[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 121 (Monday, June 24, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 52997-52998]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-13963]



[[Page 52995]]

Vol. 89

Monday,

No. 121

June 24, 2024

Part IV





The President





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Proclamation 10778--Juneteenth Day of Observance, 2024
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  Federal Register / Vol. 89 , No. 121 / Monday, June 24, 2024 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

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                Proclamation 10778 of June 18, 2024

                
Juneteenth Day of Observance, 2024

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                On June 19, 1865, freedom finally came for the 250,000 
                enslaved people of Texas. That day, which would become 
                known as Juneteenth, the Army arrived to enforce what 
                had already been the law of the land for two and a half 
                years--the Emancipation Proclamation. Today, we 
                recognize that Juneteenth not only marks the end of 
                America's original sin of slavery but also the 
                beginning of the work at the heart and soul of our 
                Nation: making the promise of America real for every 
                American.

                One of my proudest moments as President was signing 
                into law Juneteenth as a new Federal holiday--the first 
                Federal holiday to be established since Dr. Martin 
                Luther King, Jr. Day four decades prior. Juneteenth is 
                an acknowledgment of the truth of our Nation's history. 
                It is about realizing the idea that America was founded 
                on: All people are created equal and deserve to be 
                treated equally throughout their lives. It is about the 
                generations of brave Black leaders and selfless 
                activists who never let us walk away from that idea, 
                including Ms. Opal Lee, whom I awarded the Medal of 
                Freedom for her work as the grandmother of Juneteenth, 
                and former State Representative Al Edwards, who 
                authored the bill to designate it a holiday in Texas.

                My Administration is working to ensure we continue to 
                deliver on that idea--creating a country that truly 
                stands for freedom, justice, dignity, and opportunity 
                for all. Today, record numbers of Black Americans have 
                jobs and health insurance, and Black business ownership 
                is growing at the fastest pace in over 30 years. We are 
                investing more money than ever in Black families and 
                communities. That includes the funding we are 
                delivering to support predominantly Black neighborhoods 
                that had been divided and left behind by segregation 
                and racial discrimination, the checks we delivered that 
                reduced Black child poverty to the lowest rate in 
                history, the changes we have made to the appraisals 
                process to root out biases that put Black homeowners at 
                a disadvantage, and the over $16 billion investment in 
                Historically Black Colleges and Universities so that we 
                can ensure the next generation of Black leaders has 
                equal opportunities for a quality education and 
                pathways for economic mobility. We are working to 
                rebuild and strengthen all of America by removing every 
                lead pipe across our country, delivering affordable 
                high-speed internet, forgiving $167 billion in student 
                loan debt, and creating good-paying jobs that you can 
                raise a family on. We are creating a new sense of pride 
                and dignity in communities across the country.

                As we work to make history, my Administration is also 
                working to tell our Nation's history instead of erasing 
                it. That is why I signed a law, which had been more 
                than 100 years in the making, to designate lynching as 
                a Federal hate crime. I designated the Emmett Till and 
                Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument to preserve 
                historic sites and cultural resources in Mississippi 
                and Illinois so that we never forget the brutal 
                lynching of Emmett Till in Mississippi in 1955 and the 
                subsequent courage of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, 
                who made sure our Nation would never forget her son. I 
                have honored some of our country's greatest Black 
                scholars, humanitarians, and artists, who dare to tell 
                the good, bad, and truth of

[[Page 52998]]

                our Nation. We are writing new chapters of our history, 
                and I am proud to have the most diverse Administration 
                ever to tap into the full talents of our Nation--
                including the first Black woman Vice President of the 
                United States, Kamala Harris--and to have appointed the 
                first Black woman as a Justice on the United States 
                Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson. Meanwhile, we are 
                also working to secure the right to vote--with which 
                anything is possible.

                On Juneteenth, may we celebrate the essence of freedom 
                that galvanized the country, the progress we have made 
                in our Nation, and all that is possible when we march 
                forward together. May we all recommit to redeeming the 
                very soul of America--choosing love over hate, unity 
                over division, and progress over retreat.

                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, 2024, 
                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 
                eighteenth day of June, 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. 2024-13963
Filed 6-21-24; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P