Presidential Document2024-01115
Religious Freedom Day, 2024
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
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 3535-3536]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-01115]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 13 / Friday, January 19, 2024 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 3535]]
Proclamation 10697 of January 12, 2024
Religious Freedom Day, 2024
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
The constitutional right to practice our faiths
peacefully and openly is a core tenet of our democracy
and helps us fulfill one of our highest aspirations as
a Nation: to be a citadel of liberty and a beacon of
freedom. On Religious Freedom Day, we renew our pledge
to protect that right by ensuring each person of any
faith or belief can live out the deepest convictions of
their conscience with dignity and respect.
Like so many Americans, faith has sustained me
throughout my life--serving as a reminder of both our
collective purpose and our responsibilities to one
another. But for far too many people today, practicing
their faith means facing fear and intimidation. In
recent years, hate has been given too much oxygen. This
year, in the wake of Hamas' brutal terrorist assault
against Israel, we have seen horrific threats and
attacks in this country that have both shocked our
collective conscience and broken our hearts.
It is in the most challenging times that our commitment
to freedom matters most. We must work harder than ever
to practice the values that make us who we are. That is
why my Administration is working tirelessly to protect
and preserve the right to freedom of religion for
everyone everywhere.
In 2022, I established a new inter-agency group to
counter Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Related Forms
of Bias and Discrimination within the United States.
Last May, my Administration released the first-ever
United States National Strategy to Counter
Antisemitism, which outlines more than 100 new actions
we are taking to raise awareness of Antisemitism,
protect Jewish communities, counter Antisemitic
discrimination, and build solidarity across diverse
communities. We are also developing the first-ever
United States National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia
and Related Forms of Bias and Discrimination in the
United States, which will address the scourge of hate
against Muslims in America. The strategy will also
address hate against Sikh, South Asian, and Arab
American communities, among others. Meanwhile, we
continue to work with all communities to identify,
prevent, and disrupt threats.
Everyone must be free to practice their faith without
fear, whether they are gathering for worship, attending
a religious school, participating in the activities of
other faith-based organizations, or simply walking down
the street wearing the symbols of their faith. That is
why, working with the Congress, my Administration
secured the greatest increase in funding in our history
for the physical security of non-profits--including
churches, gurdwaras, mosques, synagogues, temples, and
other places of worship. In my 2024 Budget proposal to
the Congress, I requested that this funding be raised
to $360 million, and my Administration works
continually to protect places of worship, including
through an annual Protecting Places of Worship Week of
Action. Through such initiatives, we are providing
resources for faith communities and encouraging
religious organizations to share their best practices
in promoting security with one another.
As a world leader, we are also working to make it
possible for people to practice their faith freely and
peacefully around the globe. Billions of people
worldwide are persecuted for or prevented from freely
choosing,
[[Page 3536]]
practicing, or teaching their faith. Repressive
governments and violent extremists continue to reach
across borders and target people for their beliefs. We
have seen these abhorrent attacks on people of all
faiths, including Christians in some countries. That is
why, since the beginning of my Administration, we have
provided more than $100 million to promote religious
freedom and hundreds of millions more to provide
humanitarian assistance to victims fleeing religious
repression, including genocide. Further, we are denying
the entry of goods into the United States that are made
with forced labor--an abuse of human rights that is
oftentimes associated with the genocide of religious
minorities. We have imposed sanctions, visa
restrictions, and export controls on actors and
entities that are responsible for serious human rights
abuses like religious persecution.
On this day, we recognize that the work of protecting
religious freedom is never finished. In our quest to
build a more perfect Union, may our faiths and beliefs
help us heal divisions and bring us together to
safeguard this fundamental freedom guaranteed by our
Constitution and to ensure that people of all religions
or no religion are treated with dignity and respect.
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 laws of
the United States, do hereby proclaim January 16, 2024,
as Religious Freedom Day.
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. 2024-01115
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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