Presidential Document2023-13410
Juneteenth Day of Observance, 2023
Primary source
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Published
June 22, 2023
Signed
June 16, 2023
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 119 (Thursday, June 22, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 119 (Thursday, June 22, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 40679-40680]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-13410]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 88 , No. 119 / Thursday, June 22, 2023 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 40679]]
Proclamation 10598 of June 16, 2023
Juneteenth Day of Observance, 2023
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
One of my proudest actions as President has been
signing the bipartisan law establishing Juneteenth as
the first new Federal holiday since the Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. holiday nearly four decades ago. On
this Juneteenth Day of Observance, we commemorate
America's dedication to the cause of freedom.
On June 19, 1865--months after the Civil War ended and
more than 2 years after President Lincoln signed the
Emancipation Proclamation freeing enslaved people--
Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to free
250,000 people still held in bondage. The arrival of
Major General Gordon Granger and his troops signaled
that the Federal Government would not relent until the
last enslaved people in America were free.
On Juneteenth, we commemorate that day and honor the
tireless work of abolitionists who made it their
mission to deliver the promise of America for all
Americans. We honor the generations of activists who
have advanced the need for our Nation to recognize
Juneteenth as a way to reconcile our past as we build a
new American future together--advocates like former
State Representative Al Edwards, who authored the bill
that made Texas the first state to designate Juneteenth
a holiday, and Ms. Opal Lee, known as the grandmother
of Juneteenth, who joined me at the bill signing that
finally made it a Federal holiday.
Importantly, making Juneteenth a Federal holiday was
only one part of my Administration's efforts to advance
racial equity and ensure that America lives up to its
highest ideals. With the expansion of the Child Tax
Credit under the American Rescue Plan, we cut Black
child poverty by half. From historic laws in my
Investing in America agenda--in infrastructure,
advanced manufacturing and clean energy, and lower
prescription drug costs--to historic investments in
Historically Black Colleges and Universities, our
Nation is in the midst of rebuilding an economy from
the middle out and the bottom up, instead of the top
down. As a result, Black unemployment has been at a
historic low and we are increasing access to affordable
homeownership for Black Americans and combating bias in
the home appraisal process. We are building a Federal
bench that looks like America, with more Black women
confirmed as circuit court judges than every other
Presidency combined. I have taken action on marijuana
reform by pardoning prior District of Columbia and
Federal simple marijuana possession offenses and
directed a review of marijuana scheduling. With the
support of families, civil rights leaders, and law
enforcement, I signed a historic Executive Order on
police reform at the Federal level. And we passed the
most significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years. My
Administration's student debt relief plan that would
provide $10,000 in relief for eligible borrowers and
$20,000 in relief for borrowers who received Pell
Grants is a critical step forward--among Black
undergraduate borrowers, 70 percent received a Pell
Grant. And in this Administration, we make it clear
that history matters. Black history and Black stories
will not be erased, denied, or banned from our Nation's
conscience no matter how hard people may try.
[[Page 40680]]
But we know there is more to do. As we observe
Juneteenth, we remind ourselves of the sacred
proposition rooted in Scripture and enshrined in our
Declaration of Independence: that we are all created
equal in the image of God and each of us deserves to be
treated equally throughout our lives. That is the
promise of America that every generation is charged to
keep alive. While the opposition may seem fierce and
the fire of conflict may be intense, the story of
Juneteenth reveals that freedom, justice, and equality
will always prevail.
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 June 19, 2023,
as Juneteenth Day of Observance. I call upon the people
of the United States to acknowledge and condemn the
history of slavery in our Nation and recognize how the
impact of America's original sin remains. I call on
every American to celebrate Juneteenth and recommit to
working together to eradicate systemic racism and
inequity in our society wherever they find it.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
sixteenth day of June, 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. 2023-13410
Filed 6-21-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on June 22, 2023.
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