ms. opal lee. yes, ms. opal lee was there and all of those democrats who supported this but so was john cornyn of texas and maybe that will help. but you know, there is at least one republican state legislature candidate in virginia who is already proclaimed that this weekend he will hold a juneteenth community shooting day. a gun rally, a community shooting for juneteenth. the good folks at fox news prepared last night for the signing of this new law commemorating the end of slavery by running an interview by one of the prime time hosts all about how black people just have lower iqs than white people, and that explains why black people do get paid less for their work, and why they should get paid less because of the biological inferiority of the black race. that aws wasn't 1939 at that -- that wasn't 1939 at that mob attack on east annie street in ft. worth. that interview on the fox news streaming channel conducted by one of the prime time hosts, that was last night. we have a new national holiday commemor

ms. opal lee. [applause] who just received a very special recognition from the president of the united states. and i see members of congress, members of the congressional black caucus, members of the united states senate who passed this bill unanimously. [applause] and all of whom, collectively, were responsible for delivering this bill to the president's desk. and i thank you all. we thank you all. your nation thanks you all. and you know, when we establish national holidays, it makes an important statement. national holidays are something important. these are days when we as a nation have decide to stop and take stock and often to acknowledge our history. and so as we establish juneteenth as our newest national holiday, let's be clear about what happened on june 19, 1865. the day we call juneteenth. because you see, that day was not the end of slavery in america. yes, on that day, the enslaved people of galveston, texas, learned that they were free. but in fact, 2 1/2 years earlier, the emancipat

was also there is opal lee who i know so many americans are just now getting to know but i've known for sometime because she is from ft. worth right next to my home here in dallas. ms. opal lee has been marching and pushing for juneteenth to be a holiday for so long. and as with so many things black women made this happen whether ms. opal lee a 94 or sheila jackson lee my colleague in texas who introduced this bill and it was a day of history. i think president biden said it right. it would be one of the greatest honors of his presidency creating this holiday. >> i think sheila jackson lee said to me once this was like 12 years in the making. it's been a long time she has been fighting to get this done. let's listen to president biden just before signing the bill. >> juneteenth marks both a long, hard night of slavery and sub y jugation and a promise of a brighter morning to come. this is in my view a day of profound weight and profound power. a day in which to remember the moral stain that the terrible toll that slavery took on the country and continues to take. what i've long called america's original sin. at the same time, i also remember the extraordinary capac

ms. opal lee.ecognition from the president of the united states. and i see members of congress, members of congressional black caucus, members of the united states senate who passed this bill unanimously. and all of whom collectively were responsible for delivering this bill to the president's desk, and i thank you all. we thank you all, the nation thanks you all. when we establish a national holiday, it makes an important statement. national holidays are something important. these are days when we as a nation have decided to stop and take stock, and often to acknowledge our history. so as we establish juneteenth as our newest national holiday, let us be clear about what happened on june 19th, 1865, the day we call juneteenth. because, you see, that day was not the end of slavery in america. yes, on that day the enslaved people of galveston, texas, learned that they were free, but in fact 2 1/2 years earlier the emancipation praubgmation ended slavery in the confederation. think about that. for mor

ms. opal lee said, there's something critical also to understand.k twain said history does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme or often rhymes. truthfully, one of the reasons that the enslaved in texas were kept in bondage for two and a half years beyond the point that any other enslaved individuals in what was then the united states is not simply that texas was far, far away and information hard to come by, that most enslaved people were, in fact, unable to read and write by order of law. there were also a group of people, confederates, who not only did not recognize the legitimacy of the united states and considered themselves a breakaway nation but do not recognize that the war was over and the war was lost and signed onto an alternative reality and then used brute force to make that the reality for those who would disagree with them. we very much have a similar situation today. >> yeah. i'm glad you put it that way. i didn't want to put too fine a point on it, but that's part of the issue. a lot of people assume that history is repeating itself

highlighting a 94-year-old woman named opal lee who spent decades of her life fighting to make juneteenth a national holiday. >> we're blessed to mark the day of ms. i had the honor of meeting her in nevada a year ago. she told me she loved me, and i believed it. i want to believe it. you're incredible. a daughter of texas. grandmother of the movement to make junteenth a federal holiday. junteenth 1939, when she was 12 years old, a white mob torched her family home, but such hate never stopped her anymore than it stopped the vast majority of you i'm looking at from this podium. over the course of decades she's made it her mission to see that this day came. it was almost a sipping lar mission. she's walked for miles and miles, literally and figuratively to bring attention to junteenth, to make this day possible. i ask once again we all stand again and give her a warm welcome. >> afterward, congresswoman sheila jackson lee of texas sent this tweet. with opal lea and president biden after signing the historic juneteenth federal holiday. she joins me now. what do you want people to reflect on during their time off for this brand new holiday? >> well,

