The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that designates Juneteenth, the anniversary of the emancipation of those who were enslaved in the United States, a national holiday.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reportedly asked for unanimous consent to advance the bill and no members of either party objected. The bill’s leading co-sponsor was Republican Texas senator John Cornyn, who wrote a statement on Twitter applauding the bipartisan approval of the measure. 

The Senate on Tuesday passed legislation to recognize Juneteenth as a legal public holiday.

“Making Juneteenth a federal holiday is a major step forward to recognize the wrongs of the past — but we must continue to work to ensure equal justice and fulfill the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation and our Constitution,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

The Senate unanimously approved a bill Tuesday that would make Juneteenth, the date commemorating the end of chattel slavery in the United States, a legal public holiday.

The holiday is celebrated on June 19, and it began in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas learned they had been freed under the Emancipation Proclamation.

President Abraham Lincoln had signed the proclamation outlawing slavery years earlier, but it was not until 1865 that those in bondage in Texas were freed.