[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 242 (Monday, December 19, 2022)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 77465-77466]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27598]


 
 
                         Presidential Documents 
 
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 242 / Monday, December 19, 2022 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 77465]]


                Proclamation 10507 of December 14, 2022

                
Bill of Rights Day, 2022

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                With three simple words--``We the People''--the United 
                States Constitution set in motion the most 
                extraordinary experiment in self-governance that the 
                world has ever known. The Bill of Rights made this 
                possible, ensuring ratification by every State then in 
                our new Nation. On Bill of Rights Day, we celebrate the 
                fundamental American freedoms enshrined in those first 
                10 Amendments to our Constitution and recommit to 
                making the full promise of America real for all 
                Americans.

                The Bill of Rights embodies a core American strength: 
                the capacity for compromise and self-improvement. By 
                codifying fundamental freedoms, it won over States 
                skeptical of a Federal Government at the time of our 
                founding and proved our Constitution to be a living 
                document, capable of evolving to perfect our Union. The 
                basic rights it guarantees--to religion, speech, press, 
                privacy, and more--have come to define our Nation. And 
                in the over two centuries since their enumeration, 17 
                other Amendments have been ratified--ending slavery, 
                ensuring equal protection under the law, giving women 
                the right to vote, banning poll taxes, and more--
                opening the door of opportunity a little wider with 
                each generation.

                But freedom is not free--it requires constant 
                vigilance. And nothing about our democracy is 
                guaranteed. Every generation has had to defend our 
                Constitution, including ours today. The right to 
                choose--grounded in the 14th Amendment, enshrined in a 
                half-century of precedent, and relied on for 
                generations--is now under assault. A wave of anti-
                LGBTQI+ bills is attacking Americans' freedom to be 
                themselves. In recent years, at least 20 States have 
                passed laws that make it harder to vote. And we have 
                seen new threats to the rule of law that disregard the 
                will of the people.

                At the same time, we have also seen tens of millions of 
                Americans stand up to protect our rights and stand 
                against any of these attempts to take our country 
                backwards. I am determined to be a partner in that 
                work. My Administration has taken immediate action to 
                protect reproductive health care, access to 
                contraception, the privacy of sensitive health 
                information, and more; and we will keep fighting to 
                pass a Federal law restoring every woman's right to 
                choose. I was also proud to sign the Respect for 
                Marriage Act this month and will keep working to 
                advance equality for LGBTQI+ communities, fighting to 
                pass the Equality Act, and building on Executive Orders 
                tackling discrimination in health care, foster care, 
                housing, schools, and more. And because voting is 
                democracy's threshold liberty--a sacred right on which 
                all our other freedoms rely--I am pushing for new 
                investments to secure voting sites and equipment and to 
                recruit and train election workers. I issued an 
                Executive Order directing Federal agencies to expand 
                access to voter registration. I appointed top civil 
                rights advocates to the Department of Justice, which 
                has separately doubled its own voting rights staff. And 
                I will keep pushing to pass the John Lewis Voting 
                Rights Advancement and Freedom to Vote Acts, as well as 
                the Electoral Count Reform Act, to make voting easier 
                and our democracy more secure.

                The Bill of Rights consecrates twin American ideals of 
                equality and democracy. They are the rock on which our 
                Nation is built and the reasons

[[Page 77466]]

                why America has long been a beacon to the world. Our 
                democracy will be preserved not just in courts of law 
                but also in people's habits of heart. It lives in our 
                national character, courage, and optimism and in the 
                fundamental empathy that underlies our system of 
                government--a willingness to see each other not as 
                enemies but as fellow citizens with equal rights. 
                Today, we recommit to defending and extending that 
                promise to everyone.

                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 December 15, 
                2022, as Bill of Rights Day. I call upon the people of 
                the United States to observe this day with appropriate 
                ceremonies and activities.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                fourteenth day of December, 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-
                seventh.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2022-27598
Filed 12-16-22; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P