[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 187 (Thursday, September 28, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 67049-67050]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-21638]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 187 / Thursday, September 28, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 67049]]


                Proclamation 10629 of September 22, 2023

                
Asian American and Native American Pacific 
                Islander-Serving Institutions Week, 2023

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                During National Asian American and Native American 
                Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs) Week, 
                we celebrate all the possibilities that these 
                institutions unlock for Asian American, Native 
                Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) students, 
                particularly those from low-income, first-generation, 
                and underrepresented backgrounds. Every generation of 
                Americans has benefited by opening the doors of 
                opportunity to include those who have been left behind. 
                By putting higher education within reach of AA and NHPI 
                students, our Nation's nearly 200 AANAPISIs embody my 
                belief that diversity is our strength as a Nation.

                For so many, higher education is a ticket to a better 
                life. But while talent, creativity, and determination 
                are found in people all across this country, not 
                everyone has an equal shot at higher education. AA and 
                NHPI communities encompass more than 50 ethnicities 
                with a variety of identities, cultures, histories, and 
                backgrounds--many come from lower-income backgrounds, 
                or are the first in their family to graduate college, 
                indigenous, or recent immigrants, or have faced a 
                legacy of discrimination in our Nation. That is why the 
                work of our AANAPISIs is so critical for broadening the 
                opportunity of higher education to more Americans and 
                realizing the full potential of AA and NHPI 
                communities.

                AANAPISIs enroll nearly half of all AA and NHPI 
                undergraduates, and they confer almost 50 percent of 
                associate degrees and nearly 30 percent of 
                baccalaureate degrees of all AA and NHPI students. 
                These vital institutions empower students to earn 
                degrees and reach their full potential while providing 
                culturally responsive services and culturally 
                sustaining programs that include tutoring, advising, 
                career development and counseling, and more. With the 
                Supreme Court's recent decision to effectively end 
                affirmative action in college admissions, the work to 
                make higher education accessible to all is as essential 
                as ever. We need to keep open the doors of 
                opportunities and ensure that the promise of America is 
                big enough for everyone to succeed.

                My Administration is committed to strengthening these 
                critical institutions and supporting our Nation's AA 
                and NHPI communities. Through the American Rescue Plan, 
                we have invested $5 billion in AANAPISIs. Further, I 
                re-established the White House Initiative on Asian 
                Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, and 
                I released a National Strategy to Advance Equity, 
                Justice, and Opportunity for AA and NHPI Communities--
                addressing everything from combating anti-Asian hate to 
                making Government services more accessible.

                We are also fighting to make higher education more 
                affordable for students across the country. My 
                Administration has increased Pell Grants for low-income 
                families by the largest amount in over a decade and 
                fixed the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program so 
                borrowers who become teachers, police officers, social 
                workers, service members, and other public servants get 
                the debt relief they are entitled to under the law. 
                When the Supreme Court wrongly struck down our most 
                ambitious student debt relief plan

[[Page 67050]]

                ever, we moved immediately to open an alternative path 
                to debt relief that could further reduce costs for many 
                AA and NHPI borrowers. My Saving on a Valuable 
                Education (SAVE) plan will cut payments on 
                undergraduate loans in half, bring many low-income 
                borrowers' loan payments to $0 per month, and provide 
                early forgiveness for borrowers with low balances.

                This generation of students is the most gifted, 
                talented, and tolerant in American history--and it is 
                up to all of us to give them the resources and 
                opportunity they need to reach their full potential. 
                During Asian American and Native American Pacific 
                Islander-Serving Institutions Week, may we recommit to 
                supporting these institutions as they raise the next 
                generation of AA and NHPI dreamers and doers.

                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 September 25 
                through October 1, 2023, as Asian American and Native 
                American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions Week. I 
                call on public officials, educators, and all the people 
                of the United States to observe this week with 
                appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that 
                acknowledge the many ways these institutions and their 
                graduates contribute to our country.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-second day of September, 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-
                eighth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2023-21638
Filed 9-27-23; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P