[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 6, 2013)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 14631-14632]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-05396]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 44 / Wednesday, March 6, 2013 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 14631]]


                Proclamation 8939 of March 1, 2013

                
100th Anniversary of the United States Department 
                of Labor

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                On March 4, 1913, President William Howard Taft signed 
                a bill establishing the United States Department of 
                Labor--an agency charged with promoting the welfare of 
                American workers and ensuring their efforts are 
                rewarded with fair wages and real protections. After 
                decades of struggle by labor leaders and ordinary 
                citizens, the Department took up the cause of justice 
                in the workplace and lifted it to the highest halls of 
                government.

                Over the course of a century, the Department of Labor 
                has fought to secure strong safeguards for workers and 
                their families. It helped lay the cornerstones of 
                middle class security, from the 40-hour work week and 
                the minimum wage to family leave and pensions. As the 
                agency once led by our Nation's first female Cabinet 
                Secretary, the Department has broken down barriers to 
                equal opportunity in the workplace. And for decades, it 
                has improved worker safety and health and aggressively 
                combated child labor at home and abroad.

                Today, the Department of Labor is working to restore 
                the basic bargain that built our country: that no 
                matter what you look like or where you come from, if 
                you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can 
                get ahead. It is forging new ladders of opportunity so 
                a generation of workers can get the 21st century skills 
                and training they need. And to preserve a century's 
                progress in labor rights, the Department will continue 
                to ensure hardworking Americans always have a voice in 
                government and on the job.

                On this centennial, we recognize the dedicated public 
                servants at the Department of Labor who have helped 
                move our country forward, and we reaffirm our 
                commitment to giving America's workers the chance to 
                build a brighter future for themselves and their 
                families.

                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 March 4, 2013, as the 
                100th Anniversary of the United States Department of 
                Labor. I call upon all Americans to observe this day 
                with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities 
                that recognize the United States Department of Labor 
                for upholding dignity in our workplaces and our way of 
                life.

[[Page 14632]]

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

[FR Doc. 2013-05396
Filed 3-5-13; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F3