Presidential Documents

18073 

Federal Register 

Vol. 80, No. 63 

Thursday, April 2, 2015 

Title 3— 

The President 

Proclamation 9243 of March 30, 2015 

Ce ́sar Cha ́vez Day, 2015 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

For more than two centuries, the arc of our Nation’s progress has been 

shaped by ordinary people who have dedicated their lives to the extraordinary work of building a more perfect Union. It is a story of achievement 

and constant striving that has found expression in places where America’s 

destiny has been decided—in Seneca Falls, Selma, and Stonewall, and in 

the golden fields of California where an American hero discovered his 

mighty voice. Today, we honor Ce ́sar Cha ́vez and his lifetime of work 

to make our country more free, more fair, and more just, and we reaffirm 

the timeless belief he embodied: those who love their country can change 

it. 

A son of migrant workers and a child of the Great Depression, Ce ́sar Cha ́vez 

believed every job has dignity and every person should have the chance 

to reach beyond his or her circumstances and realize a brighter future. 

When no one seemed to care about the farm workers who labored without 

basic protections and for meager pay to help feed the world, Ce ́sar Cha ́vez 

awakened our Nation to their deplorable conditions and abject poverty— 

injustices he knew firsthand. He organized, protested, fasted, and alongside 

Dolores Huerta, founded the United Farm Workers. Slowly, he grew a small 

movement to a 10,000-person march and eventually a 17-million-strong boycott of table grapes, rallying a generation around ‘‘La Causa’’ and forcing 

growers to agree to some of the first farm worker contracts in history. 

Guided by a fierce commitment to nonviolence in support of a righteous 

cause, he never lost faith in the power of opportunity for all. 

As a Nation, we know the struggle to live up to the principles of our 

founding does not end with any one victory or defeat. After Ce ́sar Cha ́vez 

fought for higher wages, he pushed for fresh drinking water, workers’ compensation, pension plans, and protection from pesticides. He strove every 

day for the America he knew was possible. Today, we must take up his 

work and carry forward this great unfinished task. 

When immigrants labor in the shadows, they often earn unfair wages and 

their families and our economy suffer—that is one reason why we have 

to fix our broken immigration system and why I keep calling on the Congress 

to enact comprehensive immigration reform. We need to continue to defend 

the collective bargaining rights countless individuals have fought so hard 

for and ensure our economy rewards hard work with a fair living wage, 

paid leave, and equal pay for equal work. 

Ce ́sar Cha ́vez knew that when you lift up one person, it enriches a community; it bolsters our economy, strengthens our Nation, and gives meaning 

to the creed that out of many, we are one. As we celebrate his life, we 

are reminded of our obligations to one another and the extraordinary opportunity we are each given to work toward justice, equal opportunity, and 

a better future for every one of our sisters and brothers. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, 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 March 31, 2015, 

as Ce ́sar Cha ́vez Day. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with 


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18074 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 63 / Thursday, April 2, 2015 / Presidential Documents 

appropriate service, community, and education programs to honor Ce ́sar 

Cha ́vez’s enduring legacy. 

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

of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand fifteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-ninth. 

[FR Doc. 2015–07783 

Filed 4–1–15; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 3295–F5 


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