[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 119 (Thursday, June 22, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 40679-40680]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-13410]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 88 , No. 119 / Thursday, June 22, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 40679]]


                Proclamation 10598 of June 16, 2023

                
Juneteenth Day of Observance, 2023

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                One of my proudest actions as President has been 
                signing the bipartisan law establishing Juneteenth as 
                the first new Federal holiday since the Dr. Martin 
                Luther King, Jr. holiday nearly four decades ago. On 
                this Juneteenth Day of Observance, we commemorate 
                America's dedication to the cause of freedom.

                On June 19, 1865--months after the Civil War ended and 
                more than 2 years after President Lincoln signed the 
                Emancipation Proclamation freeing enslaved people--
                Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to free 
                250,000 people still held in bondage. The arrival of 
                Major General Gordon Granger and his troops signaled 
                that the Federal Government would not relent until the 
                last enslaved people in America were free.

                On Juneteenth, we commemorate that day and honor the 
                tireless work of abolitionists who made it their 
                mission to deliver the promise of America for all 
                Americans. We honor the generations of activists who 
                have advanced the need for our Nation to recognize 
                Juneteenth as a way to reconcile our past as we build a 
                new American future together--advocates like former 
                State Representative Al Edwards, who authored the bill 
                that made Texas the first state to designate Juneteenth 
                a holiday, and Ms. Opal Lee, known as the grandmother 
                of Juneteenth, who joined me at the bill signing that 
                finally made it a Federal holiday.

                Importantly, making Juneteenth a Federal holiday was 
                only one part of my Administration's efforts to advance 
                racial equity and ensure that America lives up to its 
                highest ideals. With the expansion of the Child Tax 
                Credit under the American Rescue Plan, we cut Black 
                child poverty by half. From historic laws in my 
                Investing in America agenda--in infrastructure, 
                advanced manufacturing and clean energy, and lower 
                prescription drug costs--to historic investments in 
                Historically Black Colleges and Universities, our 
                Nation is in the midst of rebuilding an economy from 
                the middle out and the bottom up, instead of the top 
                down. As a result, Black unemployment has been at a 
                historic low and we are increasing access to affordable 
                homeownership for Black Americans and combating bias in 
                the home appraisal process. We are building a Federal 
                bench that looks like America, with more Black women 
                confirmed as circuit court judges than every other 
                Presidency combined. I have taken action on marijuana 
                reform by pardoning prior District of Columbia and 
                Federal simple marijuana possession offenses and 
                directed a review of marijuana scheduling. With the 
                support of families, civil rights leaders, and law 
                enforcement, I signed a historic Executive Order on 
                police reform at the Federal level. And we passed the 
                most significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years. My 
                Administration's student debt relief plan that would 
                provide $10,000 in relief for eligible borrowers and 
                $20,000 in relief for borrowers who received Pell 
                Grants is a critical step forward--among Black 
                undergraduate borrowers, 70 percent received a Pell 
                Grant. And in this Administration, we make it clear 
                that history matters. Black history and Black stories 
                will not be erased, denied, or banned from our Nation's 
                conscience no matter how hard people may try.

[[Page 40680]]

                But we know there is more to do. As we observe 
                Juneteenth, we remind ourselves of the sacred 
                proposition rooted in Scripture and enshrined in our 
                Declaration of Independence: that we are all created 
                equal in the image of God and each of us deserves to be 
                treated equally throughout our lives. That is the 
                promise of America that every generation is charged to 
                keep alive. While the opposition may seem fierce and 
                the fire of conflict may be intense, the story of 
                Juneteenth reveals that freedom, justice, and equality 
                will always prevail.

                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 June 19, 2023, 
                as Juneteenth Day of Observance. I call upon the people 
                of the United States to acknowledge and condemn the 
                history of slavery in our Nation and recognize how the 
                impact of America's original sin remains. I call on 
                every American to celebrate Juneteenth and recommit to 
                working together to eradicate systemic racism and 
                inequity in our society wherever they find it.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                sixteenth day of June, 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. 2023-13410
Filed 6-21-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P