[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 235 (Thursday, December 6, 2012)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 72911-72912]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-29704]



[[Page 72909]]

Vol. 77

Thursday,

No. 235

December 6, 2012

Part II





The President





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Proclamation 8913--International Day of Persons With Disabilities, 2012
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  Federal Register / Vol. 77 , No. 235 / Thursday, December 6, 2012 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

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                Proclamation 8913 of December 3, 2012

                
International Day of Persons With Disabilities, 
                2012

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Americans have always understood that each of us is 
                entitled to a set of fundamental freedoms and 
                protections under the law, and that when everyone gets 
                a fair shot at opportunity, all of us do better. For 
                more than two decades, our country has upheld those 
                basic promises for persons with disabilities through 
                the Americans with Disabilities Act--a sweeping civil 
                rights bill that moved our Nation forward in the 
                journey to equality for all. And from making health 
                care more affordable to ensuring new technologies are 
                accessible, we have continued to build on that 
                progress, guided by the belief that equal access and 
                equal opportunity are common principles that unite us 
                as one Nation.

                On the 20th International Day of Persons with 
                Disabilities, we reaffirm that the struggle to ensure 
                the rights of every person does not end at our borders, 
                but extends to every country and every community. It 
                continues for the woman who is at greater risk of abuse 
                because of a disability and for the child who is denied 
                the chance to get an education because of the way he 
                was born. It goes on for the 1 billion people with 
                disabilities worldwide who all too often cannot attend 
                school, find work, access medical care, or receive fair 
                treatment. These injustices are an affront to our 
                shared humanity--which is why the United States has 
                joined 153 other countries around the world in signing 
                the Convention on the Rights of Persons with 
                Disabilities, which calls on all nations to establish 
                protections and liberties like those afforded under the 
                Americans with Disabilities Act. While Americans with 
                disabilities already enjoy these rights at home, they 
                frequently face barriers when they travel, conduct 
                business, study, or reside overseas. Ratifying the 
                Convention in the Senate would reaffirm America's 
                position as the global leader on disability rights and 
                better position us to encourage progress toward 
                inclusion, equal opportunity, full participation, 
                independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for 
                persons with disabilities worldwide.

                We have come far in the long march to achieve equal 
                opportunity for all. But even as we partner with 
                countries across the globe in affirming universal human 
                rights, we know our work will not be finished until the 
                inherent dignity and worth of all persons with 
                disabilities is guaranteed. Today, let us renew our 
                commitment to meeting that challenge here in the United 
                States, and let us redouble our efforts to build new 
                paths to participation, empowerment, and progress 
                around the world.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, 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 December 3, 2012, as 
                International Day of Persons with Disabilities. I call 
                on all Americans to observe this day with appropriate 
                ceremonies, activities, and programs.

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                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                third day of December, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2012-29704
Filed 12-5-12; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F3