[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 126 (Tuesday, July 6, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 35385-35386]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14497]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 126 / Tuesday, July 6, 2021 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 35385]]


                Proclamation 10231 of June 30, 2021

                
50th Anniversary of the 26th Amendment

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Our Constitution recognizes that, as a Nation, we are 
                constantly learning. Our Founders built that 
                recognition into its original design, providing a 
                mechanism to amend our Constitution as our Nation 
                evolved. On July 1, 1971, our Nation ratified the 26th 
                Amendment to the Constitution, lowering the voting age 
                to 18. At the time, 18-, 19-, and 20-year-old Americans 
                were fulfilling their civic duties: paying taxes, 
                serving in our Armed Forces, acting as first 
                responders, laboring in fields, factories, and service 
                jobs across the country, and pursuing higher education. 
                They were participating in our democracy and all of the 
                responsibilities of citizenship in all ways except for 
                one: they could not vote. A broad coalition, following 
                in the footsteps of the suffragettes of the early 20th 
                century and the civil rights activists of the 1960s, 
                advocated, educated, and prevailed in persuading our 
                Nation that those younger Americans were entitled to 
                the right to vote. We also made a national commitment 
                that the right to vote would never be denied or 
                abridged for any adult voter based on their age.

                My first race for the Senate was one of the first 
                elections in which 18-year-olds could vote, and the 
                energy and passion of Delaware's young people helped 
                propel me to an unlikely victory.

                Fifty years later, younger voters remain essential to 
                our civic infrastructure. They are not only voting in 
                our elections--including at record rates in 2020--but 
                winning them. Younger Americans are lending their 
                talent and vision to school boards, city councils, and 
                county commissions; teenagers are serving as State 
                legislators and mayors, and we are the better for it.

                Younger voters are not waiting to inherit the future; 
                they are building the future themselves. Young 
                Americans have been on the front lines in the fight to 
                defend the right to vote and expand access to the 
                ballot box for all eligible voters. Their civic 
                engagement extends beyond voting--with young Americans 
                leading the calls for racial justice, climate action, 
                gun violence prevention, and immigration reform among 
                many other issues.

                Despite the progress we have made, there remain 
                persistent gaps in turnout between younger voters and 
                their older counterparts. There is still more that we 
                can and must do to deliver on the promise of the 26th 
                Amendment. My Administration has made public service 
                and civic education a priority, engaging younger 
                Americans in our shared struggle for continual 
                progress. I have directed Federal agencies to consider 
                ways to make it easier to vote and to learn about 
                voting, and to focus on the various ways that the 
                Federal Government engages younger Americans, online 
                and off. Today's youth are more diverse than past 
                generations--and laws aimed at suppressing voter 
                turnout in Black and Brown communities also impact 
                young voters. My Administration supports the For the 
                People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement 
                Act to protect the fundamental right to vote and make 
                our democracy more equitable and accessible for all 
                Americans.

                Today, we honor the bipartisan expansion of voter 
                enfranchisement. Let us continue our work to make the 
                26th Constitutional Amendment ever more meaningful in 
                the months and years ahead.

[[Page 35386]]

                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 July 1, 2021, 
                as the 50th Anniversary of the 26th Amendment. I call 
                upon all Americans to participate in ceremonies and 
                activities that honor the 26th formal modification of 
                our national Charter, that recognize the contributions 
                made by voters enfranchised by its terms, and that work 
                toward full participation of all who are eligible to 
                vote.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirtieth day of June, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                fifth.
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[FR Doc. 2021-14497
Filed 7-2-21; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F1-P