[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 3, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 22899-22900]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07196]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 89 , No. 65 / Wednesday, April 3, 2024 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 22899]]


                Proclamation 10723 of March 29, 2024

                
C[eacute]sar Ch[aacute]vez Day, 2024

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Today, as we honor C[eacute]sar Ch[aacute]vez's life 
                and legacy, we recommit to fulfilling the fundamental 
                vision of La Causa: to give every worker the dignity 
                and respect they deserve and ensure everyone has a fair 
                shot at the American Dream.

                C[eacute]sar Ch[aacute]vez defined extraordinary moral 
                courage. He was a migrant farm worker who spent long, 
                strenuous hours working in the fields. He and his 
                fellow workers received unlivable wages and labored in 
                unjust working conditions. Even then, a man of 
                unyielding faith and an immovable spirit, Ch[aacute]vez 
                saw every reason to pursue what he knew was the truth 
                of this country: The people who put food on America's 
                tables and sustain our Nation deserve their fair share.

                Alongside legendary activist Dolores Huerta, he founded 
                the United Farm Workers. Ever since beginning their 
                work in 1962, this union has led legendary marches, 
                strikes, and boycotts. Ch[aacute]vez himself knocked on 
                doors for years and fasted for weeks on end to bring 
                light to issues facing farm workers. Together, they 
                made historic progress, like earning farm workers the 
                right to collectively bargain and ensuring safe working 
                conditions and better pay. As a leader, Ch[aacute]vez 
                not only empowered tens of thousands of farm workers to 
                make their voices heard, he also inspired an entire 
                generation of Latino leaders to forge a better future 
                for all of us.

                I am proud to keep a bust of C[eacute]sar Ch[aacute]vez 
                in the Oval Office. It is a daily reminder of our 
                shared commitment to America's workers and our labor 
                unions. My dad used to say that a job is about a lot 
                more than a paycheck--it is about dignity. But if the 
                paycheck is insufficient and the working conditions are 
                subpar, a job can never offer someone the dignity they 
                deserve. That is why since day one of my 
                Administration, I have been working to build an economy 
                that works for everyone--one that grows from the middle 
                out and the bottom up, not the top down. So far, the 
                economy has created nearly 15 million jobs--one of the 
                greatest job creation periods in our Nation's history. 
                Unemployment has been below 4 percent for the longest 
                stretch in 50 years. America's support for unions is 
                higher today than at any time in nearly 60 years. All 
                of this progress is proof that when America's unions do 
                well, we all do well.

                I am also proud to be the most pro-worker and pro-union 
                President in American history. Since I took office, the 
                Department of Labor has recovered over $21 million in 
                back pay and damages, ensuring that nearly 26,000 farm 
                workers received the wages they earned. My 
                Administration proposed a new rule last year that would 
                extend overtime pay to as many as 3.6 million workers, 
                ensuring that they are compensated fairly for the hours 
                they spend at work. I also signed into law the Butch 
                Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act, which protects 
                pensions for millions of union workers--one of the most 
                significant achievements for union workers and retirees 
                in over 50 years. The Department of Labor is also 
                working to protect workers exposed to extreme heat, 
                including conducting targeted inspections in industries 
                with high incidences of heat-related illnesses. They 
                published a rule that strengthens services to migrant 
                and seasonal farm workers by

[[Page 22900]]

                increasing outreach to farm workers and requiring that 
                outreach field visits involve conversations about farm 
                workers' rights and protections.

                Migrant workers can find helpful resources and more 
                information about their employment-related rights in 
                America at MigrantWorker.gov or Trabajadormigrante.gov. 
                These websites have information about recruitment, 
                working in America, returning home safely, and more.

                I know that there is still work to be done to ensure 
                that we are taking care of our workers. We need to 
                finally provide undocumented farm workers a pathway to 
                citizenship. That is why I continue to call on the 
                Congress to pass the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. 
                I also believe every worker in America should have the 
                free and fair choice to join a union or organize and 
                bargain collectively without employer intimidation or 
                coercion. That is why I encouraged the Congress to pass 
                the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. I remain 
                steadfast in my call to ensure paid sick leave for 
                every worker in America and to improve conditions for 
                people who work on farms and ranches and across the 
                food and agricultural industry.

                C[eacute]sar Ch[aacute]vez once said about the power of 
                La Causa: ``Once social change begins it cannot be 
                reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has 
                learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who 
                feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not 
                afraid anymore . . . you cannot stamp out a people's 
                cause.'' On this day, we recognize that C[eacute]sar 
                Ch[aacute]vez and his fellow farm workers made progress 
                that can never be taken back. They fought for a sacred 
                cause that continues to beat in the hearts of the 
                American people: Every worker--no matter who they are, 
                where they are from, or what they do--deserves 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 the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 
                2024, as C[eacute]sar Ch[aacute]vez Day. I call upon 
                all Americans to observe this day as a day of service 
                and learning with appropriate service, community, and 
                education programs to honor C[eacute]sar E. 
                Ch[aacute]vez's enduring legacy.

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

[FR Doc. 2024-07196
Filed 4-2-24; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P