Presidential Document2021-14497
50th Anniversary of the 26th Amendment
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 6, 2021
Signed
June 30, 2021
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 126 (Tuesday, July 6, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 126 (Tuesday, July 6, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 35385-35386]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14497]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 126 / Tuesday, July 6, 2021 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 35385]]
Proclamation 10231 of June 30, 2021
50th Anniversary of the 26th Amendment
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Our Constitution recognizes that, as a Nation, we are
constantly learning. Our Founders built that
recognition into its original design, providing a
mechanism to amend our Constitution as our Nation
evolved. On July 1, 1971, our Nation ratified the 26th
Amendment to the Constitution, lowering the voting age
to 18. At the time, 18-, 19-, and 20-year-old Americans
were fulfilling their civic duties: paying taxes,
serving in our Armed Forces, acting as first
responders, laboring in fields, factories, and service
jobs across the country, and pursuing higher education.
They were participating in our democracy and all of the
responsibilities of citizenship in all ways except for
one: they could not vote. A broad coalition, following
in the footsteps of the suffragettes of the early 20th
century and the civil rights activists of the 1960s,
advocated, educated, and prevailed in persuading our
Nation that those younger Americans were entitled to
the right to vote. We also made a national commitment
that the right to vote would never be denied or
abridged for any adult voter based on their age.
My first race for the Senate was one of the first
elections in which 18-year-olds could vote, and the
energy and passion of Delaware's young people helped
propel me to an unlikely victory.
Fifty years later, younger voters remain essential to
our civic infrastructure. They are not only voting in
our elections--including at record rates in 2020--but
winning them. Younger Americans are lending their
talent and vision to school boards, city councils, and
county commissions; teenagers are serving as State
legislators and mayors, and we are the better for it.
Younger voters are not waiting to inherit the future;
they are building the future themselves. Young
Americans have been on the front lines in the fight to
defend the right to vote and expand access to the
ballot box for all eligible voters. Their civic
engagement extends beyond voting--with young Americans
leading the calls for racial justice, climate action,
gun violence prevention, and immigration reform among
many other issues.
Despite the progress we have made, there remain
persistent gaps in turnout between younger voters and
their older counterparts. There is still more that we
can and must do to deliver on the promise of the 26th
Amendment. My Administration has made public service
and civic education a priority, engaging younger
Americans in our shared struggle for continual
progress. I have directed Federal agencies to consider
ways to make it easier to vote and to learn about
voting, and to focus on the various ways that the
Federal Government engages younger Americans, online
and off. Today's youth are more diverse than past
generations--and laws aimed at suppressing voter
turnout in Black and Brown communities also impact
young voters. My Administration supports the For the
People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement
Act to protect the fundamental right to vote and make
our democracy more equitable and accessible for all
Americans.
Today, we honor the bipartisan expansion of voter
enfranchisement. Let us continue our work to make the
26th Constitutional Amendment ever more meaningful in
the months and years ahead.
[[Page 35386]]
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim July 1, 2021,
as the 50th Anniversary of the 26th Amendment. I call
upon all Americans to participate in ceremonies and
activities that honor the 26th formal modification of
our national Charter, that recognize the contributions
made by voters enfranchised by its terms, and that work
toward full participation of all who are eligible to
vote.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirtieth day of June, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
fifth.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2021-14497
Filed 7-2-21; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F1-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on July 6, 2021.
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