众议院民主党党鞭吉姆·克莱伯恩周五表示，将6月8日定为联邦假日以纪念美国奴隶制结束的新立法给他带来了“希望”。
“这给了我希望……这个国家在种族问题上有着非常不稳定的历史。克莱伯恩在美国广播公司的《观点》节目中说:“关于奴隶制，我们有太多东西没有抓住，六月就是一个很好的例子。”
总统乔·拜登周四签署该法案成为法律。
“伟大的国家不会忽视他们最痛苦的时刻……他们拥抱这些时刻。伟大的国家不会走开，他们会接受自己犯下的错误。在白宫举行的签字仪式上，拜登说:“铭记那些时刻，我们开始痊愈并变得更加强大副总统卡玛拉•哈里斯国会黑人核心小组成员和其他立法者。
参议院周二一致通过了这项立法。第二天，众议院以415票对14票迅速通过了这项立法。
卡洛斯·巴里亚/路透社
当乔·拜登总统伸手拿起笔在6月10日的国家独立宣言上签名时，人们向他鼓掌
克莱伯恩说:“这是一次非常好的投票，一次非常好的两党游行，证明了奴隶制确实存在，并且在1865年6月19日结束了。”。
十四名共和党人在众议院投票反对该法案，其中许多人说美国已经有太多的联邦假日。与此同时，德克萨斯州州长格雷格·艾伯特(Greg Abbott)本周签署了一项限制性的新立法，规定教师如何在课堂上谈论时事和美国的种族历史。
“我只是认为人们很难理解什么是真实的，”克莱伯恩说。“除非你掌握了历史的全部内容，否则你无法学习历史课。”
克莱伯恩补充说:“我确实要求我们所有人都要记住我们今天的角色，努力做好这件事，并继续追求一个更加完美的联盟。”。
关于警察改革，克莱伯恩说，他仍然相信民主党和共和党之间可以达成两党协议，他们已经在国会山谈判了几个星期。警官的合格豁免仍然是谈判中最大的症结之一。
“是的，我认为该法案会通过，我认为我们可以找到一种方法来处理合格的豁免，”克莱伯恩说。
德鲁·安格雷尔/盖蒂影像公司
众议员詹姆斯·克莱伯恩在新闻发布会上发言，讨论即将举行的众议院投票
“这些年来发生的事情是，合格的豁免被法院视为绝对的，”克莱伯恩说。他说，他相信谈判者能够及时达成协议。
克莱伯恩还被问及将调查1月6日事件的两党委员会，当时数千名暴徒包围了国会大厦，立法者试图证明美国总统选举结果。
众议院批准了成立该委员会的立法，但参议院未能通过。
克莱伯恩说，他认为众议院议长南希·佩洛西最终会成立一个特别委员会来调查发生的事情。本周早些时候，佩洛西告诉记者，她没有放弃对委员会的希望，并表示她仍未决定成立一个特别委员会。
“我认为她将任命一个委员会来调查此事，让事情顺其自然，我认为他们会直接找到源头，因为我相信美国第45任总统在判断上犯了一些严重的错误，如果不是非常犯罪的话，”克莱伯恩说。
Rep. Jim Clyburn says new Juneteenth federal holiday gives him 'hope'
House Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn said on Friday that new legislation to mark Juneteenth as a federal holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States gives him "hope."
"It does give me hope…this country has a very spotty history when it comes to race. There’s so much about slavery that we have failed to come to grips with, and Juneteenth is one of those prime examples," Clyburn said on ABC’s "The View."
PresidentJoe Bidensigned the legislation into law on Thursday.
"Great nations don’t ignore their most painful moments … they embrace them. Great nations don’t walk away, they come to terms with the mistakes they’ve made. In remembering those moments, we begin to heal and grow stronger," Biden said at a signing ceremony at the White House attended byVice President Kamala Harris, members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other lawmakers.
The Senate unanimously approved the legislation on Tuesday. The House quickly scrambled to pass the legislation the following day in a 415-14 vote.
"That was a real good vote, real good bipartisan demonstration of accepting the fact that slavery did exist, and it did come to an end on June 19, 1865," Clyburn said.
Fourteen Republicans voted against the bill in the House, many of whom said there are already too many federal holidays in the U.S. At the same time, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed restrictive new legislation this week that prescribes how teachers can talk about current events and America’s racial history in the classroom.
"I just think people have a hard time coming to grips with what’s real," Clyburn said. "You can’t learn history lessons until you come to grips with what that history has been all about."
"I do ask us all to be mindful of our role today, in trying to get it right, and continue to have a pursuit of a more perfect union," Clyburn added.
On police reform, Clyburn said he remains confident a bipartisan deal can be struck between Democrats and Republicans, who have been negotiating for weeks on Capitol Hill. Qualified immunity for police officers still remains one of the biggest sticking points in negotiations.
"Yes, I think the act will pass and I think we can find a way to deal with qualified immunity," Clyburn said.
"What has happened over the years is that qualified immunity has been treated by the courts as an absolute," Clyburn said. He said he believes negotiators can come to an agreement in time.
Clyburn was also asked about the bipartisan commission that would investigate the events of Jan. 6, when thousands of rioters mobbed the Capitol as lawmakers sought to certify the U.S. presidential election results.
The House approved legislation that would have established the commission, but the Senate failed to pass it.
Clyburn said he thinks House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will eventually set up a select committee to investigate what happened. Earlier in the week, Pelosi told reporters that she hasn’t given up hope in a commission and said she remained undecided on setting up a select committee.
"I think she's going to appoint a committee to get to the bottom of this and let things go wherever they may go, and I think they will go straight to the source, because I believe the 45th president of the United States made some gross errors in judgment, if not very criminal," Clyburn said.
