between them becomes that of employer and hired labor, unquote. that was general order number 3, read in galveston, texas, on june 19th, 1856, and with that, the last state to learn of abolition got the news. that general order is the reason for juneteenth celebrations across the country days after it was made a federal holiday. on thursday, president biden signed the federal designation into law. 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. if you re not familiar with juneteenth, don t panic, we ll explain it further to you in a minute. but the bill to make it a federal holiday passed with overwhelming support. 14 republican lawmakers voted against it in the house.
meaning of signing that legislation on thursday. with regard to how far we still have to go, that s one of the subtexts to the signing juneteenth into law as a federal holiday because with regards to voting rights, democrats and republicans don t seem too much closer on a compromise. former texas congressman beto o rourke. i also hope we hear from the president on this. he has the authority, the biggest microphone in the country, and he can bring this country together and make sure that we understand what s at stake and what we ll have to do to overcome these challenges that we face right now. annie, do we have any sense that the president or anyone in the administration is going to carry this narrative, the next step further and draw the direct connection between recognizing this federal holiday this weekend and moving further in tangible ways toward concrete racial equity in the weeks to come?
ross, senior correspondent for time magazine and she s in the room. i can reach it s like you re here. it s crazy. glad to see you. not just because you re a person in the room sitting next to me, but also just because of the significance of this day. what do you make of juneteenth becoming a holiday, not just at all, but right now for this to happen? i mean, certainly i think the events of 2020 have everything to do with why this has happened, or certainly a lot to do with why this happened last year. the senate took a vote and attempted to make juneteenth a national holiday. it failed by one vote. so 99 votes in favor, one against. so certainly the events that we all witnessed, the death of george floyd, a texas native, who, i think, for many people apparently awakened them to the reality and the way that race functions in the united states, certainly opened
joe biden on thursday in signing this into law called it he said he s only been president for five months or so, but it will be one of the greatest honors he will have had as president. we haven t had a new federal holiday since ronald reagan signed legislation to make martin luther king day a federal holiday. this is very meaningful. it s a big deal. it s a way for the entire country, for school children to learn about what juneteenth signifies, a very part of of what a sad, scary chapter of what brought this country to where we are today. as joe biden said, it s something we have to learn from and see how far we ve come, and that s the way to start learning how far we have to go. so he was very proud to sign this. it s interesting with the juneteenth legislation, donald trump even during his campaign in an effort to win over black voters had said he too if reelected would have signed wanted to make juneteenth a federal holiday.
the door to further discussion about this holiday being recognized nationally. that being said, i think it is really important for people to recognize a few things here. one, that juneteenth has been celebrated in texas and by people with some sort of connection to texas, people who came out of texas, louisiana, through the great migration to places like california where black-ish is set, and throughout the midwest and the northeast. since at least 1930s, 1940s, in los angeles there have been celebrations since the mid- 40s at least, public celebrations. so i don t know that there is a complete lack of knowledge about juneteenth, but there certainly is a broader recognition of juneteenth. one of the other things that s being recognized is just how many people fought for so long to make juneteenth a holiday, including ms. opal lee, the grandmother of juneteenth. she was at the ceremony at the white house on thursday. watch.