[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 217 (Monday, November 13, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 77491-77493]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25056]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 217 / Monday, November 13, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 77491]]

                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

[[Page 77492]]

                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.

[[Page 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.
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                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2023-25056
Filed 11-9-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P