Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 13 / Thursday, January 20, 2022 / Presidential Documents 3023 

Proclamation 10335 of January 14, 2022 

Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2022 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

On a late summer day in 1963, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stood 

on the National Mall before hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who 

had gathered to march for freedom, justice, and equality. On that day, 

Dr. King shared a dream that has continued to inspire a Nation: To bring 

justice where there is injustice, freedom where there is oppression, peace 

where there is violence, and opportunity where there is poverty. Today, 

people of all backgrounds continue that march—raising their voices to confront abuses of power, challenge hate and discrimination, protect the right 

to vote, and access quality jobs, health care, housing, and education. On 

this day, we reflect on the legacy of a man who issued a call to the 

conscience of our Nation and our world. 

Dr. King pushed us to see ourselves in one another, recognizing that we 

are ‘‘caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment 

of destiny.’’ He reminded us that we have a duty to uphold our founding 

ideals and work to perfect our Union. Through bus boycotts, restaurant 

sit-ins, freedom rides, and marches, the movement that Dr. King helped 

lead used non-violent protest and civil disobedience to advance the call 

for justice. He was jailed dozens of times for his efforts, but Dr. King’s 

commitment to justice never wavered. From a Birmingham jail, he reminded 

us that ‘‘human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability . . . 

injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent, and determined action.’’ 

Living up to his legacy, and what Dr. King believed our Nation could 

become requires more than just reflection—it requires action. We must protect 

the hard-fought gains he helped achieve and continue his unfinished struggle. 

That is why the Congress must pass Federal legislation to protect the right 

to vote—a right that is under attack by a sinister combination of voter 

suppression and election subversion. We must confront the scourge of racism 

and white supremacy—a stain on our Nation—and give hate no safe harbor 

in America. We must strive to achieve not just political equality but also 

economic justice so that workers can earn a decent living, students can 

learn safely, the sick can access health care, the poor can climb out of 

poverty, the elderly can age with dignity, and everyone in America can 

live without discrimination or fear. 

Just as in Dr. King’s time, there are those who now say that change would 

be too disruptive and that these urgent needs can wait. But we must resist 

complacency, summon new resolve to advance the cause of freedom and 

opportunity, and do our part to bend the arc of the moral universe toward 

justice. This is the cause of our time. We are at an inflection point in 

our history—in the midst of a battle for the very soul of our Nation. We 

all must find the courage to keep pushing forward in our struggle to realize 

Dr. King’s dream for a freer, fairer, and more just society. We must keep 

the faith in that righteous cause—and in each other. 

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 Monday, January 

17, 2022, as the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday. I encourage all 


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3024 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 13 / Thursday, January 20, 2022 / Presidential Documents 

Americans to observe this day with appropriate civic, community, and service 

projects in honor of Dr. King and to visit www.MLKDay.gov to find Martin 

Luther King, Jr., Day of Service projects across our country. 

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

of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-two, and of the 

Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fortysixth. 

[FR Doc. 2022–01163 

Filed 1–19–22; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3395–F2–P 


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