Presidential Document2023-22243
Child Health Day, 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
October 4, 2023
Signed
September 29, 2023
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 191 (Wednesday, October 4, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 4, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 68441-68443]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22243]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 4, 2023 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 68441]]
Proclamation 10642 of September 29, 2023
Child Health Day, 2023
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
To build a future worthy of our children's highest
aspirations, we must ensure they have the resources and
support they need to thrive. This Child Health Day, we
recommit to helping our children live healthy lives so
they can reach their highest potential.
Our most fundamental obligation to our children is to
keep them safe. The devastating truth is that firearms
are the leading cause of death for children in America.
That is unacceptable. Kids and parents should not live
in fear of everyday places turning into warzones. That
is why I signed the most significant gun safety law in
nearly 30 years to keep guns out of dangerous hands. I
have also taken more meaningful executive action than
any President in history to keep communities safe. And
I recently established the first-ever White House
Office of Gun Violence Prevention to build upon these
measures.
My Administration has invested billions of dollars to
improve mental health services for young people,
including hiring and training more school mental health
counselors so young people can get the care they need.
I have heard from parents, teachers, nurses, and kids
across the country about the mental health crisis among
youth in their communities. Tackling the mental health
crisis and the many ways it affects our communities is
a part of my Unity Agenda--one of the big things we can
come together as a society to solve. Our American
Rescue Plan made our Nation's biggest-ever investment
in mental health and substance use programs--
recruiting, training, and supporting more providers at
the State and local levels, including in our schools.
Our gun safety law also expands the number of Certified
Community Behavioral Health Clinics that deliver 24/7
care.
My Administration is also taking steps to make it
easier for schools to use Medicaid to deliver mental
health care. And we launched 988, the Nation's new
Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, so anyone in the midst of
a crisis can receive free life-saving, confidential
help right away. My Administration is working to
fulfill our promise of full mental health parity for
all Americans. This includes a new proposed rule that
would require insurers to identify gaps in the mental
health care they provide and address any differences
between the way they cover mental health care and
physical health care, as a way to reach any American
who may need help. Further, we must do more to make the
Internet a safe place for children. I have called on
the Congress to limit the personal data that tech
companies collect, ban targeted advertising directed at
minors, and require social media platforms to put
health and safety first, especially for kids. And to
protect our children's physical health, my
Administration has taken steps to remove thousands of
flavored e-cigarettes from the market, which are known
to be particularly addictive to children.
[[Page 68442]]
No parent or caregiver should have to lie awake at
night wondering how they will find the means to care
for a child's most basic needs--whether it is paying
for a trip to the emergency room or putting a healthy
meal on their table. Our Inflation Reduction Act is
lowering costs for Americans, saving millions of
families $800 a year on health care premiums. My
Administration also modernized the Thrifty Food Plan
for the first time since 1975, helping millions of
families afford a nutritious, practical, cost-effective
diet. And we are working toward our goal of expanding
free school meals to 9 million more children by 2032--a
first major step toward free healthy school meals for
all.
In 2021, we slashed child poverty rates by nearly half
for all children in this Nation--driven by our
expansion of the Child Tax Credit, which helped
millions of families afford basic necessities. We
reauthorized and reinvested in the Maternal, Infant,
and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, which has
been shown to improve maternal and child health and
advance child development and readiness to participate
in school. We know that investments like these can
improve children's health outcomes throughout their
lifetimes, which is why I am continuing to fight to
restore the expanded Child Tax Credit.
We also recognize that addressing the climate crisis is
critical to protecting our children's futures. Parents
across the Nation have told me unforgettable stories of
environmental injustice--living near factories and
seeing the paint on their cars peel off because the air
was so corrosive, drinking water contaminated by
nitrates and arsenic, and feeling fear when their
children play outside in toxic air and rain. The peril
these families face opposes everything we stand for as
a Nation--and it is a big reason why my Administration
has taken on the most ambitious climate and
environmental justice agenda in American history.
Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, I am working
to replace every single lead pipe in America because
everyone should be able to turn on a faucet at home or
at school and drink clean and safe water. My Inflation
Reduction Act makes the most significant investment in
climate ever, which includes investing in air quality
sensors near factories so nearby communities can know
how safe their air is. And we made a commitment to
conserve 30 percent of all our Nation's lands and
waters by 2030 so that we can protect our natural
wonders for the ages.
Children are the kite strings that keep our national
ambitions aloft--they are the dreamers and doers that
will one day lead our Nation forward. It is up to all
of us to make sure they grow up happy and healthy, they
are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve,
and their futures are full of endless possibilities.
May we continue to care for children's health and, in
turn, create a better future for our Nation.
The Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 18,
1928, as amended (36 U.S.C. 105), has called for the
designation of the first Monday in October as Child
Health Day and has requested that the President issue a
proclamation in observance of this day.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, do hereby proclaim
Monday, October 2, 2023, as Child Health Day. I call
upon families, child health professionals, faith-based
and community organizations, and governments to help
ensure that America's children stay safe and healthy.
[[Page 68443]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-ninth day of September, 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-
eighth.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2023-22243
Filed 10-3-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on October 4, 2023.
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