    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 124, 111th Congress, 2nd Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    PROCLAMATION 8495--APR. 9, 2010

    Proclamation 8495 of April 9, 2010
    Pan American Day and Pan American Week, 2010
    By the President of the United States of America
    A Proclamation

    More than 200 years of history and significant current events have
    reinforced the strong bonds of friendship and common purpose among the
    nations and people of the Americas. The year 2010 marks the 80th
    anniversary of the first Pan American Day Proclamation; the centennial
    anniversary of the dedication of the Organization of American States'
    headquarters, the Pan American Union Building; and the bicentennials of
    four of our fellow republics: Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and Chile.
    These milestones remind us of our shared histories of independence and
    interdependence, and of our long and arduous journeys toward the just,
    free, inclusive, and prosperous nations our founders envisioned. My
    Administration is committed to building strong partnerships in the
    Americas. We are focused on supporting social and economic opportunity,
    ensuring the safety of our citizens, strengthening democratic
    institutions and accountability, and building a secure and clean energy
    future. This is the message members of the Administration are carrying
    with them throughout the Americas, and the United States will focus on
    these principles as we partner with friends and neighbors across the
    Americas.
    Our combined response to this year's devastating earthquakes in Haiti
    and Chile demonstrates the enduring strength of Pan American solidarity.
    As we mourn these tragic losses of life, hope prevails in our
    hemisphere's extraordinary assistance to the Haitian and Chilean
    peoples. The United States will continue to support these reconstruction
    efforts.
    As we commemorate this year's special anniversaries and take note of our
    combined rescue and relief efforts, let us reaffirm the vision President
    Franklin Delano Roosevelt expressed at the 1936 Inter-American

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    Conference for the Maintenance of Peace: ``We took from our ancestors a
    great dream. We here offer it back as a great unified reality.'' Once
    again, we stand ready to usher in a new era of cooperation to advance
    the security, prosperity, and liberty of all our peoples.
    NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, 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 April 14, 2010, as Pan
    American Day and April 11 through 17 as Pan American Week. I urge the
    Governors of the 50 States, the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto
    Rico, and the officials of other areas under the flag of the United
    States of America to honor these observances with appropriate ceremonies
    and activities.
    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of April,
    in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the
    United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.
    BARACK OBAMA