Washington (EFE)-  The United States Congress has passed a bill declaring June 19, known as Juneteenth, a new federal holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the country.

The House of Representatives approved the text on Wednesday with 415 votes in favor and 14 against (all of them Republicans) after the Senate did the same on Tuesday, in this case unanimously.

To Biden's signature

The bill now goes to the White House for President Joe Biden's signature. He could sign it this Saturday, the 156th anniversary of Juneteenth, or even sooner.

Juneteenth—a pun on the month of June and the pronunciation of 19—commemorates the date the last Black slaves were freed in 1865 at the port of Galveston, Texas.

Although the last southern soldiers of the Confederacy had surrendered in April 1865, the Galveston slaves were not set free until Union soldiers arrived in port on June 19 with the news.

Two years had passed since then-President Abraham Lincoln had abolished slavery.

Once approved, Juneteenth will become the twelfth federal holiday in the United States.

The vast majority of states—Texas being the first in 1980—already recognized Juneteenth as a local holiday, a date celebrated for many years, especially by the African-American community in the United States.

“We have a long road to racial justice in the United States. We can't get there without acknowledging our nation's original sin of slavery. It's time to make Juneteenth a federal holiday,” Senate bill sponsor Edward Markey, a Democrat, said Tuesday.

Officially, the holiday will be called "National Independence Day Juneteenth", a name that has provoked the rejection of some Republicans who have opined that it seeks to conflict with the US Independence Day, celebrated every July 4. .

Others have questioned that the holiday will cost the public coffers about $ 600 million in salaries.