Presidential Document2023-08937
National Crime Victims' Rights Week, 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 26, 2023
Signed
April 21, 2023
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 80 (Wednesday, April 26, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 26, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 25265-25266]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08937]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 88 , No. 80 / Wednesday, April 26, 2023 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 25265]]
Proclamation 10555 of April 21, 2023
National Crime Victims' Rights Week, 2023
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Every person deserves to feel safe in their home,
school, workplace, and community. Yet each year,
millions of Americans fall victim to acts of violence,
theft, fraud, and other crimes. Often, the pain and
trauma can have long-term impacts. During National
Crime Victims' Rights Week, we recommit to the work of
preventing crime, supporting victims as they heal, and
holding offenders accountable.
Beyond the physical, psychological, and emotional
scars, victims and their families too often bear the
economic burden of the crimes they suffered--such as
lost income, medical bills, or expenses for temporary
housing. As a United States Senator, I was proud to
support the Victims of Crime Act in 1984, which created
a Crime Victims Fund using fines from Federal
prosecutions to directly compensate victims and finance
victim assistance services. In recent years, the fund's
balance declined significantly, so I signed a bill in
2021 to rebuild it and ensure that victims can access
these critical resources.
Last year, I also reauthorized and strengthened the
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which I first wrote
as a United States Senator more than 30 years ago to
change the laws and culture around the scourge of
domestic and sexual violence in America. For decades,
this law has supported shelters and rape crisis
centers; funded housing and legal assistance for
survivors of abusive relationships, sexual assault, and
stalking; and helped train law enforcement agencies and
courts to make the justice system more responsive to
survivors' needs.
As President, I increased funding for VAWA to its
highest level so that we can hold more offenders
accountable and allow more victims to access trauma-
informed care--especially victims from underserved
communities, including those from the LGBTQI+ community
and rural areas. Tribal courts will now be able to
exercise jurisdiction over non-Native perpetrators of
sexual assault, child abuse, and sex trafficking. The
law also enables victims to take people who disseminate
their intimate images without consent to court, and it
provides training for law enforcement, prosecutors, and
victim service providers in addressing online abuse and
cyberstalking.
I signed into law the COVID-19 Hate Crimes and Khalid
Jabara-Heather Heyer NO HATE Acts, which help State,
local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies better track
and prosecute hate-fueled acts of violence against
people from marginalized groups, including by
establishing state-run reporting hotlines for victims
of hate crimes. We also made lynching a Federal hate
crime for the first time in American history with the
Emmett Till Antilynching Act, giving prosecutors more
power to pursue perpetrators of these vile acts. I also
hosted the United We Stand Summit, convening civic,
faith, philanthropic, and business leaders to prevent
and respond to hate crimes, and to help survivors of
hate crimes and their communities heal from these
tragic events.
While my Administration continues to take historic
action to reduce gun crime, we are also taking action
to help survivors of gun violence and families that
have lost loved ones to this public health epidemic.
Last
[[Page 25266]]
June, I was proud to sign the Bipartisan Safer
Communities Act, the most sweeping gun safety law in
nearly three decades. Among other steps, this law helps
keep guns out of the hands of dating partners convicted
of violent crimes and provides over a billion dollars
to address the youth mental health crisis in America,
especially trauma experienced by survivors of gun
violence. In March 2023, I signed an Executive Order
directing key members of my Cabinet to submit a
proposal for improving Federal support for communities
and individuals impacted by gun violence.
Supporting crime victims also requires building trust
between the public and law enforcement. When someone
falls victim to a crime, first responders should have
the resources they need to ensure victims feel heard,
valued, and supported. We have provided States with
over $10 billion to improve law enforcement training,
fund community violence interventions, purchase
necessary equipment like body-worn cameras, clear court
backlogs, and support crime victims. My Safer America
Plan calls for an additional $37 billion to prevent
crime, reduce gun violence, and create a fairer justice
system--including by hiring 100,000 more officers for
safe, effective, and accountable community policing,
consistent with the standards of my policing Executive
Order, which will also help strengthen public trust in
law enforcement.
This week and every week, let us all commit to doing
our part to help prevent crimes and to provide
survivors with the resources they need to heal, pursue
justice, and emerge stronger. If you or a loved one are
a victim of crime, I encourage you to visit
<a href="http://www.Crimevictims.gov">www.Crimevictims.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 23
through April 29, 2023, as National Crime Victims'
Rights Week. I call upon all Americans to observe this
week by participating in events that raise awareness of
victims' rights and services and by volunteering to
serve and support victims in their time of need.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-first day of April, 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. 2023-08937
Filed 4-25-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 26, 2023.
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