HR 499 — A Resolution recognizing June 19, 2026, as "Juneteenth Independence Day" in Pennsylvania in commemoration of June 19, 1865, the date on which slavery was abolished finally in all regions of the United States.

PRINTER'S NO.   3309

                     THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



           HOUSE RESOLUTION
              No. 499
                                                Session of
                                                  2026

     INTRODUCED BY HILL-EVANS, PROBST, BELLMON, McNEILL, GUZMAN,
        WAXMAN, MAYES, PIELLI, VENKAT, SANCHEZ, GUENST, HOWARD,
        BRENNAN, BENHAM, HANBIDGE, STEELE, RIVERA, BOROWSKI, CEPEDA-
        FREYTIZ, SAMUELSON, KINKEAD, PASHINSKI, MALAGARI, D. WILLIAMS
        AND MADDEN, APRIL 28, 2026

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, APRIL 29, 2026


                                 A RESOLUTION
 1   Recognizing June 19, 2026, as "Juneteenth Independence Day" in
 2      Pennsylvania in commemoration of June 19, 1865, the date on
 3      which slavery was abolished finally in all regions of the
 4      United States.
 5      WHEREAS, For 160 years, Americans of African descent have
 6   celebrated June 19 as "Juneteenth Independence Day" or
 7   "Juneteenth National Freedom Day" in recognition of the human
 8   struggles of their enslaved descendants; and
 9      WHEREAS, According to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
10   Database, between 1525 and 1866, the duration of the
11   transatlantic slave trade to the Americas, an estimated 12.5
12   million men, women and children were captured and forcibly
13   transported in bondage from their African homelands to the
14   Americas; and
15      WHEREAS, An estimated 10.7 million Africans, mostly from the
16   Congo, Nigeria, Angola and Senegambia, survived the hazardous
17   Middle Passage and disembarked in North America, the Caribbean
 1   and South America; and
 2      WHEREAS, History characterizes the transatlantic slave trade
 3   as a brutal and horrific commercial and economic enterprise and
 4   the enslavement of Africans as cruel, exploitative and
 5   dehumanizing; and
 6      WHEREAS, Lasting for nearly four centuries, the transatlantic
 7   slave trade represents one of the longest and most sustained
 8   assaults on the life, integrity and dignity of human beings in
 9   history and one of the greatest tragedies in the history of
10   humanity; and
11      WHEREAS, With the enactment of the Act to Prohibit the
12   Importation of Slaves of 1807, the United States outlawed the
13   transatlantic slave trade in 1808; and
14      WHEREAS, Although the 1807 Federal legislation ended the
15   legality of the transatlantic slave trade in the United States,
16   the law was not universally enforced; and
17      WHEREAS, Enslaved Africans continued to be smuggled into the
18   United States and the domestic slave trade was not affected; and
19      WHEREAS, On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued
20   the Emancipation Proclamation, which proclaimed all enslaved
21   Africans to be free; and
22      WHEREAS, News of the Emancipation Proclamation did not reach
23   the frontier, in particular the State of Texas and the other
24   southwestern states, until Union troops, commanded by Major
25   General Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19,
26   1865; and
27      WHEREAS, On that day in Galveston, more than two years after
28   President Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, Major
29   General Granger announced the end of the Civil War and issued
30   General Order No. 3, which proclaimed all slaves to be free,

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 1   including absolute equality in personal rights; and
 2         WHEREAS, Slavery, as an institution, was not officially
 3   abolished until the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the
 4   Constitution of the United States on December 6, 1865; and
 5         WHEREAS, On June 18, 2020, H.R. 7232, the Juneteenth National
 6   Independence Day Act was introduced and reintroduced as H.R.
 7   1320, on February 25, 2021, in the House of Representatives,
 8   marking the first time in Congress a bill had been introduced to
 9   declare Juneteenth a Federal holiday; and
10         WHEREAS, On June 17, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.,
11   signed into law the bill that established Juneteenth as a
12   Federal holiday, one day before the first anniversary of the
13   introduction of H.R. 7232, making it the most recent addition to
14   the list of Federal holidays; and
15         WHEREAS, The faith and strength of character demonstrated by
16   former slaves remains an example for all people of the United
17   States, regardless of background, religion or race; and
18         WHEREAS, People nationwide join together to celebrate June 19
19   as "Juneteenth Independence Day" in recognition of the end of
20   slavery in all regions of the United States and to commemorate
21   the survival and determination of African men, women and
22   children who survived the monthlong journeys across the Atlantic
23   Ocean, also known as the Middle Passage, and debarked to a life
24   as slaves; and
25         WHEREAS, The faith, courage and strength of character
26   demonstrated by former slaves and the descendants of former
27   slaves remain an example for all people of the United States;
28   and
29         WHEREAS, The United States is the worldwide symbol of
30   democracy and freedom; therefore be it

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 1      RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives recognize June
 2   19, 2026, as "Juneteenth Independence Day" in Pennsylvania in
 3   commemoration of June 19, 1865, the date on which slavery was
 4   abolished finally in all regions of the United States; and be it
 5   further
 6      RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives encourage
 7   residents to observe "Juneteenth Independence Day" with
 8   appropriate ceremonies, activities and programs; and be it
 9   further
10      RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives support the
11   continued celebration of "Juneteenth Independence Day" to
12   provide an opportunity for the residents of this Commonwealth to
13   learn more about the past and to better understand the
14   experiences that have shaped the nation.




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