Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 17 / Friday, January 25, 2019 / Presidential Documents 365 

Proclamation 9839 of January 18, 2019 

Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2019 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

One hundred years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation 

Proclamation, the great Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., took to the 

steps of the Lincoln Memorial and shared his vision of an America lifted 

from the ‘‘quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.’’ 

His extraordinary message that momentous day in August of 1963 stirred 

to action Americans of every race and creed, and it continues to reverberate 

in the hearts and minds of patriotic citizens across our great land. Today, 

as we pause to mark the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 

we recommit ourselves to the advancement of equality and justice for all 

Americans, and to the full realization of his worthy dream. 

In the United States of America, every citizen should have the opportunity 

to build a better and brighter future, and, as President, I am committed 

to expanding opportunity for all Americans. We have added more than 

5 million new jobs to the economy over the past 2 years and unemployment 

rates for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and 

Americans without a high school degree have reached record lows. 

Importantly, we have also worked tirelessly to reform our Nation’s criminal 

justice system, so that those who have been incarcerated and paid their 

debt to society are given a second chance at life. Last year, I was proud 

to sign into law the First Step Act, which will prepare inmates to successfully 

rejoin society and effect commonsense reforms to make our justice system 

fairer for all Americans. Through recidivism reduction programs that provide 

vocational training, education, and mental healthcare, non-violent offenders 

can have a chance at redemption and an opportunity to fulfill a better 

destiny. 

We have also made great strides as a Nation, but we acknowledge that 

more work must be done for, in the words of Dr. King, ‘‘justice to roll 

down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.’’ United as one 

American family, we will not rest—and we will never be satisfied—until 

the promise of this great Nation is accessible to each American in each 

new generation. More than half a century after Dr. King’s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, our Nation is mindful of its past, and we 

look forward to the future with unwavering optimism, inspired by the legacy 

of Dr. King and informed by his wisdom and vision. May the memory 

of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the efforts we have made to fully effectuate 

his dream, remind us that faith and love unite us together as one great 

American family. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, 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 January 21, 2019, 

as the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday. On this day, I encourage 

all Americans to recommit themselves to Dr. King’s dream by engaging 

in acts of service to others, to their community, and to our Nation. 


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366 Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 17 / Friday, January 25, 2019 / Presidential Documents 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day 

of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen, and of the 

Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fortythird. 

[FR Doc. 2019–00222 

Filed 1–24–19; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3295–F9–P 


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