Partial EO
RE: Removing Obstacles to CCW for Law Enforcement (Active & Retired):
Sec. 2. Removing Obstacles to Federal Law Enforcement Officers Qualifying For Concealed Carry Under the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004. (a) It shall be the policy of the United States to remove any undue obstacle preventing current or retired Federal law enforcement officers from carrying a concealed firearm as allowed under the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004, as amended (18 U.S.C. 926B, 926C) (LEOSA).
Executive Order on Building the National Garden of American Heroes | Issued on: January 18, 2021
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Background. In Executive Order 13934 of July 3, 2020 (Building and Rebuilding Monuments to American Heroes), I made it the policy of the United States to establish a statuary park named the National Garden of American Heroes (National Garden). To begin the process of building this new monument to our country’s greatness, I established the Interagency Task Force for Building and Rebuilding Monuments to American Heroes (Task Force) and directed its members to plan for construction of the National Garden. The Task Force has advised me it has completed the first phase of its work and is prepared to move forward. This order revises Executive Order 13934 and provides additional direction for the Task Force.
Sec. 2. Purpose. The chronicles of our history show that America is a land of heroes. As I announced during my address at Mount Rushmore, the gates of a beautiful new garden will soon open to the public where the legends of America’s past will be remembered.
The National Garden will be built to reflect the awesome splendor of our country’s timeless exceptionalism. It will be a place where citizens, young and old, can renew their vision of greatness and take up the challenge that I gave every American in my first address to Congress, to “[b]elieve in yourselves, believe in your future, and believe, once more, in America.”
Across this Nation, belief in the greatness and goodness of America has come under attack in recent months and years by a dangerous anti-American extremism that seeks to dismantle our country’s history, institutions, and very identity. The heroes of 1776 have been desecrated, with statues of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin vandalized and toppled. The dead who gave their lives to end slavery and save the Union during the Civil War have been dishonored, with monuments to Abraham Lincoln, Hans Christian Heg, and the courageous 54th Regiment left damaged and disfigured. The brave warriors who saved freedom from Nazi fascism have been disgraced with a memorial to World War II veterans defaced with the hammer and sickle of Soviet communism.
The National Garden is America’s answer to this reckless attempt to erase our heroes, values, and entire way of life. On its grounds, the devastation and discord of the moment will be overcome with abiding love of country and lasting patriotism. This is the American way. When the forces of anti-Americanism have sought to burn, tear down, and destroy, patriots have built, rebuilt, and lifted up. That is our history. America responded to the razing of the White House by building it back in the same place with unbroken resolve, to the murders of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr., with a national temple and the Stone of Hope, and to the terrorism of 9/11 with a new Freedom Tower. In keeping with this tradition, America is responding to the tragic toppling of monuments to our founding generation and the giants of our past by commencing a new national project for their restoration, veneration, and celebration.
The National Garden will draw together and fix in the soil of a single place what Abraham Lincoln called “[t]he mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart.” In the peace and harmony of this vast outdoor park, visitors will come and learn the amazing stories of some of the greatest Americans who have ever lived. The National Garden will feature a roll call of heroes who deserve honor, recognition, and lasting tribute because of the battles they won, the ideas they championed, the diseases they cured, the lives they saved, the heights they achieved, and the hope they passed down to all of us — that united as one American people trusting in God, there is no challenge that cannot be overcome and no dream that is beyond our reach.
In short, each individual has been chosen for embodying the American spirit of daring and defiance, excellence and adventure, courage and confidence, loyalty and love. Astounding the world by the sheer power of their example, each one of them has contributed indispensably to America’s noble history, the best chapters of which are still to come.
Sec. 3. Honoring Additional American Heroes. (a) Section 3(c) of Executive Order 13934 is amended by striking the words “In addition to the requirements of subsection 3(b) of this order, the proposed options for the” and inserting in their place the word “The”.
