of the halls of congress, from the house and senate floors to congressional hearings, party briefings, and committee meetings. c-span gives you a front row seat to how issues are debated and decided, with no commentary, no interruptions, and completely unfiltered. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. ♪ >> nonfiction book lovers, c-span has a number of podcasts for you. listen to a >> -- on the afterwords podcasts. and the about books podcast takes you behind the scenes of the nonfiction book publishing industry.

find all of our podcasts by downloading the free c-span now app or wherever you get your podcasts and on our website, c-span.org/podcasts. >> up next president biden and vice president kamala harris joined by opal lee who says -- has been called the grandmother of juneteenth. they commemorate the federal holiday and a celebration of the white house on the -- south lawn . >> distinguished guests, the vice president. ♪

>> happy juneteenth. [applause] pres. biden: we -- vice. pres. harris: please have a seat. [laughter] [applause] vice. pres. harris: and to my divine nine family. good evening, everyone. tonight, with joy, we gather with friends and generations of family members. we gather here at the white house just from where the emancipation proclamation was cited to celebrate americans newest national holiday.

we are joined by so many incredible leaders including members of congress, members of the congressional black caucus and cbc cares. we are here with so many leaders who brought us to this day. including the one and only miss opal lee. [laughter] -- [applause] the mother of juneteenth. when i served in the u.s. senate, i was proud to cosponsor a bill to make juneteenth of federal holiday. as vice president, it was my honor to stand beside our president joe biden as he signed the legislation that finally made that dream a reality. indeed. [applause]

over the past two years, thanks to the leadership of president joe biden and because of the support of all the leaders here, our nation has made incredible progress. we have created more than 13 million jobs and achieved record low black unemployment. we have kept the cost of insulins for seniors at $35 a month. so folks don't have to choose between paying for insulin and being able to buy groceries. with your support, we invested a historic nearly $7 billion in two our hbcus. in acknowledgment of the fact that they are centers of academic excellence. and to make sure our young

leaders can succeed after they read to it, we will continue to fight for the student debt relief. [applause] we have also been able to pass one of the significant -- to protect our communities from the horror of gun violence. we will keep fighting to pass the assault weapons ban. in the belief that all people have the right to be safe. in addition, since we took office, we have appointed more black judges to the federal appellate bench than any administration in history. [applause] yes, including the first black women to sit on the highest court in our land.

her name is justice good tunzi brown jackson -- justice catania brown jackson -- justice ketanji ronny jackson. this upcoming monday, americans from all walks of life will come together to celebrate juneteenth and honor black cast -- excellence, culture and community, to remember the full history of our nation. and to celebrate one of our nation's founding principles, the principal of freedom. on juneteenth, we remember that after the emancipation proclamation ended slavery and the confederacy, hundreds of thousands of americans attest this -- in texas, were kept in

servitude for two more years and on june 19, 1865, union troops arrived in galveston to enforce emancipation and the enslaved people of texas plain the freedom that was there is by birth and by right. [applause] as we celebrate, we remember it would be six months more before the 13th amendment was ratified and all enslaved people in america were declared free. america is a promise of freedom, liberty and justice. the story of juneteenth, as we celebrate it, is the story of our ongoing fight to realize that promise, not just for son

-- for some, but for all. on juneteenth, we are reminded of the duality of progress. as we fight to move forward to expand freedom, we must also fight to protect the freedom already won. as we know, we can take nothing for granted in that regard. for example, let us look at the sacred read him to vote. the freedom that generations fought, bled and died to secure. the freedom that is under assault in states across our nation, and the freedom that we must defend bypassing the john lewis floating rights advancement act -- voting rights

advancement act and the freedom to vote at. --act. [applause] at the same time, we continue to restore the freedom and the like -- right for every woman in every state to make decisions for her own body. [applause] and we fight to make sure that all americans have the freedom to learn our country's history in full because while we celebrate a holiday dedicated to teaching and honoring america's full history, extremists across our country attempt to ban books and erase our past. on this point, let us be very clear. but history -- black history is american history. [applause]

in conclusion, as we gather tonight, let us remember the words of the great carruthers -- correlator scott king -- coretta scott king. the fights must be fought and won with each generation. she reminds us that each -- our freedom will not be permanent unless we, in each generation, are vigilant to protect them. let us stand together as americans to teach and honor our history, to protect our liberty and to continue the fight for freedom. with that, i have now the honor, i don't know if she knows but i have asked miss opal lee to johnny on the stage so we can

thank her with applause. there she is. can we please stand and applaud ms. opal lee? [applause] ms. lee: hello, young people. [laughter] ms. lee: and no, you are all young people if you are not 96. [laughter] please, can i just say this to you, young folks? make yourself a committee of one to change somebody's mind. if people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love, and it is up to you to do it. we are the most powerful country

in the whole united states, and we must get together and get rid of the disparities, the joblessness and homelessness and health care that some people can get and others cannot and climate change that we are responsible for. and if we don't do something about it, we are all going to hell in a hand basket. vice. pres. harris: and with that -- [laughter] and with that -- [laughter] [cheers and applause] vice. pres. harris: and with that, i thank you, ms. opal lee for your years in advocacy, leadership, and truth telling. happy juneteenth to everyone. may god bless you and may god bless the united states of america.