee for the first time this year.

"We're giving America the opportunity for redemption, for repair, for restoration, for also understanding the new America, which is so multicultural," said lead sponsor, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, in April after it passed.

That legislation is still awaiting a full House vote and is expected to face an uphill battle in the Senate.

Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, who was a lead Democrat to sponsor the legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday also highlighted in atweetWednesday that even with its passage, Republicans still attackcritical race theorywhich would allow students to study the roots of events, such as Juneteenth, in school.

"Even today, as conservatives try to erase history with their attacks on critical race theory and understanding the impacts of systemic racism, we stand here acknowledging the truth. We will make #Juneteenth a federal holiday," Markey said in the tweet.

Speaking at a press conference earlier Wednesday in front of the Capitol, a group of lawmakers including Jackson Lee and other Democrats supportive of the Juneteenth legislation said there is still work to be done.

"Of course today is not enough, there's so much more work left to be done, but this is an important day because it is a piece of pavement on that path towards justice," said Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn. "This is not a moment for complacency, this is a moment to rededicate ourselves to that work."