(b) Section 3(c)(i) of Executive Order 13934 is amended to read as follows: “The National Garden should be composed of statues, including statues of Ansel Adams, John Adams, Samuel Adams, Muhammad Ali, Luis Walter Alvarez, Susan B. Anthony, Hannah Arendt, Louis Armstrong, Neil Armstrong, Crispus Attucks, John James Audubon, Lauren Bacall, Clara Barton, Todd Beamer, Alexander Graham Bell, Roy Benavidez, Ingrid Bergman, Irving Berlin, Humphrey Bogart, Daniel Boone, Norman Borlaug, William Bradford, Herb Brooks, Kobe Bryant, William F. Buckley, Jr., Sitting Bull, Frank Capra, Andrew Carnegie, Charles Carroll, John Carroll, George Washington Carver, Johnny Cash, Joshua Chamberlain, Whittaker Chambers, Johnny “Appleseed” Chapman, Ray Charles, Julia Child, Gordon Chung-Hoon, William Clark, Henry Clay, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), Roberto Clemente, Grover Cleveland, Red Cloud, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, Nat King Cole, Samuel Colt, Christopher Columbus, Calvin Coolidge, James Fenimore Cooper, Davy Crockett, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., Miles Davis, Dorothy Day, Joseph H. De Castro, Emily Dickinson, Walt Disney, William “Wild Bill” Donovan, Jimmy Doolittle, Desmond Doss, Frederick Douglass, Herbert Henry Dow, Katharine Drexel, Peter Drucker, Amelia Earhart, Thomas Edison, Jonathan Edwards, Albert Einstein, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Duke Ellington, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Medgar Evers, David Farragut, the Marquis de La Fayette, Mary Fields, Henry Ford, George Fox, Aretha Franklin, Benjamin Franklin, Milton Friedman, Robert Frost, Gabby Gabreski, Bernardo de Gálvez, Lou Gehrig, Theodor Seuss Geisel, Cass Gilbert, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Glenn, Barry Goldwater, Samuel Gompers, Alexander Goode, Carl Gorman, Billy Graham, Ulysses S. Grant, Nellie Gray, Nathanael Greene, Woody Guthrie, Nathan Hale, William Frederick “Bull” Halsey, Jr., Alexander Hamilton, Ira Hayes, Hans Christian Heg, Ernest Hemingway, Patrick Henry, Charlton Heston, Alfred Hitchcock, Billie Holiday, Bob Hope, Johns Hopkins, Grace Hopper, Sam Houston, Whitney Houston, Julia Ward Howe, Edwin Hubble, Daniel Inouye, Andrew Jackson, Robert H. Jackson, Mary Jackson, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, Steve Jobs, Katherine Johnson, Barbara Jordan, Chief Joseph, Elia Kazan, Helen Keller, John F. Kennedy, Francis Scott Key, Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King, Jr., Russell Kirk, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Henry Knox, Tadeusz Kościuszko, Harper Lee, Pierre Charles L’Enfant, Meriwether Lewis, Abraham Lincoln, Vince Lombardi, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Clare Boothe Luce, Douglas MacArthur, Dolley Madison, James Madison, George Marshall, Thurgood Marshall, William Mayo, Christa McAuliffe, William McKinley, Louise McManus, Herman Melville, Thomas Merton, George P. Mitchell, Maria Mitchell, William “Billy” Mitchell, Samuel Morse, Lucretia Mott, John Muir, Audie Murphy, Edward Murrow, John Neumann, Annie Oakley, Jesse Owens, Rosa Parks, George S. Patton, Jr., Charles Willson Peale, William Penn, Oliver Hazard Perry, John J. Pershing, Edgar Allan Poe, Clark Poling, John Russell Pope, Elvis Presley, Jeannette Rankin, Ronald Reagan, Walter Reed, William Rehnquist, Paul Revere, Henry Hobson Richardson, Hyman Rickover, Sally Ride, Matthew Ridgway, Jackie Robinson, Norman Rockwell, Caesar Rodney, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Betsy Ross, Babe Ruth, Sacagawea, Jonas Salk, John Singer Sargent, Antonin Scalia, Norman Schwarzkopf, Junípero Serra, Elizabeth Ann Seton, Robert Gould Shaw, Fulton Sheen, Alan Shepard, Frank Sinatra, Margaret Chase Smith, Bessie Smith, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Jimmy Stewart, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Gilbert Stuart, Anne Sullivan, William Howard Taft, Maria Tallchief, Maxwell Taylor, Tecumseh, Kateri Tekakwitha, Shirley Temple, Nikola Tesla, Jefferson Thomas, Henry David Thoreau, Jim Thorpe, Augustus Tolton, Alex Trebek, Harry S. Truman, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Dorothy Vaughan, C. T. Vivian, John von Neumann, Thomas Ustick Walter, Sam Walton, Booker T. Washington, George Washington, John Washington, John Wayne, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Phillis Wheatley, Walt Whitman, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Roger Williams, John Winthrop, Frank Lloyd Wright, Orville Wright, Wilbur Wright, Alvin C. York, Cy Young, and Lorenzo de Zavala.”
