[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 175 (Tuesday, September 12, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 62443-62444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-19799]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 175 / Tuesday, September 12, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 62443]]


                Proclamation 10618 of September 7, 2023

                
National Days of Prayer and Remembrance, 2023

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Twenty-two years ago--on September 11, 2001--2,977 
                precious lives were stolen from us in attacks of 
                deliberate evil on our Nation. On the National Days of 
                Prayer and Remembrance, we come together to renew our 
                sacred vow: Never forget. Never forget the parents, 
                children, spouses, friends, and loved ones we lost that 
                day. Never forget the heroes who stepped up to rescue 
                their fellow Americans and help our communities rebuild 
                in the hours--and years--thereafter. And never forget 
                our obligation to honor their memories and service by 
                building a safer and more secure future for all.

                To all the families of the victims who have had to 
                endure the absence of a loved one over the last two 
                decades, I know that 22 years is both a lifetime and no 
                time at all. The very memories that help us heal can 
                also open up the hurt and take us back to the moment 
                the grief was raw--to the moment when a loved one and 
                their dreams were stolen from us in an instant. Today, 
                when that grief feels especially great, the First Lady 
                and I hold you close to our hearts.

                We also join all those who are mourning the loss of 
                patriots who stepped up when their country needed them 
                most. My mom believed the greatest virtue of all was 
                courage and that someday the bravery that exists in 
                every heart will be summoned. For many, that day was 
                September 11, 2001. Patriotic citizens and first 
                responders ran into the searing flames and crumbling 
                buildings to save their fellow Americans. And in the 
                years that followed, thousands more served and 
                sacrificed to prevent another attack on the United 
                States.

                These brave heroes remind us that--through all that has 
                changed over these last two decades--the enduring 
                resolve of the American people has never wavered. What 
                was destroyed in the attacks, we have repaired. What 
                was threatened, we have fortified. We have never ceased 
                in our mission to defend ourselves against those who 
                seek to do us harm and to deliver justice to those 
                responsible for attacks against our people. And during 
                our darkest hour, we regained our light by finding 
                something all too rare--unity.

                Today, the charge left for all of us is to find renewal 
                and resolve in remembrance. For it is not enough to 
                only reflect on the souls we lost on September 11th; we 
                must also continue to build a Nation worthy of their 
                highest aspirations--one that remembers, for all our 
                flaws and disagreements, there is nothing we cannot 
                accomplish when we stand together and defend with all 
                our hearts that which makes us unique in the world: our 
                democracy.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., 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 September 8, 
                2023, through September 10, 2023, as National Days of 
                Prayer and Remembrance. I ask that the people of the 
                United States honor the victims of September 11, 2001, 
                and their loved ones with prayer, contemplation, 
                memorial services and visits, bells, candlelight 
                vigils, and other activities. I invite people around 
                the world to join. I call on the citizens of our Nation 
                to give thanks for our many freedoms and blessings, and 
                I invite all people of

[[Page 62444]]

                faith to join me in asking for God's continued 
                guidance, mercy, and protection.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                seventh day of September, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                eighth.
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                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2023-19799
Filed 9-11-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P