WASHINGTON, D.C. (WSAU) -- A Wisconsin Senator has introduced an amendment to create a new federal holiday.
Senator Ron Johnson along with Oklahoma Senator James Lankford has filed an amendment to replace Columbus Day with Juneteenth as a federal holiday. The amendment comes out of an effort from both sides of the aisle to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
In a news release, Johnson says, "We support celebrating emancipation with a federal holiday, but believe we should eliminate a current holiday in exchange. We chose Columbus Day as a holiday that is lightly celebrated, and least disruptive to Americans’ schedules.”
June 19, or Juneteenth, is celebrated as the end of slavery in America. On that day in 1865, enslaved African-Americans in Galveston, Texas were told they were free.