Presidential Document2024-01114
Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2024
Primary source
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Published
January 19, 2024
Signed
January 12, 2024
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 13 (Friday, January 19, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 13 (Friday, January 19, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 3533-3534]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-01114]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 13 / Friday, January 19, 2024 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 3533]]
Proclamation 10696 of January 12, 2024
Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2024
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Today, we reflect on the life and legacy of Reverend
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and recommit to honoring
his moral vision on the path to redeeming the soul of
our Nation.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born into America when
racial segregation was the law of the land. He had
every reason to believe that history had already been
written and division would be our Nation's destiny. But
Dr. King rejected that outcome. He heard Scripture's
command to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly. He
clung to the Declaration of Independence's promise of
equality for all people.
Dr. King's mission was a moral one: from bridges and
ballot boxes to pulpits, protests, and courthouses, he
courageously stood for the sacred idea that embodies
the soul of our Nation--we are all created equal in the
image of God and deserve to be treated equally
throughout our lives. He vocalized that idea on an
August day in 1963 when he told our Nation about his
dream. He saw that idea realized for many Americans
with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and
the Voting Rights Act of 1965, ushering in a new era of
greater equality and opportunity in our country. That
work is not yet finished. It is the task of our time to
take up Dr. King's mantle and make his dream a reality.
The battle for the soul of our Nation is perennial--a
constant struggle between hope and fear, kindness and
cruelty, and justice and injustice. There are still
those who seek to thwart progress and roll back our
rights as Americans. But Dr. King and countless
crusaders across the span of American history teach us
that each generation must answer the call to perfect
our Union. We must heed the whispers of our better
angels. We must see each other as neighbors and not
enemies. We must do our best to seek a life of light,
hope, and truth. Because nothing is guaranteed about
our democracy. We must fight to keep, defend, and
protect it.
On this day, may we recommit to being guided by Dr.
King's light and by the charge of Scripture: ``Let us
never grow weary in doing what is right, for if we do
not give up, we will reap our harvest in due time.'' We
must continue Dr. King's march forward by choosing
democracy over autocracy and a ``Beloved Community''
over chaos. We must be believers, doers, and, most of
all, dreamers. We must be repairers of the breach and
remember that the power to redeem the soul of America
lies in all of us--``We the People.''
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 Monday,
January 15, 2024, as the Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Federal Holiday. I encourage all Americans to observe
this day with appropriate civic, community, and service
projects in honor of Dr. King and to visit <a href="http://MLKDay.gov">MLKDay.gov</a>
to find Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service
projects across our country.
[[Page 3534]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twelfth day of January, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-four, 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. 2024-01114
Filed 1-18-24; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on January 19, 2024.
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