[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 119 (Tuesday, June 21, 2016)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 40471-40472]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-14844]



[[Page 40469]]

Vol. 81

Tuesday,

No. 119

June 21, 2016

Part IV





The President





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Proclamation 9463--National Week of Making, 2016
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  Federal Register / Vol. 81 , No. 119 / Tuesday, June 21, 2016 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

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                Proclamation 9463 of June 16, 2016

                
National Week of Making, 2016

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                The same American spirit of innovation and 
                entrepreneurship that has steered our Nation through 
                the industrial and digital revolutions--and led our 
                people to explore the depths of the oceans and the 
                distant planets in our solar system--has enabled us to 
                reimagine our world through new ideas and discoveries. 
                Since our earliest days, makers, artists, and inventors 
                have driven our economy and transformed how we live by 
                taking risks, collaborating, and drawing on their 
                talents and imaginations to make our Nation more 
                dynamic and interconnected. During National Week of 
                Making, we recommit to sparking the creative confidence 
                of all Americans and to giving them the skills, 
                mentors, and resources they need to harness their 
                passion and tackle some of our planet's greatest 
                challenges.

                Today, Americans of all ages have the ability to 
                connect and showcase their creativity through a growing 
                maker movement. Technologies like 3D printing and 
                desktop machine tools are rapidly lowering the costs of 
                production; additional sources of capital such as 
                crowdfunding are reducing barriers to getting started; 
                and the democratization of technology is empowering 
                more makers, helping to boost entrepreneurship and 
                stimulate American manufacturing. Over the last 6 
                years, we have added over 800,000 manufacturing jobs 
                and introduced next-generation manufacturing hubs. Just 
                as the personal computer and the Internet transformed 
                our Nation over the last several decades, these new 
                opportunities can inspire the next generation of 
                students, innovators, and entrepreneurs to carry 
                forward our legacy of ingenuity.

                In 2014, I launched the Nation of Makers initiative to 
                ensure more Americans of all ages and backgrounds have 
                greater opportunities to design, build, and 
                manufacture. My Administration is taking steps to 
                foster ``maker mindsets'' by promoting skills like 
                creative problem-solving, and to support the 
                development of collaborative maker spaces so aspiring 
                makers and manufacturers can turn their bold ideas into 
                realities. I am proud that so many people across our 
                country have already joined in this effort. Mayors have 
                hosted maker roundtables and town halls; Federal 
                agencies have worked with schools, libraries, 
                recreation centers, and museums to create maker spaces, 
                curricula, and tools to help students learn the design 
                process; and private businesses and other local 
                collaborators have empowered individuals with the 
                entrepreneurial resources and skills they need to 
                launch companies and sell their products.

                Together we must continue to expand opportunity for 
                generations to come by working to eliminate the digital 
                divide and reduce existing skill and confidence gaps. 
                We must prepare young people for the jobs of the future 
                by equipping them with the analytical skills needed to 
                solve problems and the computer science and hardware 
                development skills required to power our innovation 
                economy. It is critical that we support the types of 
                hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math 
                (STEM) learning experiences--in both formal and 
                informal environments--that students encounter through 
                making, which can help unlock their full potential and 
                ignite their enthusiasm for the careers of tomorrow. 
                That is why we are

[[Page 40472]]

                prioritizing investment in STEM teaching and active 
                learning, expanding access to rigorous STEM courses 
                like computer science, encouraging more opportunities 
                in communities of greatest need, and working to get 
                underrepresented students, including women and 
                minorities, involved to increase diversity in STEM 
                fields.

                Across our country, Americans are attending all types 
                of maker events and workshops--from studios in small 
                towns to the streets of our Nation's capital--to share 
                their incredible inventions and ideas with others and 
                to inspire all of us to join in the creative process. 
                As we celebrate the power of American ingenuity, I 
                invite communities to build on this progress by 
                encouraging citizens to be creators and by working 
                together to ensure that spaces for making are available 
                anywhere Americans live, work, play, and learn. This 
                week, let us turn today's sketches and dreams into 
                tomorrow's ``Made in America'' labels, and let us 
                embrace the audacious spirit of human curiosity that is 
                embedded in our DNA.

                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 June 17 through June 
                23, 2016, as National Week of Making. I call upon all 
                Americans to observe this week with programs, 
                ceremonies, celebrations, and activities that encourage 
                a new generation of makers and manufacturers to share 
                their talents, solutions, and skills.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                sixteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and fortieth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2016-14844
Filed 6-20-16; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F6-P