House passes bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday
CBSN
The House on Wednesday passed legislation that would make June 19, or Juneteenth, a federal holiday marking the end of slavery in the U.S. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate on Tuesday and will now go to President Biden's desk for his signature, which would make Juneteenth the nation's 12th federal holiday.
"On behalf of all who have waited for this, I thank them," Representative Sheila Jackson Lee said after the vote. "There is more to come in changing lives for justice, equality and freedom. That is what happened today." Jackson Lee and Senator Ed Markey each introduced Juneteenth bills last summer in the wake of George Floyd's death at the hands of a White police officer, but neither received a floor vote. The two lawmakers reintroduced their bills earlier this year with broad bipartisan support.Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday said it will consider the constitutionality of the Federal Communications Commission's Universal Service Fund, agreeing to review a lower court decision that upended the mechanism for funding programs that provide communications services to rural areas, low-income communities and schools, libraries and hospitals.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launched six space tourists on a high-speed dash to the edge of space and back Friday, giving the passengers — including a husband and wife making their second flight — about three minutes of weightlessness and an out-of-this world view before the capsule made a parachute descent to touchdown at the company's west Texas flight facility.