Sec. 4. Additional Amendments to Executive Order 13934. (a) Section 3(b) of Executive Order 13934 is amended to read as follows: “The Secretary, in consultation with the Task Force, shall identify a site suitable for the establishment of the National Garden. The Secretary shall proceed with construction of the National Garden at that site, to the extent consistent with the Secretary’s existing authorities or authority later provided by the Congress.”
(b) Section 7 of Executive Order 13934 is amended to read as follows: “Definition. The term “historically significant American” means an individual who made substantive contributions to America’s public life or otherwise had a substantive effect on America’s history.”
Sec. 5. Funding. (a) The Secretary of the Interior shall provide funding, as appropriate and consistent with available appropriations and applicable law, for the establishment and maintenance of the National Garden.
(b) The Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Humanities, in consultation with the National Council on the Arts and the National Council on the Humanities, respectively, and the Task Force, should target spending one-twelfth of the discretionary funds available to their agencies on commissioning statues of individuals set forth in section 3(c)(i) of Executive Order 13934, as amended by section 3(b) of this order, for placement in the National Garden, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.
Sec. 6. Public Report. Until such time as the National Garden is established and includes statues of all individuals set forth in section 3(c)(i) of Executive Order 13934, as amended by section 3(b) of this order, the Task Force shall publish an annual public report describing progress on establishing the National Garden and on building statues of American heroes. This report shall include, as applicable, the steps the Task Force agencies have taken in the preceding year to prepare the National Garden to be opened for public access and listing all statues either commissioned for or placed in the National Garden.
Sec. 7. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Proclamation on National School Choice Week, 2021 | Education | Issued on: January 17, 2021
As we mark National School Choice Week, my Administration reaffirms its commitment to solving the civil rights issue of our time: educational inequity. We have made substantial progress on this front, but we must continue our efforts to ensure that each and every family in America has the freedom to choose an education that best meets their needs and values.
Our Nation currently spends more money per pupil than almost every other industrialized country in the world, yet nearly two-thirds of our youth are not proficient readers, and students across all age groups continue to struggle in math. These failures are largely the result of a one-size-fits-all, industrial-style approach to education. Currently, students are assigned to schools based on where they live, so only those whose families can afford to move to a better-performing school district or can afford private school tuition have a choice in the learning environment that best fits their child’s needs. That is fundamentally unfair and unjust. All Americans, no matter their family income, deserve the opportunity to choose the best educational option for them.
What is often forgotten is that the failures of this rigid arrangement disproportionately affect racial minorities and distressed communities, perpetuating a cycle of poverty. We can no longer allow America’s classrooms to be an exception to our Nation’s promise of equal opportunity for all. Instead, we must provide equal access to a quality education for every American student, no matter where they reside. In the land of the free, a child’s zip code should never determine their future.
That is why, I recently issued an Executive Order on Expanding Educational Opportunity through School Choice that provides in-person options for low-income parents forced to send their children to virtual school during the pandemic. But we must continue this progress. Therefore, I renew my call to the Congress to pass the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act, so we can finally take a giant step towards true liberty for students. This landmark legislation would give more than 1 million children the freedom to attend the school that best fits their needs, and would create more than $5 billion in annual tax credits for those who donate to local scholarship funds, empowering more families to choose the best educational setting for their children.
I also call on the Congress to pass the School Choice Now Act, which will ensure every State can fund elementary and high school scholarship programs, so that students do not lose access to their school of choice because of economic disruptions. As too many school districts across the country refuse to open, these scholarships are needed now more than ever so that families unable to afford private tutors or who work during the day can still provide an education for their children.
Education will always be one of the most important factors in a child’s future success. That is why I am fighting to empower all families — of all races, backgrounds, and incomes — with the freedom and the resources they need to make the best decisions for their children. In America, more freedom leads to more opportunity — especially in the classroom. By embracing my Administration’s school choice policy, we will make sure that every American student is able to fulfill their God‑given potential.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, 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 January 24 to January 30, 2021, as National School Choice Week.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of January, 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.
