President Biden will be at the LBJ Presidential Library on Monday to mark the 60th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act. A planned visit to Austin earlier in the month was postponed after the attempted assassination of former President Trump.
The visit comes just over a week after the president announced he would no longer seek a second term in the White House. On Wednesday, he addressed the nation from the Oval Office, saying that stepping aside was the "best way to unite" the country.
“It's been the honor of my life to serve as your president," he said, "but in defense of democracy, which is a stake, I think it's more important than any title.”
Biden will be joined in Austin by Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston, who portrayed LBJ in the 2016 film All the Way, and United Nations ambassador Andrew Young, the LBJ Library said Tuesday.
President Lyndon Johnson signed the landmark legislation on July 2, 1964. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
“Last year, President Biden said civil rights are ‘the unfinished fight of America,'" LBJ Foundation President and CEO Mark Updegrove said in a statement. "We look forward to commemorating this milestone with the President and hearing his vision for how we can continue to make real the promise of America for all of its citizens.”
Updegrove told KUT that Biden’s visit is also significant because it comes a decade after four U.S. presidents marked the law’s 50th anniversary. Then-President Barack Obama, as well as former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter attended a Civil Rights Summit at the LBJ Library.
“It was one of the great moments in the life of this institution and our hope is this event with Joe Biden will add to that tradition,” he said.
Monday's event, which is set to begin at 4 p.m. CT, is not open to the public, but it will be livestreamed on YouTube. There will be street closures near the library and travel delays at the airport when Air Force One lands and takes off.
Congressman Lloyd Doggett will be among the attendees. The Austin Democrat was one of the first lawmakers to call on Biden to drop his bid for a second term after his June 27 debate with Trump.
“My wife Libby and I have been invited and plan on attending. So appropriate that President Biden is being honored as a civil rights champion for his many accomplishments. Though the circumstances may differ, like President Johnson, he has put country over ego," Doggett said in a statement. "His selfless decision to protect our democracy from an authoritarian takeover has cemented his legacy as a true statesman and patriot while offering renewed hope to all of us.”
The Austin for Palestine Coalition plans to hold a demonstration Monday during the president's remarks to protest his handling of Israel’s war in Gaza. The group said a caravan of cars decorated with Palestinian colors and signs will drive through an undisclosed area.
When Biden's visit was first announced, Lenna Nasr with Palestinian Youth Movement, a member of the coalition, said it was “farcical” that the president would give a speech on civil rights when Israel’s attacks on Gaza have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.
“We intend to send a message to Biden that through supporting Israel’s genocide in Palestine, he is complicit in genocide and in war crimes including mass murder, torture, man-made starvation and the targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure,” she told KUT.
Nasr said the coalition is calling on the U.S. to stop supplying weapons to Israel and for a full ceasefire in the conflict that has lasted over nine months. She said the group is also calling for more aid to Gaza, which is facing widespread famine, according to the United Nations.
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