[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 12, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 88871-88873]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26249]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 218 / Tuesday, November 12, 2024 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 88871]]

                Proclamation 10855 of November 6, 2024

                
Veterans Day, 2024

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Today, we honor generations of America's veterans--
                patriots who have stood on the frontlines of freedom 
                and kept the light of liberty shining bright around the 
                world. Just as they have kept the ultimate faith in our 
                Nation, we must keep ultimate faith in them.

                Each one of our Nation's veterans is a link in a chain 
                of honor that stretches back to our founding days--
                bound by a sacred oath to support and defend the United 
                States of America. Throughout history, whenever and 
                wherever the forces of darkness have sought to 
                extinguish the flame of freedom, America's veterans 
                have been fighting to keep it burning bright. I 
                remember so clearly the pride the First Lady and I felt 
                in our son Beau during his service in Iraq. He--like 
                all our veterans from Belleau Wood, Baghdad, and 
                Gettysburg to Guadalcanal, Korea, and Kandahar and 
                beyond--lived, served, and sacrificed by a creed of 
                duty. We owe them a debt of gratitude we can never 
                fully repay, not just for fighting for our democracy, 
                but for giving back to our communities and inspiring 
                the next generation to serve, even after they hang up 
                their uniforms.

                As a Nation, we have one truly sacred obligation: to 
                prepare and equip those we send into harm's way and to 
                care for them and their families when they return home. 
                Since I came into office, I have signed more than 34 
                bipartisan laws to support our veterans and their 
                families, caregivers, and survivors. That includes the 
                landmark Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring 
                our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, 
                which enacted the most significant expansion of 
                benefits and services for veterans exposed to toxins in 
                more than 30 years. Today, more than 1.1 million 
                veterans and 11,000 survivors of deceased veterans are 
                now receiving new service-connected disability 
                benefits, and over 5.8 million veterans have been 
                screened for toxic exposure--a critical step to 
                ensuring they get access to the care they need. And as 
                of last March, any exposed veteran who served during 
                any conflict outlined in the PACT Act will be able to 
                enroll in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 
                health care. My Administration is ensuring that women 
                veterans enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs 
                health care have equitable access to benefits and 
                health services. My Administration has worked to reduce 
                barriers and reach out to veterans to make sure they 
                can access their earned benefits. As a result, the VA 
                is delivering more benefits to more veterans than ever 
                before. In 2024, the VA processed more claims than ever 
                and is providing record level health care services. We 
                have taken steps to eliminate barriers and disparities 
                for all veterans, including people of color, LGBTQI+ 
                people, and women. We have made progress in addressing 
                veteran homelessness, and we are working to end the 
                silent scourge of suicide by addressing financial and 
                legal risk factors, promoting secure storage of 
                firearms, and expanding access to mental health 
                services. Last year, the VA housed nearly 48,000 
                veterans, expanded access to health care and legal 
                assistance for homeless veterans, and helped more than 
                158,000 veterans and their families keep their homes. 
                And we are committed to assisting the roughly 200,000 
                service members who transition from the military each 
                year with finding good-paying jobs, including by 
                connecting them to Registered Apprenticeship programs. 
                My

[[Page 88872]]

                Administration has also prioritized supporting veteran 
                entrepreneurship. This year, service-disabled veteran-
                owned small businesses secured almost $32 billion in 
                Federal contracts, nearly $4 billion more than in the 
                prior year.

                While our veterans are the steel spine of this Nation, 
                their families are the courageous heart--they also 
                serve and sacrifice so much for our country. Last year, 
                I signed an Executive Order calling for the most 
                comprehensive set of administrative actions in our 
                Nation's history to support the economic security of 
                military and veteran spouses, caregivers, and 
                survivors. The Executive Order increases training and 
                employment opportunities for military spouses in the 
                workforce and encourages Federal agencies to do more to 
                retain military and veteran spouses through flexible 
                policies. Additionally, through the First Lady's 
                Joining Forces initiative, my Administration is working 
                to better support military and veteran families on 
                everything from making school transitions easier for 
                military children to expanding economic opportunities 
                and improving well-being for military spouses, 
                caregivers, and survivors.

                Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to visit 
                Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day 
                alongside so many World War II veterans. Their service 
                and sacrifice helped free the world from tyranny. We 
                learned then what we still know now: Democracy is never 
                guaranteed. Every generation must preserve it, defend 
                it, and fight for it. Today, we honor all our veterans, 
                who have preserved, defended, and fought for our 
                democracy. They prove that we are a Nation that can 
                meet darkness with light again and again, no matter how 
                high the cost or how heavy the burden. May we all 
                strive to be worthy of their sacrifices for us, doing 
                our part to keep the light of liberty burning bright 
                for generations to come.

                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, 2024, 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 88873]]

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

[FR Doc. 2024-26249
Filed 11-8-24; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P