ms. opal lee and sheila jackson lee are not heroic and important, not because i don't believe that it's worth us commemorating the day. but it comes amid several things. you identified two. one is that we have been waiting on voting legislation that will address the voter suppression that is happening targeted at black voters in states around the country. we are waiting on the george floyd justice in policing act. a year ago millions of americans were on the street, millions of people around the world demanding change, the core of that change being accountability for police officers who engage in this kind of misconduct, and we still have no bill george floyd justice in policing act. at the same time that we're commemorating juneteenth, states across the country are banning teachers be from being able to teach the truth about racism and the history of racism or any engagement with race that might make students feel unfortunately or guilty on account of race or sex. so there's a concerted effort by republicans in legislatures throughout the country to silence and to suppress the truth about ou

we're blessed to mark the day and the president, ms opal lee because my mother said, god yeah.e honor of meeting her in nevada more than a year ago, she told me she loved me, and i believed it. i want to believe it. was over your incredible a daughter of texas, grandmother of the movement to make juneteenth a federal holiday miserable is you won't believe it. she's 49 years old. 94 years old by you are incredible woman is hopeful you really are as a child growing up in texas. she and her family, uh, would celebrate juneteenth. juneteenth 1939 when she was 12 years old but such hate. never stopped her anymore, and to stop the vast part majority. you i'm looking at from this podium, you. over the course of decades. she's made it her mission to see that this day came was almost a singular mission. she's walked from miles and miles, literally in figuratively. to bring attention to juneteenth. to make this day possible. i asked once again, we all stand and give her a warm. welcome to the world. hmm. because they're still saying the senate and i said for 36 years. excuse. as ig down.

ms. opal lee, of her long walk to washington, d.c., and the joy in her voice when she heard the news that the senate had taken one more step towards her dream of juneteenth. may we all draw inspiration and strength from her example. i'm proud to walk this path with you, ms. lee, and with all of you. let's keep this going. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to oppose the nomination of radhika fox to be assistant administrator for water at the e.p.a. i certainly appreciate her willingness to serve. and i have found her to be quite personable and friendly. so this is not a personal statement. but even though she is not yet confirmed, she's already in place as the lead political appointee in the water office at e.p.a. in that capacity, her recent announcement of overreaching regulatory proposals under the clean water act cemented my opposition to her nomination. ms. fox' position on the appropriate yacht scope of the clean water act was not clear last

. >>> we are blessed to mark today in the presence of opal lee. ms. opal you're incredible. holiday. i ask once again we all stand and give her a warm welcome to the white house. [ applause ] >> this was the work of many, but juneteenth as a national holiday may never have happened without miss opal lee. president biden knows it. that's why he is so warmly received the 94-year-old activist today. the grandmother of this movement. for years, opal lee crusaded to make juneteenth a federal holiday. she went all over the country at various celebrations. then in 2016 at the age of 89, she began a 1400-mile trek from her home in ft. worth, texas to d.c. to bring attention to the cause, stopping at all the different places that celebrate juneteenth on a state by state basis along the way. since she walked a symbolic 2.5 miles every year on juneteenth to commemorate the 2 1/2 years it took for enslaved african americans in galveston, texas to learn of their freedom, it started to spread. lee is a descendent of american slaves, a victim of a hate crime when she was just 12. a mob of

ms. opal lee who for years led walking campaigns and marches across the country to raise awareness about juneteenth, and she said she was thinking that surely somebody would see a little old lady in tennis shoes trying to get congress and take notice, and take notice is precisely what happened, craig. >> looks like it worked, geoff bennett from the white house for us, thank you. >>> never underestimate a little old lady in tennis shoes to make the world go round i love that. let's go back to dylan, get the rest of the national weather picture, hi dilly. >> hey, good morning, everyone, we do have the threat of tropical downpours making their way onshore along the gulf coast. a threat of severe storms today through the great lakes region, through indiana, through ohio as we go into this afternoon and evening as a cold front moves through, and of course the heat and the dry weather and the sunshine continue out west with more record likely to be broken today. that's a look at the weather across the country, we'll get to your local forecast in the next 30 seconds u think? i'd go with the 9 i