Executive Order on Protecting Americans From Overcriminalization Through Regulatory Reform | Law & Justice | Issued on: January 18, 2021
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to improve transparency with respect to the consequences of violating certain regulations and to protect Americans from facing unwarranted criminal punishment for unintentional violations of regulations, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. In the interest of fairness, Federal criminal law should be clearly written so that all Americans can understand what is prohibited and act accordingly. Some statutes have authorized executive branch agencies to promulgate thousands of regulations, creating a thicket of requirements that can be difficult to navigate, and many of these regulations are enforceable through criminal processes and penalties. The purpose of this order is to alleviate regulatory burdens on Americans by ensuring that they have notice of potential criminal liability for violations of regulations and by focusing criminal enforcement of regulatory offenses on the most culpable individuals.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the Federal Government that:
(a) Agencies promulgating regulations that may subject a violator to criminal penalties should be explicit about what conduct is subject to criminal penalties and the mens rea standard applicable to those offenses;
(b) Strict liability offenses are “generally disfavored.” United States v. United States Gypsum, Co., 438 U.S. 422, 438 (1978). Where appropriate, agencies should consider administrative or civil enforcement of strict liability regulatory offenses, rather than criminal enforcement of such offenses; and
(c) Criminal prosecution based on regulatory offenses is most appropriate for those persons who know what is prohibited or required by the regulation and choose not to comply, thereby causing or risking substantial public harm. Criminal prosecutions based on regulatory offenses should focus on matters where a putative defendant had actual or constructive knowledge that conduct was prohibited.
Sec. 3. Definitions. For the purposes of this order:
(a) “Agency” has the meaning given to “Executive agency” in section 105 of title 5, United States Code.
(b) “Mens rea” means the state of mind that by law must be proven to convict a particular defendant of a particular crime. There are several such mental states in the law applied by Federal courts. Two common mental states are “knowingly” and “willfully.” A defendant acts “knowingly” with respect to an element of the offense if he or she has knowledge of the essential facts comprising that element. In addition, a defendant “willfully” violates a statute if he or she acts with a “bad purpose” that is with “knowledge that his [or her] conduct is unlawful.” Model Criminal Jury Instructions (3d Cir. 2018), ch. 5, sec. 5.02 cmt. (quotation marks omitted). By contrast, strict liability offenses do not require the government to prove mens rea. For instance, the jury instructions for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit note that “[s]ome federal crimes are also strict or absolute liability offenses, without any mental state requirement.” Id. at ch. 5, General Introduction to Mental State Instructions.
(c) “Person” has the meaning given it in section 1 of title 1, United States Code.
(d) “Regulatory offense” means any violation of a regulation promulgated by an agency.
Sec. 4. Promoting Regulatory Transparency. (a) All notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRMs) and final rules published in the Federal Register after issuance of this order should include a statement that describes whether individuals who violate any of the prohibitions — or fail to comply with any requirements — imposed by the regulation or rule may be subject to criminal penalties. Agencies should draft this statement in consultation with the Department of Justice. For purposes of this order, a regulation is treated as subjecting individuals to criminal penalties when violation of the regulation is itself a basis for criminal liability under Federal law.
(b) The regulatory text of all NPRMs and final rules with criminal consequences published in the Federal Register after issuance of this order should, consistent with applicable law, explicitly state a mens rea requirement for each such provision or identify the provision as a strict liability offense, accompanied by citations to the relevant provisions of the authorizing statute.
(c) Prior to publishing in the Federal Register an NPRM or final rule that contains a regulatory offense not specifically articulated in the authorizing statute that may subject a violator to potential criminal liability with no mens rea requirement or a regulatory offense that includes an element that does not require proof of mens rea (excluding jurisdictional and venue elements), the applicable agency should submit a brief justification for use of a strict liability standard as well as the source of legal authority for the imposition of such a standard, to the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget (Administrator). In response to these agency submissions, the Administrator shall provide implementation guidance to agencies on this order, monitor agency regulatory actions pursuant to this order, and advise agencies if their actions are inconsistent with the principles set forth in this order and or otherwise conflict with the policies or actions of another agency. After such consultation, a statement of justification should be published in the Federal Register with the NPRM and the final rule.
