National Days of Prayer and Remembrance, 2013, 56125-56126 [2013-22274]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 176 (Wednesday, September 11, 2013)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 56125-56126]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-22274]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 11, 2013 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 56125]]


                Proclamation 9014 of September 6, 2013

                
National Days of Prayer and Remembrance, 2013

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                This week, Americans come together to mark the 12th 
                anniversary of a day that shook our country to its 
                core. Where two towers once cast a shadow, men and 
                women gather in the early light to pay their respects. 
                In a Pennsylvania field once scarred by debris, bells 
                ring out and fingers trace over names etched in white 
                marble. At the Pentagon, where a single stone still 
                bears the scars of fire, a Nation honors souls who now 
                know peace.

                On this anniversary, images of darkness are never far 
                from our thoughts. We remember planes cutting through a 
                clear September sky, black smoke rising from the ruins 
                below. These images will never leave us. But Scripture 
                teaches us that light shines even in the darkness, and 
                the darkness has not overcome it.

                When the first calls for help reached squad cars, 
                ambulances, and ladder companies, there was no 
                hesitation. First responders rushed to the scene. They 
                stormed up the stairs and into the flames. Aboard 
                Flight 93, heroic passengers and crew members gave 
                everything they had to prevent even more devastation.

                Their legacy lives on in those they saved and in the 
                memories we keep. Most of all, it lives on in the 
                spirit they embodied: compassion, resilience, unity. 
                Many of those we lost set aside their own well-being in 
                the hope they could save someone they would never know.

                That selflessness shows the best of who we are as a 
                people. And for more than a decade, that same 
                selflessness has summoned a new generation to serve in 
                our Armed Forces. These solemn days also call upon us 
                to reflect on their extraordinary service and sacrifice 
                and to rededicate ourselves to showing our troops, our 
                veterans, and their families the fullest support of a 
                grateful Nation.

                Finally, as we honor those who have borne so much since 
                9/11, let us turn our thoughts once again toward 
                renewal. When shock and confusion could have torn us 
                apart, we chose instead to move forward together, as 
                one people. We have proven our resilience. We have 
                recovered and rebuilt, better and brighter. We have 
                kept faith with our oldest American beliefs. Years from 
                now, these acts will reveal the true legacy of that 
                day--of a safer world, a stronger Nation, and a country 
                more united than ever before.

                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 Friday, September 6 
                through Sunday, September 8, 2013, as National Days of 
                Prayer and Remembrance. I ask that the people of the 
                United States honor and remember the victims of 
                September 11, 2001, and their loved ones through 
                prayer, contemplation, memorial services, the visiting 
                of memorials, the ringing of bells, evening candlelight 
                remembrance vigils, and other appropriate ceremonies 
                and activities. I invite people around the world to 
                participate in this commemoration.

[[Page 56126]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
                eighth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2013-22274
Filed 9-10-13; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F3