[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 128, 113th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
PROCLAMATION 9092--MAR. 28, 2014

Proclamation 9092 of March 28, 2014

Cesar Chavez Day, 2014

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

On Cesar Chavez Day, we celebrate one of America's greatest champions
for social justice. Raised into the life of a migrant farm worker,

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he toiled alongside men, women, and children who performed daily,
backbreaking labor for meager pay and in deplorable conditions. They
were exposed to dangerous pesticides and denied the most basic
protections, including minimum wages, health care, and access to
drinking water. Cesar Chavez devoted his life to correcting these
injustices, to reminding us that every job has dignity, every life has
value, and everyone--no matter who you are, what you look like, or where
you come from--should have the chance to get ahead.
After returning from naval service during World War II, Cesar Chavez
fought for freedom in American agricultural fields. Alongside Dolores
Huerta, he founded the United Farm Workers, and through decades of
tireless organizing, even in the face of intractable opposition, he grew
a movement to advance ``La Causa'' across the country. In 1966, he led a
march that began in Delano, California, with a handful of activists and
ended in Sacramento with a crowd 10,000 strong. A grape boycott
eventually drew 17 million supporters nationwide, forcing growers to
accept some of the first farm worker contracts in history. A generation
of organizers rose to carry that legacy forward.
The values Cesar Chavez lived by guide us still. As we push to fix a
broken immigration system, protect the right to unionize, advance social
justice for young men of color, and build ladders of opportunity for
every American to climb, we recall his resilience through setbacks, his
refusal to scale back his dreams. When we organize against income
inequality and fight to raise the minimum wage--because no one who works
full time should have to live in poverty--we draw strength from his
vision and example.
Throughout his lifelong struggle, Cesar Chavez never forgot who he was
fighting for. ``What [the growers] don't know,'' he said, ``is that it's
not bananas or grapes or lettuce. It's people.'' Today, let us honor
Cesar Chavez and those who marched with him by meeting our obligations
to one another. I encourage Americans to make this a national day of
service and education by speaking out, organizing, and participating in
service projects to improve lives in their communities. Let us remember
that when we lift each other up, when we speak with one voice, we have
the power to build a better world.
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 March 31, 2014, as
Cesar Chavez Day. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with
appropriate service, community, and education programs to honor Cesar
Chavez's enduring legacy.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day
of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
eighth.
BARACK OBAMA