National Farm Safety and Health Week, 2022, 57565-57566 [2022-20580]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 182 (Wednesday, September 21, 2022)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 57565-57566]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-20580]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 87 , No. 182 / Wednesday, September 21, 2022 
/ Presidential Documents

[[Page 57565]]


                Proclamation 10450 of September 16, 2022

                
National Farm Safety and Health Week, 2022

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                America's farmers, farmworkers, and ranchers serve one 
                of our most vital needs--they feed our Nation and 
                sustain our communities. They steward our lands so they 
                have the power to provide for us, generation after 
                generation. They offer meaningful jobs to millions of 
                people, rooted in the rewards of hard work and the 
                beauty of nature. They help fuel our economy and enable 
                our country to compete in markets around the globe. 
                During National Farm Safety and Health Week, we commit 
                to improving the safety and well-being of everyone 
                working on our farms.

                For all they provide for our Nation, we know the many 
                barriers farmers, farmworkers, and ranchers face. 
                Extreme weather--made more frequent and ferocious by 
                the climate crisis--can jeopardize or destroy a 
                season's harvest, representing months, or even years, 
                of investment and commitment. Fluctuating commodity 
                prices and input costs can tighten profit margins and 
                usher in tough, lean years. Accidents and injuries can 
                cut precious lives short, dramatically threaten the 
                livelihoods of survivors and their families, and rob 
                businesses of the workers they rely upon.

                My Administration is supporting the implementation of 
                robust health and safety standards on farms and 
                ranches. With up to $65 million from the American 
                Rescue Plan, the United States Department of 
                Agriculture (USDA) is helping to minimize the risks of 
                injuries on farms, on ranches, and in processing 
                plants. The USDA is also investing $100 million into 
                partnerships with labor unions and other workforce 
                development experts to better train agricultural 
                employees. For the first time, the Department of 
                Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration 
                has launched a program to conduct heat-related indoor 
                and outdoor workplace inspections in the face of yet 
                another season of extreme and deadly heat.

                My Administration is making health insurance more 
                affordable and health care more accessible, which is 
                especially important for farmers, ranchers, and 
                farmworkers who suffer injuries. My Administration's 
                Inflation Reduction Act and American Rescue Plan 
                lowered annual premiums for families across the 
                country. My Administration made a historic $1.5 billion 
                investment in health workforce loan repayment and 
                scholarship programs to incentivize primary care 
                clinicians and other health care providers to work in 
                underserved areas, including rural and Tribal 
                communities. We are providing Federal field employees 
                with training on the best uses of mental health 
                resources and communication strategies while scaling 
                our investment in programs that provide professional 
                behavioral health counseling and other services to 
                agricultural workers. We are also calling for programs 
                that will reduce loan repayments for mental health and 
                substance use disorder clinicians committed to 
                practicing in rural and other underserved communities.

                Supporting the well-being of our farmers, farmworkers, 
                and ranchers means protecting their financial health as 
                well. Last year, I signed into law the Extending 
                Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance 
                Act, which includes $10 billion in assistance to 
                agricultural producers impacted by wildfires, droughts, 
                hurricanes, and winter storms. My Administration also 
                announced $700 million in available grant funding for 
                State agencies,

[[Page 57566]]

                Tribal entities, and non-profit organizations to 
                provide financial relief for farmworkers and 
                meatpacking workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 
                We are devoted to ensuring that agricultural workers 
                can do their jobs free from harm and that they can 
                recover from accidents and injuries with dignity and 
                financial security.

                This week, we redouble our efforts to protect the 
                health and safety of farmers, farmworkers, and 
                ranchers, and we celebrate the immense contributions 
                they have made and continue to make to our Nation.

                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 September 18 
                through September 24, 2022, as National Farm Safety and 
                Health Week. I call upon the people of the United 
                States, including America's farmers and ranchers and 
                agriculture-related institutions, organizations, and 
                businesses, to reaffirm a dedication to farm safety and 
                health. I also urge all Americans to express 
                appreciation and gratitude to our farmers, farmworkers, 
                and ranchers for their tireless service to our Nation.

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

[FR Doc. 2022-20580
Filed 9-20-22; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F2-P