[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 130, 114th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
Proclamation 9431 of April 28, 2016

Jewish American Heritage Month, 2016

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

At America's birth, our Founders fought off tyranny and declared a set
of ideals--including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness--that
would forever guide our country's course. For generations since, Jewish
Americans, having shared in the struggle for freedom, have been

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instrumental in ensuring our Nation stays true to the principles
enshrined in our founding documents. They have helped bring about
enduring progress in every aspect of our society, shaping our country's
character and embodying the values we hold dear. This month, as we pay
tribute to their indelible contributions, we recommit to ridding our
world of bigotry and injustice and reflect on the extraordinary ways in
which Jewish Americans have made our Union more perfect.
Many of the Jewish people who reached our Nation's shores throughout our
history did so fleeing the oppression they encountered in areas around
the world. Driven by the possibility of charting a freer future, they
endeavored, on their own and as a community, to make real the promise of
America--in their individual lives and in the life of our country.
Determined to confront the racism that kept this promise from being
fully realized, many Jewish Americans found a cause in the Civil Rights
Movement that--in its call for freedom and justice--echoed the timeless
message of Exodus and the Jewish people's journey through the ages.
Reflecting on the march in Selma, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel once
noted, ``I felt my legs were praying.'' From the fight for women's
rights to LGBT rights to workers' rights, many in the Jewish American
community, drawing on lessons from their own past, have trumpeted a
clarion call for equality and justice.
We cannot pay proper respect to the legacy of Jewish Americans without
also reflecting on the rise of anti-Semitism in many parts of the world,
and in remembering the lessons of the Holocaust, we recognize the
imperative need to root out prejudice. Subjecting men, women, and
children to persecution on the basis of their ancestry and faith, the
scourge of anti-Semitism demands that we declare through action and
solidarity that an attack on one faith is an attack on all faiths. That
is why the United States is leading the international effort to combat
anti-Semitism--we helped organize the first United Nations General
Assembly meeting on anti-Semitism last year, and we are asking countries
around the world to join us in giving this challenge the focus it
demands. In celebrating Jewish Americans' contributions to our country,
we also reaffirm our unshakeable commitment to Israel's security and the
close bonds between our two nations and our peoples. Throughout my
Administration, the multifaceted relationship between our countries has
grown and strengthened to an unprecedented degree, particularly with
regard to U.S.-Israeli security assistance and cooperation.
The Jewish American experience and our Nation as a whole have always
been held together by the forces of hope and resilience. During Jewish
American Heritage Month, as we reflect on our past and look toward the
future, let us carry forward our mutual legacy, grounded in our
interconnected roots, and affirm that it is from the extraordinary
richness of our bond that we draw strength. And let us renew our
dedication to the work of building a fully inclusive tomorrow--one where
a great diversity of origins is not only accepted, but also celebrated--
here at home and around the 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 May 2016 as Jewish
American Heritage Month. I call upon all Americans to visit
www.JewishHeritageMonth.gov to learn more about the heritage and
contributions of Jewish Americans and to observe this month with
appropriate programs, activities, and ceremonies.

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day
of April, in the year two thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the two hundred and fortieth.
BARACK OBAMA