[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 5, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 55451-55452]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-21887]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 190 / Tuesday, October 5, 2021 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 55451]]


                Proclamation 10270 of September 30, 2021

                
National Disability Employment Awareness Month, 
                2021

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                When we passed the Americans with Disabilities Act 
                (ADA) 31 years ago, our Nation moved closer to 
                fulfilling its foundational promise of liberty, 
                justice, dignity, and equality for all. I was 
                enormously proud to co-sponsor the ADA as a member of 
                the United States Senate--a truly bipartisan effort 
                that was personal to millions of families. For more 
                than 60 million disabled Americans, the ADA is much 
                more than just a law. It provides a vital source of 
                opportunity and self-sufficiency, allows for increased 
                economic participation, and serves as a powerful shield 
                against discrimination in the workplace. National 
                Disability Employment Awareness Month is a chance for 
                us to celebrate workers with disabilities and recommit 
                ourselves to dismantling barriers to access and 
                inclusion in the workplace.

                This year, the Office of Disability Employment Policy 
                in the Department of Labor celebrates 20 years of 
                helping advance opportunity for workers with 
                disabilities across the Nation. As part of its mission, 
                the agency remains at the forefront of emerging 
                challenges in the workplace, such as developing 
                comprehensive resources to ensure that workers 
                grappling with the long-term effects of COVID-19 have 
                access to the rights and resources they are due under 
                disability law--including flexibilities, tools, and 
                accommodations in the workplace.

                Despite the progress our Nation has made in recent 
                decades, people with disabilities are still too often 
                marginalized and denied access to the American dream. 
                Americans with disabilities--particularly women and 
                people of color--have faced long-standing gaps in 
                employment, advancement, and income. The COVID-19 
                pandemic has compounded these inequities, as people 
                with disabilities have faced heightened risks--
                particularly the disproportionate share of people with 
                disabilities employed in the hardest-hit industries. 
                Our Nation will never fully recover and rebuild unless 
                every single community--including disabled Americans--
                is fully included.

                My Administration remains focused on ensuring that 
                every single American has the chance to thrive, 
                succeed, and contribute their talents. That is why I 
                have issued Executive Orders to advance diversity, 
                equity, inclusion, and accessibility to bolster career 
                paths and promote economic stability for Americans with 
                disabilities. I have proposed eliminating outdated, 
                discriminatory provisions in the Fair Labor Standards 
                Act that allow employers to pay disabled workers less 
                than the minimum wage. Young people with disabilities 
                in particular must be part of an inclusive economic 
                recovery so that they can find the fulfilling careers, 
                apprenticeships, and futures they deserve in every 
                industry; to that end, we must promote the technologies 
                and tools, as well as the attitudes, that foster 
                welcoming work environments for young Americans. Our 
                Nation's future will be brighter and more secure when 
                everyone is dealt into the economy we build together.

                All Americans should be proud that we have made 
                substantial progress since the days before the ADA--
                when an employer could refuse to hire you because of a 
                disability, when a person using a wheelchair could not 
                take a bus or a train to work, and when a person with a 
                disability could be denied service in a restaurant or 
                grocery store. Now, 31 years later,

[[Page 55452]]

                it is the shared responsibility of all of us to tear 
                down the barriers that remain for people with 
                disabilities and to ensure that all Americans have the 
                chance to find good jobs and build good lives--for 
                themselves and for the good of our entire Nation.

                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 the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 2021 
                as National Disability Employment Awareness Month. I 
                urge all Americans to embrace the talents and skills 
                that workers with disabilities bring to the national 
                recovery and to promote the right to equal employment 
                opportunity for all people.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirtieth day of September, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                sixth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2021-21887
Filed 10-4-21; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F2-P