WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), who is an original cosponsor of a Senate Resolution to designate June 19, 2017 as “Juneteenth Independence Day”, released the following open letter to Texans on Juneteenth:
Dear fellow Texans:
This Juneteenth, we celebrate 152 years since long-awaited freedom finally came for so many in the State of Texas.
We celebrate the anniversary of June 19, 1865 when U.S. Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas to deliver the news that would change lives and alter the course of history: the Civil War had ended and those enslaved were now free.
Celebrations rang out across Texas as the lives of men, women, and children who had known no life outside of slavery were transformed. And celebrations today continue as we reflect on opportunities afforded to generation after generation because of the events of that day.
We owe so much to General Granger and the news he brought to Galveston on the day we now call Juneteenth. But June 19, 1865 was just one stop on a long road toward equality. We must strive every day to honor a telling phrase in the preamble of the U.S. Constitution; we must strive to form ‘a more perfect union.’ By treating each individual with dignity, each community with respect, we can come closer to achieving that goal.
I am happy to join you in celebrating Juneteenth, and I pledge to continue to work each and every day to ensure all Texans can live freer lives for generations to come.
May God bless you, and may He continue to bless the great state of Texas.
Sincerely,
John Cornyn
Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, is a member of the Senate Finance, Intelligence, and Judiciary Committees.