Juneteenth National Independence Day Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairwoman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act and to recognize and honor a day that symbolizes freedom for all African-ancestored Americans.

My thanks to my colleague, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, for taking the lead on this important legislation and for doing the hard work to put the imprimatur of the United States Congress on this day, a day that means so much to so many.

As an original cosponsor of the legislation, I am proud to say that, once again, we are at the doorstep of history, and to finally acknowledge that history in a new light.

Juneteenth is a reminder that we must continue to move forward in honor and in recognition of ourselves, our families, our neighbors, and the nameless and faceless generations of African Americans that we will never know. Their plight and this history are all captured in the words of the poet Langston Hughes when he wrote:

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes, but I laugh, and eat well, and I grow strong.

Tomorrow, I'll be at the table when company comes. Nobody'll dare say to me, ``eat in the kitchen'' then.

Besides, they'll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed.

I, too, am America.

Madam Speaker, I urge passage of this Juneteenth National Independence Act, and I encourage all of my colleagues to do the same.

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