In recognition of Juneteenth, the FCC is extending any filing deadline that falls on Friday, June 18.
That notice was issued after President Joe Biden signed a bill Thursday (June 17) that made Juneteenth National Independence Day a federal holiday.
Since the June 19 date falls on a Saturday, it is being observed Friday and the FCC rules state that if a filing deadline falls on a holiday the due date moves to the next business day.
Also Read: Cable Networks, Streaming Services Celebrate Juneteenth
So, all Friday filing deadlines will now be Monday, June 21. In addition, June 18 will not count toward computing filing deadlines of fewer than seven days.
In his closing statement at the FCC's Thursday public meeting, before the legislation creating the holiday was signed into law, Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, who is African American, talked about the importance of the new holiday:
"As many of you historians out there know," he said, " on June 19, 1985, General Gordon Granger announced in Galveston, Texas, the end of slavery, in accordance with President Abraham Lincoln's emancipation proclamation. What many of us know and celebrate as Juneteenth...The holiday will long serve as an important event in U.S. history and further encourage all of us to reflect on the long fight for equity and justice..." He added that he had heard the holiday would be celebrated June 18 and that most federal employees would get the day off.
"There is truth in everything you said," added acting chair Jessica Rosenworcel.
"[W]e must understand that Juneteenth represents not only the commemoration of the end of slavery in America more than 150 years ago," the President said at the bill signing ceremony, "but the ongoing work to have to bring true equity and racial justice into American society, which we can do."
