Presidential Document2025-04105

U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day, 2025

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
March 12, 2025
Signed
March 9, 2025

Issuing agencies

Executive Office of the President

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 47 (Wednesday, March 12, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 12, 2025)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 11889-11890]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-04105]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 47 / Wednesday, March 12, 2025 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 11889]]


                Proclamation 10902 of March 9, 2025

                
U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day, 2025

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                On this U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day, we send 
                our love, prayers, and support to every American being 
                held in captivity--and I vow to you, your families, and 
                your loved ones that we will never forget you, we will 
                never abandon you, and we commit to returning you 
                safely home and bringing your captors to justice.

                As President, I have no higher obligation than to keep 
                American citizens free, safe, and secure. My 
                Administration is proudly taking decisive action to 
                bring Americans back home where they belong. Since 
                taking office, I have secured the release of 13 
                Americans held captive. Six of those Americans 
                imprisoned in Venezuela are now safely home with their 
                families, and we had them released in less than 24 
                hours. Two Americans detained in Afghanistan have been 
                liberated. Two Americans detained in Belarus have been 
                returned safely back home. A Pennsylvania teacher, 
                unjustly held in Russia, is back on American soil, 
                fulfilling a promise I made to his 95-year-old mother 
                moments before taking the stage that fateful day in 
                Butler, Pennsylvania. Additionally, two American-
                Israeli citizens who endured months in Hamas captivity 
                have been reunited with their loved ones.

                However, there are still Americans who need to come 
                home. Every American held unjustly abroad must be 
                released and returned home. The United States will not 
                tolerate the unlawful detention of our citizens. I will 
                continue to bring more Americans back to their loved 
                ones, and I will not back down until they are home.

                Today, we solemnly stand with every American being held 
                hostage or wrongfully detained and their families who 
                are enduring bitter uncertainty. We commit to forging a 
                future rooted in the commonsense principle of peace 
                through strength. Above all, we ask Almighty God to 
                keep our hostages and wrongful detainees safe; to 
                reunite them with their families; and to make America 
                stronger, safer, more secure, and more prosperous than 
                ever before.

                The Congress, by Public Law 118-31 approved December 
                22, 2023, has designated March 9 of each year as ``U.S. 
                Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day.''

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim March 9, 
                2025, as U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day. On 
                this day, as we fly the Hostage and Wrongful Detainee 
                flag at the White House, I call upon the people of the 
                United States to observe this day with relevant 
                programs, ceremonies, and activities.

[[Page 11890]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                ninth.
                <GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2025-04105
Filed 3-11-25; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P


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Indexed from Federal Register on March 12, 2025.

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