[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 13 (Thursday, January 20, 2022)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 3023-3024]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01163]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 13 / Thursday, January 20, 2022 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 3023]]


                Proclamation 10335 of January 14, 2022

                
Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2022

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                On a late summer day in 1963, Reverend Dr. Martin 
                Luther King, Jr., stood on the National Mall before 
                hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who had gathered 
                to march for freedom, justice, and equality. On that 
                day, Dr. King shared a dream that has continued to 
                inspire a Nation: To bring justice where there is 
                injustice, freedom where there is oppression, peace 
                where there is violence, and opportunity where there is 
                poverty. Today, people of all backgrounds continue that 
                march--raising their voices to confront abuses of 
                power, challenge hate and discrimination, protect the 
                right to vote, and access quality jobs, health care, 
                housing, and education. On this day, we reflect on the 
                legacy of a man who issued a call to the conscience of 
                our Nation and our world.

                Dr. King pushed us to see ourselves in one another, 
                recognizing that we are ``caught in an inescapable 
                network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of 
                destiny.'' He reminded us that we have a duty to uphold 
                our founding ideals and work to perfect our Union. 
                Through bus boycotts, restaurant sit-ins, freedom 
                rides, and marches, the movement that Dr. King helped 
                lead used non-violent protest and civil disobedience to 
                advance the call for justice. He was jailed dozens of 
                times for his efforts, but Dr. King's commitment to 
                justice never wavered. From a Birmingham jail, he 
                reminded us that ``human progress never rolls in on 
                wheels of inevitability . . . injustice must be rooted 
                out by strong, persistent, and determined action.''

                Living up to his legacy, and what Dr. King believed our 
                Nation could become requires more than just 
                reflection--it requires action. We must protect the 
                hard-fought gains he helped achieve and continue his 
                unfinished struggle. That is why the Congress must pass 
                Federal legislation to protect the right to vote--a 
                right that is under attack by a sinister combination of 
                voter suppression and election subversion. We must 
                confront the scourge of racism and white supremacy--a 
                stain on our Nation--and give hate no safe harbor in 
                America. We must strive to achieve not just political 
                equality but also economic justice so that workers can 
                earn a decent living, students can learn safely, the 
                sick can access health care, the poor can climb out of 
                poverty, the elderly can age with dignity, and everyone 
                in America can live without discrimination or fear.

                Just as in Dr. King's time, there are those who now say 
                that change would be too disruptive and that these 
                urgent needs can wait. But we must resist complacency, 
                summon new resolve to advance the cause of freedom and 
                opportunity, and do our part to bend the arc of the 
                moral universe toward justice. This is the cause of our 
                time. We are at an inflection point in our history--in 
                the midst of a battle for the very soul of our Nation. 
                We all must find the courage to keep pushing forward in 
                our struggle to realize Dr. King's dream for a freer, 
                fairer, and more just society. We must keep the faith 
                in that righteous cause--and in each other.

                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 Monday, 
                January 17, 2022, as the Martin Luther King, Jr., 
                Federal Holiday. I encourage all

[[Page 3024]]

                Americans to observe this day with appropriate civic, 
                community, and service projects in honor of Dr. King 
                and to visit www.MLKDay.gov to find Martin Luther King, 
                Jr., Day of Service projects across our country.

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

[FR Doc. 2022-01163
Filed 1-19-22; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F2-P