President Joe Biden has signed legislation Thursday establishing a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery. Biden signed into law a bill to make Juneteenth, or June 19, the 12th federal holiday. The U.S. government announced Thursday that most federal government employees will observe the new holiday Friday because June 19 falls on Saturday this year. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas – two months after the Confederacy had surrendered. The Congressional vote for the bill was 415 to 14, with Northstate Congressman Doug LaMalfa among those opposed. LaMalfa was joined in voting no by fellow California Republican Tom McClintock. There was one from Montana and one from Wisconsin, but the rest of the opposition was from southern states.