Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2016, 3691-3692 [2016-01324]

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• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 13 (Thursday, January 21, 2016)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 3691-3692]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-01324]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 81 , No. 13 / Thursday, January 21, 2016 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 3691]]


                Proclamation 9390 of January 15, 2016

                
Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2016

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                With profound faith in our Nation's promise, the 
                Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., led a non-violent 
                movement that urged our country's leaders to expand the 
                reach of freedom and provide equal opportunity for all. 
                Dr. King joined a long line of heroes and vindicated 
                the belief at the heart of our founding: that humble 
                citizens, armed with little but faith, can come 
                together to change the world and remake an America that 
                more closely aligns with our highest ideals.

                Dr. King recognized that, as a country built on the 
                foundation of self-governance, our success rested on 
                engaging ordinary citizens in the work of securing our 
                birthright liberties. Together, with countless unsung 
                heroes equally committed to the idea that America is a 
                constant work in progress, he heeded the call etched 
                into our founding documents nearly two centuries before 
                his time, marching and sacrificing for the idea of a 
                fair, just, and inclusive society. By preaching his 
                dream of a day when his children would be judged by the 
                content of their character--rather than by the color of 
                their skin--he helped awaken our Nation to the bitter 
                truth that basic justice for all had not yet been 
                realized. And in his efforts, he peaceably yet 
                forcefully demonstrated that it is not enough to only 
                have equal protection under the law, but also that 
                equal opportunity for all of our Nation's children is 
                necessary so that they can shape their own destinies.

                Today, we celebrate the long arc of progress for which 
                Dr. King and so many other leaders fought to bend 
                toward a brighter day. It is our mission to fulfill his 
                vision of a Nation devoted to rejecting bigotry in all 
                its forms; to rising above cynicism and the belief that 
                we cannot change; and to cherishing dignity and 
                opportunity not only for our own daughters and sons, 
                but also for our neighbors' children.

                We have made great advances since Dr. King's time, yet 
                injustice remains in many corners of our country. In 
                too many communities, the cycle of poverty persists and 
                students attend schools without adequate resources--
                some that serve as a pipeline to prison for young 
                people of color. Children still go to bed hungry, and 
                the sick go without sufficient treatment in 
                neighborhoods across America. To put up blinders to 
                these realities or to intimate that they are inherent 
                to a Nation as large and diverse as ours would do a 
                disservice to those who fought so hard to ensure ours 
                was a country dedicated to the proposition that all 
                people are created equal.

                ``We may have all come on different ships, but we're in 
                the same boat now,'' Dr. King once said. As the most 
                diverse country on Earth, ensuring this creed is 
                reflected in our hearts, minds, and policies is the 
                imperative of our citizenship. As Americans of all 
                races and beliefs come together on this day of service 
                to honor the life and legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin 
                Luther King, Jr., let us pledge to recognize the common 
                humanity of all people, regardless of the color of 
                their skin or the station into which they were born.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution

[[Page 3692]]

                and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim 
                January 18, 2016, as the Martin Luther King, Jr., 
                Federal Holiday. I encourage all 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 
                fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and fortieth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2016-01324
Filed 1-20-16; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F6-P