[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 12 (Thursday, January 19, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 3285-3286]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-01096]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 12 / Thursday, January 19, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 3285]]


                Proclamation 10514 of January 13, 2023

                
Religious Freedom Day, 2023

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                On Religious Freedom Day, we reflect on our right to 
                practice, pray, and preach our faiths peacefully and 
                openly. Across the country, we practice many different 
                religions. We celebrate many different traditions. And 
                we honor our faiths in many different ways and places--
                from churches, to mosques, to synagogues, to temples. 
                This religious freedom--this freedom to practice 
                religion fully and freely or to practice no religion at 
                all--is enshrined in our Constitution. And together we 
                must continue to preserve and protect it.

                This effort is as important now as it has ever been. In 
                the United States, we are facing a rising tide of 
                antisemitism and renewed attacks against certain 
                religious groups. Across the world, minority 
                communities--including Uyghurs, Rohingya, Ahmadiyya 
                Muslims, Jews, Christians, Bah[aacute]'[iacute]s, 
                Yezidis, atheists, and humanists--continue to face 
                intimidation, violence, and unequal protection under 
                the law. This hate is harmful to our communities and 
                countries, and it is on all of us to speak out and stop 
                it.

                That is exactly what my Administration is doing. We 
                established the Protecting Places of Worship 
                Interagency Policy Committee last January, and 
                implemented the largest-ever increase in funding for 
                the physical security of non-profits--including 
                churches, gurdwaras, mosques, synagogues, temples, and 
                other houses of worship. In my 2023 Budget proposal, I 
                called for another large increase in funding for this 
                key program. In September, we hosted the United We 
                Stand Summit, the first White House summit on combating 
                hate-motivated violence, including violence on the 
                basis of religion. In December, I established a new 
                interagency group to increase and better coordinate the 
                Federal Government's efforts to counter antisemitism, 
                Islamophobia, and other forms of bias and 
                discrimination within the United States. As its first 
                order of business, this group is developing a national 
                strategy to fight antisemitism. To build bridges across 
                beliefs and backgrounds, the White House Office of 
                Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships is 
                collaborating with diverse faith and community leaders 
                on a range of projects--including helping families 
                recover from disasters, distributing COVID-19 vaccines, 
                improving maternal and child health, and resettling 
                refugees across the United States.

                The United States is also speaking out and standing up 
                against religious persecution around the world. Last 
                year, my Administration provided $20 million to help 
                promote religious freedom and protections for members 
                of religious minorities globally, including helping 
                ensure that people everywhere can practice their faiths 
                free from fear. I appointed Rashad Hussain as 
                Ambassador at Large for International Religious 
                Freedom--the first Muslim to hold this post--and 
                Deborah Lipstadt, a Holocaust expert, as the first 
                Ambassador-level Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat 
                Antisemitism. As a founding member of the International 
                Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, we also have 
                coordinated with partners around the world to promote 
                the rights of religious minority groups and combat 
                persecution. And we are ensuring that United States 
                diplomats continue to receive training on religious 
                freedom and its central importance to our work.

[[Page 3286]]

                Faith has sustained me throughout my life. For me and 
                for so many others, it serves as a reminder of both our 
                collective purpose and potential in the world. But for 
                far too many people within our borders and beyond, 
                practicing their faith still means facing fear and 
                persecution. Today, let us recommit ourselves to ending 
                this hate. And let us work together to ensure that 
                people of all religions--and no religion--are treated 
                with equal dignity and respect.

                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 laws of 
                the United States, do hereby proclaim January 16, 2023, 
                as Religious Freedom Day.

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

[FR Doc. 2023-01096
Filed 1-18-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P