Presidential Documents

77491 

Federal Register 

Vol. 88, No. 217 

Monday, November 13, 2023 

Title 3— 

The President 

Proclamation 10669 of November 7, 2023 

Veterans Day, 2023 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

This Veterans Day, we honor the generations of women and men who 

have served and sacrificed—not for a person, a place, or a President— 

but for an idea unlike any other: the idea of the United States of America. 

For nearly 250 years, our veterans have defended the values that make 

us strong so that our Nation could stand as a citadel of liberty, a beacon 

of freedom, and a wellspring of possibilities. 

Today, I am thinking of all our Nation’s veterans, who put their lives 

on the line to protect our democracy, values, and freedom around the 

world. We honor our wounded warriors, so many of whom the First Lady 

and I have met over the years, who are bound by a common sense of 

duty, courage, and optimism, and we remember those who are still missing 

in action or prisoners of war and renew my pledge to bring them home. 

Our military families, caregivers, and survivors also answer the call to serve. 

I remember so clearly the pride I felt in our son Beau during his service 

in Iraq as well as those mornings I saw the First Lady saying a prayer 

for his safe return. Our veterans and their families give so much to our 

Nation, and we owe them a debt we can never fully repay. 

As a Nation, we have many obligations, but we only have one truly sacred 

obligation: to prepare and equip the brave women and men we send into 

harm’s way and to care for them and their loved ones when they return 

home. Since the beginning of my Administration, we have worked to make 

good on that promise, passing nearly 30 bipartisan laws to support our 

veterans and service members and their families, caregivers, and survivors. 

That includes the PACT Act—the most significant effort in our Nation’s 

history to help millions of veterans exposed to toxic substances during 

their military service. Since I signed the PACT Act into law last year, 

more than 478,000 veterans and survivors are already receiving benefits— 

ensuring that veterans exposed to burn pits and other harmful substances 

and their loved ones get access to the care and support they need. 

My Administration is also committed to ending veteran suicide and homelessness and ensuring that our veterans have the resources they need to live 

full lives and thrive in their communities. We released a national strategy 

to reduce military and veteran suicide by improving lethal means safety 

and enhancing crisis care as well as by addressing the economic, legal, 

and mental health issues that impact veterans. The Department of Veterans 

Affairs is also funding community-led suicide prevention programs, which 

help connect veterans and their families to needed services. Every veteran 

deserves a roof over their head, which is why we have taken bold actions 

to end veteran homelessness, permanently housing more than 40,000 veterans 

last year and investing $1 billion to provide supportive services to help 

homeless and at-risk veterans and their families. My Budget also proposes 

tripling the number of rental-assistance vouchers for extremely low-income 

veterans to prevent homelessness. Further, we have taken steps to improve 

the economic security of veterans and their families by expanding job training 

programs for transitioning veterans and their spouses and issuing rules to 

protect them from predatory educational institutions. We are also working 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PRESDOC
77492 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 217 / Monday, November 13, 2023 / Presidential Documents 

to ensure every veteran has access to the benefits and services they have 

earned. 

Earlier this year, I signed an Executive Order directing more than 50 actions 

to improve access to child care and long-term care for Americans, including 

military and veteran families, and to support family caregivers, especially 

those who care for our veterans. Recognizing the talents and contributions 

of veteran and military spouses, caregivers, and survivors to our workforce, 

I signed an Executive Order establishing the most comprehensive set of 

administrative actions in our Nation’s history to support their economic 

security—increasing training and employment opportunities for military 

spouses in the workforce throughout the transition to veteran spouses status 

and encouraging all Federal agencies to do more to retain military and 

veteran spouses through flexible policies. The First Lady’s Joining Forces 

initiative is further supporting military and veteran families, caregivers, and 

survivors by improving economic opportunities and expanding resources 

to promote health and well-being for this community. 

As we mark the 50th anniversary of an all-volunteer force and the 75th 

anniversary of the full integration of women in the Armed Forces and 

the desegregation of the troops, my Administration reaffirms our commitment 

to supporting everyone who serves in our Armed Forces. We have taken 

steps to ensure that the more than 918,000 women veterans enrolled in 

the Department of Veterans Affairs health care have equitable access to 

benefits and health services, in part by expanding access to reproductive 

health care. We have worked to proactively review the military records 

of veterans discharged under ‘‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’’ and to modernize 

the process of upgrading discharges to help all veterans access their earned 

benefits. We will continue to support our LGBTQI+ veterans and veterans 

of color who have made innumerable contributions to our Nation and have 

truly made our military stronger, tougher, and more capable. 

This Veterans Day, may we honor the incredible faith that our veterans 

hold, not just in our country but in all of us. They are the solid-steel 

backbone of our Nation, and we must endeavor to continue being worthy 

of their sacrifices by working toward a more perfect Union and protecting 

the freedoms that they have fought to defend. 

In respect and recognition of the contributions our veterans and their families, 

caregivers, and survivors have made to the cause of peace and freedom 

around the world, the Congress has provided (5 U.S.C. 6103(a)) that November 11 of each year shall be set aside as a legal public holiday to honor 

our Nation’s veterans. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States 

of America, do hereby proclaim November 11, 2023, as Veterans Day. I 

encourage all Americans to recognize the valor, courage, and sacrifice of 

these patriots through appropriate ceremonies and private prayers and by 

observing two minutes of silence for our Nation’s veterans. I also call upon 

Federal, State, and local officials to display the flag of the United States 

of America and to participate in patriotic activities in their communities. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PRESDOC
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 217 / Monday, November 13, 2023 / Presidential Documents 77493 

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

of November, 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. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25056 

Filed 11–9–23; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3395–F4–P 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PRESDOCBIDEN.EPS</GPH>