All Nine Members Of Colorado's Congressional Delegation Vote To Make Juneteenth A Federal Holiday

DENVER (CBS4) - A bill to make Juneteenth the newest federal holiday is on its way to President Joe Biden's desk. All nine members of Colorado's congressional delegation helped it get there.

The Senate unanimously passed the measure on Tuesday. It moved to the House, where is passed by a margin of 415-14, with two abstentions. The bill now heads to the president's desk, where it is likely to be signed. Juneteenth would be the nation's 12th federal holiday.

Both Senators Hickenlooper and Bennet voted to pass the bill. All seven representatives also voted to advance the holiday.

If signed, June 19th will forever mark the day in 1865 that slaves in Galveston, Texas were notified of their freedom. That group was the last to know that slavery had been outlawed in the United States. That news came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation to grant freedom to all slaves in the Confederate states.