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

 
Proclamation 9523 of October 14, 2016

National Character Counts Week, 2016

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Our country has survived centuries of trial and triumph, and we have
endured times that have tested us and marked moments of progress that
were once deemed impossible. Today, we live in a time of extraordinary
possibility--and we must decide how our next chapters will be

[[Page 3388]]

written. The task of shaping America's course falls to each one of us as
individuals who make up our American family, and as we celebrate
National Character Counts Week, let us seek to live out the ideals that
have inspired our country's journey and that define our national
character.
No matter who you are, what you look like, where you come from, or what
your circumstances are, America should be a place where the things that
make you unique and different are celebrated. That promise of equality
and acceptance has been our country's North Star since its founding, and
in thinking of how that centuries-old ideal translates into our lives
today, it comes down to all of us showing others the compassion and
acceptance that we would only wish for ourselves. If we seek to
understand one another and take advantage of opportunities to bring
people together across lines of difference, we will increasingly realize
as a people that we are more alike than we are different.
Let us listen to each other, see each other, and recognize the common
humanity that makes America what it is. Let us embrace the multitudes of
races, faiths, cultures, and origins that make up our diverse, vibrant
Nation. It will make us better as a people and stronger as a country,
and it starts with reflecting on the way we live our lives, the way we
treat others, and the example we set for those around us. We have a
collective obligation to reflect in our own lives the values we strive
to reflect in our national life, and no gesture of goodwill is too
small--together, ripples of kindness can drown out voices of hate, wash
away cynicism and doubt, and help us see the world in truer colors.
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 October 16 through
October 22, 2016, as National Character Counts Week. I call upon public
officials, educators, parents, students, and all Americans to observe
this week with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day of
October, in the year of our Lord two thousand sixteen, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-
first.
BARACK OBAMA