Sec. 5. Agency Referrals for Potential Criminal Enforcement. (a) Within 45 days of the date of this order, and in consultation with the Department of Justice, each agency should publish guidance in the Federal Register describing its plan to administratively address regulatory offenses subject to potential criminal liability rather than refer those offenses to the Department of Justice for criminal enforcement. Such guidance should make clear that when agencies are enforcing regulations related to statutory criminal violations subject to strict liability, and deciding whether to refer the matter to the Department of Justice, agencies should consider factors such as:
(i) the harm or risk of harm, pecuniary or otherwise, caused by the alleged offense;
(ii) the potential gain to the putative defendant that could result from the offense;
(iii) whether the putative defendant held specialized knowledge, expertise, or was licensed in an industry related to the rule or regulation at issue; and
(iv) evidence, if any is available, of the putative defendant’s knowledge or lack thereof of the regulation at issue.
(b) Notwithstanding these considerations, the guidance should not deter, limit, or delay agency referrals to the Department of Justice where either the putative defendant’s state of mind is unknown because further investigation is required, or there exists a reasonable indication that a crime has been committed based on the evidence available.
(c) When required by internal agency policies or practice, an agency may refer alleged regulatory offenses carrying potential criminal consequences to its designated investigation and law enforcement offices for investigation of the viability of the charge, subject to the guidance described in 5(a) of this order governing referral of regulatory offenses subject to strict liability.
Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision in this order, nothing in this order shall apply:
(i) to any action that pertains to foreign or military affairs, or to a national security or homeland security function of the United States (other than procurement actions and actions involving the import or export of non-defense articles and services);
(ii) to any action that the Department of Justice takes related to a criminal investigation or prosecution, including undercover operations, or any civil enforcement action or related investigation by the Department of Justice, in addition to any action related to a civil investigative demand under 18 U.S.C. 1968;
(iii) to any action related to counterfeit goods, pirated goods, or other goods that infringe intellectual property rights, or goods that are adulterated or misbranded, or goods for which regulatory approval was required prior to distribution but not obtained;
(iv) to strict liability misdemeanor prosecutions concluded via plea agreement;
(v) to any investigation of misconduct by an agency employee or any disciplinary, corrective, or employment action taken against an agency employee; or
(vi) in any other circumstance or proceeding to which application of this order, or any part of this order, would, in the judgment of the head of the agency, undermine the national security.
(d) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Proclamation on National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2021 | Law & Justice | Issued on: January 18, 2021
Every human life is a gift to the world. Whether born or unborn, young or old, healthy or sick, every person is made in the holy image of God. The Almighty Creator gives unique talents, beautiful dreams, and a great purpose to every person. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, we celebrate the wonder of human existence and renew our resolve to build a culture of life where every person of every age is protected, valued, and cherished.
This month, we mark nearly 50 years since the United States Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. This constitutionally flawed ruling overturned State laws that banned abortion, and has resulted in the loss of more than 50 million innocent lives. But strong mothers, courageous students, and incredible community members and people of faith are leading a powerful movement to awaken America’s conscience and restore the belief that every life is worthy of respect, protection, and care. Because of the devotion of countless pro-life pioneers, the call for every person to recognize the sanctity of life is resounding more loudly in America than ever before. Over the last decade, the rate of abortions has steadily decreased, and today, more than three out of every four Americans support restrictions on abortion.
Since my first day in office, I have taken historic action to protect innocent lives at home and abroad. I reinstituted and strengthened President Ronald Reagan’s Mexico City Policy, issued a landmark pro-life rule to govern the use of Title Ten taxpayer funding, and took action to protect the conscience rights of doctors, nurses, and organizations like the Little Sisters of the Poor. My Administration has protected the vital role of faith-based adoption. At the United Nations, I made clear that global bureaucrats have no business attacking the sovereignty of nations that protect innocent life. Just a few months ago, our Nation also joined 32 other countries in signing the Geneva Consensus Declaration, which bolsters global efforts to provide better healthcare to women, protect all human life, and strengthen families.
As a Nation, restoring a culture of respect for the sacredness of life is fundamental to solving our country’s most pressing problems. When each person is treated as a beloved child of God, individuals can reach their full potential, communities will flourish, and America will be a place of even greater hope and freedom. That is why it was my profound privilege to be the first President in history to attend the March for Life, and it is what motives my actions to improve our Nation’s adoption and foster care system, secure more funding for Down syndrome research, and expand health services for single mothers. Over the past 4 years, I have appointed more than 200 Federal judges who apply the Constitution as written, including three Supreme Court Justices — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. I also increased the child tax credit, so that mothers are financially supported as they take on the noble task of raising strong and healthy children. And, recently, I signed an Executive Order on Protecting Vulnerable Newborn and Infant Children, which defends the truth that every newborn baby has the same rights as all other individuals to receive life-saving care.
