[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 4, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 68441-68443]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22243]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 4, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 68441]]


                Proclamation 10642 of September 29, 2023

                
Child Health Day, 2023

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                To build a future worthy of our children's highest 
                aspirations, we must ensure they have the resources and 
                support they need to thrive. This Child Health Day, we 
                recommit to helping our children live healthy lives so 
                they can reach their highest potential.

                Our most fundamental obligation to our children is to 
                keep them safe. The devastating truth is that firearms 
                are the leading cause of death for children in America. 
                That is unacceptable. Kids and parents should not live 
                in fear of everyday places turning into warzones. That 
                is why I signed the most significant gun safety law in 
                nearly 30 years to keep guns out of dangerous hands. I 
                have also taken more meaningful executive action than 
                any President in history to keep communities safe. And 
                I recently established the first-ever White House 
                Office of Gun Violence Prevention to build upon these 
                measures.

                My Administration has invested billions of dollars to 
                improve mental health services for young people, 
                including hiring and training more school mental health 
                counselors so young people can get the care they need. 
                I have heard from parents, teachers, nurses, and kids 
                across the country about the mental health crisis among 
                youth in their communities. Tackling the mental health 
                crisis and the many ways it affects our communities is 
                a part of my Unity Agenda--one of the big things we can 
                come together as a society to solve. Our American 
                Rescue Plan made our Nation's biggest-ever investment 
                in mental health and substance use programs--
                recruiting, training, and supporting more providers at 
                the State and local levels, including in our schools. 
                Our gun safety law also expands the number of Certified 
                Community Behavioral Health Clinics that deliver 24/7 
                care.

                My Administration is also taking steps to make it 
                easier for schools to use Medicaid to deliver mental 
                health care. And we launched 988, the Nation's new 
                Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, so anyone in the midst of 
                a crisis can receive free life-saving, confidential 
                help right away. My Administration is working to 
                fulfill our promise of full mental health parity for 
                all Americans. This includes a new proposed rule that 
                would require insurers to identify gaps in the mental 
                health care they provide and address any differences 
                between the way they cover mental health care and 
                physical health care, as a way to reach any American 
                who may need help. Further, we must do more to make the 
                Internet a safe place for children. I have called on 
                the Congress to limit the personal data that tech 
                companies collect, ban targeted advertising directed at 
                minors, and require social media platforms to put 
                health and safety first, especially for kids. And to 
                protect our children's physical health, my 
                Administration has taken steps to remove thousands of 
                flavored e-cigarettes from the market, which are known 
                to be particularly addictive to children.

[[Page 68442]]

                No parent or caregiver should have to lie awake at 
                night wondering how they will find the means to care 
                for a child's most basic needs--whether it is paying 
                for a trip to the emergency room or putting a healthy 
                meal on their table. Our Inflation Reduction Act is 
                lowering costs for Americans, saving millions of 
                families $800 a year on health care premiums. My 
                Administration also modernized the Thrifty Food Plan 
                for the first time since 1975, helping millions of 
                families afford a nutritious, practical, cost-effective 
                diet. And we are working toward our goal of expanding 
                free school meals to 9 million more children by 2032--a 
                first major step toward free healthy school meals for 
                all.

                In 2021, we slashed child poverty rates by nearly half 
                for all children in this Nation--driven by our 
                expansion of the Child Tax Credit, which helped 
                millions of families afford basic necessities. We 
                reauthorized and reinvested in the Maternal, Infant, 
                and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, which has 
                been shown to improve maternal and child health and 
                advance child development and readiness to participate 
                in school. We know that investments like these can 
                improve children's health outcomes throughout their 
                lifetimes, which is why I am continuing to fight to 
                restore the expanded Child Tax Credit.

                We also recognize that addressing the climate crisis is 
                critical to protecting our children's futures. Parents 
                across the Nation have told me unforgettable stories of 
                environmental injustice--living near factories and 
                seeing the paint on their cars peel off because the air 
                was so corrosive, drinking water contaminated by 
                nitrates and arsenic, and feeling fear when their 
                children play outside in toxic air and rain. The peril 
                these families face opposes everything we stand for as 
                a Nation--and it is a big reason why my Administration 
                has taken on the most ambitious climate and 
                environmental justice agenda in American history.

                Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, I am working 
                to replace every single lead pipe in America because 
                everyone should be able to turn on a faucet at home or 
                at school and drink clean and safe water. My Inflation 
                Reduction Act makes the most significant investment in 
                climate ever, which includes investing in air quality 
                sensors near factories so nearby communities can know 
                how safe their air is. And we made a commitment to 
                conserve 30 percent of all our Nation's lands and 
                waters by 2030 so that we can protect our natural 
                wonders for the ages.

                Children are the kite strings that keep our national 
                ambitions aloft--they are the dreamers and doers that 
                will one day lead our Nation forward. It is up to all 
                of us to make sure they grow up happy and healthy, they 
                are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve, 
                and their futures are full of endless possibilities. 
                May we continue to care for children's health and, in 
                turn, create a better future for our Nation.

                The Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 18, 
                1928, as amended (36 U.S.C. 105), has called for the 
                designation of the first Monday in October as Child 
                Health Day and has requested that the President issue a 
                proclamation in observance of this day.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, do hereby proclaim 
                Monday, October 2, 2023, as Child Health Day. I call 
                upon families, child health professionals, faith-based 
                and community organizations, and governments to help 
                ensure that America's children stay safe and healthy.

[[Page 68443]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-ninth 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. 2023-22243
Filed 10-3-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P