ms. opal, you really are. >> reporter: opal lee had a front row seat to history today as president biden said signing the bipartisan bill would go down as one to have the greatest honors of his presidency. >> by making juneteenth a federal holiday, all americans can feel the power of this day and learn from our history and celebrate progress and grapple with the distance we've come, but the distance we have to travel, jim. >> reporter: june 19th is on saturday, so the federal government is treating tomorrow, friday, as a holiday, instead, and giving many federal workers the day off -- though we just heard from the postal service, norah, that it can't implement those changes so quickly and cease operations friday and saturday, so post offices will remain open this year. >> o'donnell: opal lee proving you can make a difference even in your '90s. nancy cordes, thank you. well, the president returned from his summit with vladimir putin to face a new reality at home. most of his domestic initiatives have stalled. and tonight's shocking new numbers on the extent of cyberattacks on american bus

cornyn, john cleburne, representative barbara lee, representative danny davis, and sheila jackson lee and ms. opal. you should have my chair. all right. [ applause ] there you go. >> thank you, mr. president. [ applause ] >> all right . >> is election day next? mr. president, is election day next? is the plan to sign election day as a national holiday? >> thank you, everybody. thank you. thank you. thank you. [ applause ] >> welcome to "the lead." i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper. you have been watching president joe biden at the white house signing a bill that makes juneteenth a federal holiday. this is the first new federal holiday in nearly 40 years. it commemorates the end of slavery in the u.s. since juneteenth this year is on a saturday, tomorrow is the new holiday. let's bring in phil mattingly. he used this as an opportunity to bring us his key priorities like voting rights. >> yeah. like voting rights and just equity generally. that sounds like a broad concept out of hand but when you talk to administration officials and you pay close attention, pamela, to their policy agenda not just

opal lee. here's how ms. lee reacted to congress passing the bill. >> the bill is passed! >> woohoo! oh oh oh ooh! >> stephen: i'm calling it now: that is the song of the summer. ( laughter ) ( applause ) the bill got unanimous support in the senate, but in the house there were 14 no votes from republican members of congress. ( booing ) i wonder if those representatives have anything in common. ah, yes -- it's the spf 700 club. these congressmen had a number of objections to the bill, ranging from stupid to dumb. like kentucky representative thomas massie, seen here explaining that his gun is that size because it's cold out. ( laughter ) >> jon: it's an analogy, see... >> stephen: massey swears he supports juneteenth, but takes issue with the holiday's full name juneteenth national independence day. why? because he says it will conflict with july 4th, and push americans to pick one of those two days as their independence day based on their racial identity. let's be real. americans may have their differences, but we hold these truth to be self-evident: we take every opportunity to eat

what's interesting to me is they talked about miss opal lee and all the work she did to create a juneteenth holiday. what's equally important is whether or not ms. lee will be able to vote in her next election in texas because of what's going on with voting rights. >> you write in your other column, you wrote that with every reactionary bill against critical race theory, and i'm switching gears here because we've got these bills against voting rights, but we've also got numerous bills across america against critical race theory. with every reactionary bill, conservative lawmakers denounce the nation's unvarnished history for the curates propaganda of white supremacy. weaponized fear and good eveningance are pillars of white supremacy. that's why a majority of republicans still embrace the big lie about the 2020 election. and it is important to note history in this particular instance, because there was a history about the civil war, there was a romanticized history about the defeat of the south which took root at the very moment that southern white americans should have been thinking about the fact that, hey, we were on the wrong side of this,

opal lee. she is known as the grandmother of juneteenth because she has been advocating for over 40 years for juneteenth to become a federal holiday. >> you are incredible woman, msn she was 12 years old, a white mob torched her family home. but such hate never stopped her. >> joining us now, we've got professor at harvard university, pulitzer prize winning author, her acclaimed book is titled "on juneteenth." when we had you on before you told us you had a little problem people outside of texas celebrating this holiday and i'm thinking this morning in the words of my grandmother, grandmother jewel, this must take the rag off the churn. this has to really, really be something for you, a national holiday. would you have even believed this when you started writing this book? >> no, i wouldn't have believed it. i have to say, joe, i said when i was younger, i felt a little about people celebrating, but i'm totally happy about it now. i didn't anticipate the quickness of everything that happened this week. certainly. >> yeah. so, talk about it. talk about what it means to you. talk about what it means to this country. >> well, juneteenth is tailored made. i love it b