Presidential Document2023-07311
National Child Abuse Prevention Month, 2023
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
April 5, 2023
Signed
March 31, 2023
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 65 (Wednesday, April 5, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 5, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 20367-20368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07311]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 88 , No. 65 / Wednesday, April 5, 2023 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 20367]]
Proclamation 10543 of March 31, 2023
National Child Abuse Prevention Month, 2023
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
During National Child Abuse Prevention Month, we want
every young person in the United States who has faced
the fear and pain of abuse or neglect to know they are
not alone. We see you and will always fight to protect
your safety and well-being. We reaffirm our commitment
to listening to children, standing with brave
survivors, and reaching out across our communities to
support families and to help others in need.
I was raised to believe that the greatest sin in life
is the abuse of power, and the abuse of a woman or
child is the worst of all. Yet millions of children of
every race, religion, and background face neglect or
physical, emotional, or sexual abuse in America every
year. It can leave deep, lasting scars, making it
harder to learn in school, to form trusting
relationships, to build self-esteem, and to escape
cycles of abuse long-term. It denies far too many
children the promise of America and risks cutting them
off from their dreams and undermining their ability to
reach their full potential.
We have a moral obligation to protect every child in
America and to help survivors heal. That is why, as a
United States Senator, I wrote and passed the Violence
Against Women Act, to help secure safety and justice
for women and children impacted by domestic violence.
We have fought ever since to keep building on that
law--including with last year's bipartisan
reauthorization, which increased support for
prevention, trauma-informed services, and training for
courts while also expanding recognition of Tribal
courts' jurisdiction in cases involving non-Native
perpetrators of child abuse. As President, I also
signed the American Rescue Plan, investing an
additional $350 million to improve State child
protective services and community-based child abuse
prevention programs. The Department of Justice is
providing resources to Children's Advocacy Centers
across the country that support child abuse victims by
supporting law enforcement efforts to investigate and
prosecute child abuse and funding law enforcement task
forces to combat online child exploitation. I also
signed legislation eliminating the Federal statute of
limitations for child sex abuse crimes so justice can
still be done even after survivors become adults. And
we are helping State and territorial health departments
prevent sexual violence and provide trauma-informed
training to support recovery among the 1 in 4 girls and
1 in 13 boys who will face sexual abuse before they
turn 18.
To support our children, we are continuing our efforts
to reduce child poverty across the board, including by
fighting to restore the Child Tax Credit, which in 2021
helped slash child poverty to its lowest rate ever. We
know that poverty can trigger interventions in which
children are sometimes unnecessarily removed from their
homes. My new budget requests $10 billion to help keep
families safely together and to better fund child abuse
prevention and treatment services.
Meanwhile, a dangerous wave of cynical State
investigations is targeting families just because they
love and support their transgender children. These
State campaigns are government overreach at its worst.
From the Department of Justice to the Department of
Health and Human Services, my Administration will keep
working to make sure that politicians do not unlawfully
[[Page 20368]]
weaponize child protective services against loving
families who simply want to support their kids and help
them to be themselves.
It has been said that a Nation is judged by how we
treat the most vulnerable among us. Nowhere is that
truer than when it comes to protecting our children,
making sure they grow up safe from harm and surrounded
by love. That is on all of us. For more information on
how to recognize and report child abuse or neglect, as
well as on how to support loving families and safe
communities, visit <a href="http://childwelfare.gov">childwelfare.gov</a>.
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 April 2023 as
National Child Abuse Prevention Month. I call upon all
Americans to observe this month by joining together as
a Nation to promote the safety and well-being of all
children and families and to recognize the child-
welfare professionals and allies who work tirelessly to
protect our children. Let us also honor the strength
and resilience of survivors of child abuse.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
seventh.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2023-07311
Filed 4-4-23; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 5, 2023.
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