The United States is a shining example of human rights for the world. However, some in Washington are fighting to keep the United States among a small handful of nations — including North Korea and China — that allow elective abortions after 20 weeks. I join with countless others who believe this is morally and fundamentally wrong, and today, I renew my call on the Congress to pass legislation prohibiting late-term abortion.
Since the beginning, my Administration has been dedicated to lifting up every American, and that starts with protecting the rights of the most vulnerable in our society — the unborn. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, we promise to continue speaking out for those who have no voice. We vow to celebrate and support every heroic mother who chooses life. And we resolve to defend the lives of every innocent and unborn child, each of whom can bring unbelievable love, joy, beauty, and grace into our Nation and the entire world.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, 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 January 22, 2021, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. Today, I call on the Congress to join me in protecting and defending the dignity of every human life, including those not yet born. I call on the American people to continue to care for women in unexpected pregnancies and to support adoption and foster care in a more meaningful way, so every child can have a loving home. And finally, I ask every citizen of this great Nation to listen to the sound of silence caused by a generation lost to us, and then to raise their voices for all affected by abortion, both seen and unseen.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of January, 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.
Partial EO RE: Removing Obstacles to CCW for Law Enforcement (Active & Retired):
Sec. 2. Removing Obstacles to Federal Law Enforcement Officers Qualifying For Concealed Carry Under the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004. (a) It shall be the policy of the United States to remove any undue obstacle preventing current or retired Federal law enforcement officers from carrying a concealed firearm as allowed under the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004, as amended (18 U.S.C. 926B, 926C) (LEOSA).
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Background. In Executive Order 13934 of July 3, 2020 (Building and Rebuilding Monuments to American Heroes), I made it the policy of the United States to establish a statuary park named the National Garden of American Heroes (National Garden). To begin the process of building this new monument to our country’s greatness, I established the Interagency Task Force for Building and Rebuilding Monuments to American Heroes (Task Force) and directed its members to plan for construction of the National Garden. The Task Force has advised me it has completed the first phase of its work and is prepared to move forward. This order revises Executive Order 13934 and provides additional direction for the Task Force.
Sec. 2. Purpose. The chronicles of our history show that America is a land of heroes. As I announced during my address at Mount Rushmore, the gates of a beautiful new garden will soon open to the public where the legends of America’s past will be remembered.
The National Garden will be built to reflect the awesome splendor of our country’s timeless exceptionalism. It will be a place where citizens, young and old, can renew their vision of greatness and take up the challenge that I gave every American in my first address to Congress, to “[b]elieve in yourselves, believe in your future, and believe, once more, in America.”
Across this Nation, belief in the greatness and goodness of America has come under attack in recent months and years by a dangerous anti-American extremism that seeks to dismantle our country’s history, institutions, and very identity. The heroes of 1776 have been desecrated, with statues of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin vandalized and toppled. The dead who gave their lives to end slavery and save the Union during the Civil War have been dishonored, with monuments to Abraham Lincoln, Hans Christian Heg, and the courageous 54th Regiment left damaged and disfigured. The brave warriors who saved freedom from Nazi fascism have been disgraced with a memorial to World War II veterans defaced with the hammer and sickle of Soviet communism.
The National Garden is America’s answer to this reckless attempt to erase our heroes, values, and entire way of life. On its grounds, the devastation and discord of the moment will be overcome with abiding love of country and lasting patriotism. This is the American way. When the forces of anti-Americanism have sought to burn, tear down, and destroy, patriots have built, rebuilt, and lifted up. That is our history. America responded to the razing of the White House by building it back in the same place with unbroken resolve, to the murders of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr., with a national temple and the Stone of Hope, and to the terrorism of 9/11 with a new Freedom Tower. In keeping with this tradition, America is responding to the tragic toppling of monuments to our founding generation and the giants of our past by commencing a new national project for their restoration, veneration, and celebration.
The National Garden will draw together and fix in the soil of a single place what Abraham Lincoln called “[t]he mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart.” In the peace and harmony of this vast outdoor park, visitors will come and learn the amazing stories of some of the greatest Americans who have ever lived. The National Garden will feature a roll call of heroes who deserve honor, recognition, and lasting tribute because of the battles they won, the ideas they championed, the diseases they cured, the lives they saved, the heights they achieved, and the hope they passed down to all of us — that united as one American people trusting in God, there is no challenge that cannot be overcome and no dream that is beyond our reach.
In short, each individual has been chosen for embodying the American spirit of daring and defiance, excellence and adventure, courage and confidence, loyalty and love. Astounding the world by the sheer power of their example, each one of them has contributed indispensably to America’s noble history, the best chapters of which are still to come.
Sec. 3. Honoring Additional American Heroes. (a) Section 3(c) of Executive Order 13934 is amended by striking the words “In addition to the requirements of subsection 3(b) of this order, the proposed options for the” and inserting in their place the word “The”.
(b) Section 3(c)(i) of Executive Order 13934 is amended to read as follows: “The National Garden should be composed of statues, including statues of Ansel Adams, John Adams, Samuel Adams, Muhammad Ali, Luis Walter Alvarez, Susan B. Anthony, Hannah Arendt, Louis Armstrong, Neil Armstrong, Crispus Attucks, John James Audubon, Lauren Bacall, Clara Barton, Todd Beamer, Alexander Graham Bell, Roy Benavidez, Ingrid Bergman, Irving Berlin, Humphrey Bogart, Daniel Boone, Norman Borlaug, William Bradford, Herb Brooks, Kobe Bryant, William F. Buckley, Jr., Sitting Bull, Frank Capra, Andrew Carnegie, Charles Carroll, John Carroll, George Washington Carver, Johnny Cash, Joshua Chamberlain, Whittaker Chambers, Johnny “Appleseed” Chapman, Ray Charles, Julia Child, Gordon Chung-Hoon, William Clark, Henry Clay, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), Roberto Clemente, Grover Cleveland, Red Cloud, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, Nat King Cole, Samuel Colt, Christopher Columbus, Calvin Coolidge, James Fenimore Cooper, Davy Crockett, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., Miles Davis, Dorothy Day, Joseph H. De Castro, Emily Dickinson, Walt Disney, William “Wild Bill” Donovan, Jimmy Doolittle, Desmond Doss, Frederick Douglass, Herbert Henry Dow, Katharine Drexel, Peter Drucker, Amelia Earhart, Thomas Edison, Jonathan Edwards, Albert Einstein, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Duke Ellington, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Medgar Evers, David Farragut, the Marquis de La Fayette, Mary Fields, Henry Ford, George Fox, Aretha Franklin, Benjamin Franklin, Milton Friedman, Robert Frost, Gabby Gabreski, Bernardo de Gálvez, Lou Gehrig, Theodor Seuss Geisel, Cass Gilbert, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Glenn, Barry Goldwater, Samuel Gompers, Alexander Goode, Carl Gorman, Billy Graham, Ulysses S. Grant, Nellie Gray, Nathanael Greene, Woody Guthrie, Nathan Hale, William Frederick “Bull” Halsey, Jr., Alexander Hamilton, Ira Hayes, Hans Christian Heg, Ernest Hemingway, Patrick Henry, Charlton Heston, Alfred Hitchcock, Billie Holiday, Bob Hope, Johns Hopkins, Grace Hopper, Sam Houston, Whitney Houston, Julia Ward Howe, Edwin Hubble, Daniel Inouye, Andrew Jackson, Robert H. Jackson, Mary Jackson, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, Steve Jobs, Katherine Johnson, Barbara Jordan, Chief Joseph, Elia Kazan, Helen Keller, John F. Kennedy, Francis Scott Key, Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King, Jr., Russell Kirk, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Henry Knox, Tadeusz Kościuszko, Harper Lee, Pierre Charles L’Enfant, Meriwether Lewis, Abraham Lincoln, Vince Lombardi, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Clare Boothe Luce, Douglas MacArthur, Dolley Madison, James Madison, George Marshall, Thurgood Marshall, William Mayo, Christa McAuliffe, William McKinley, Louise McManus, Herman Melville, Thomas Merton, George P. Mitchell, Maria Mitchell, William “Billy” Mitchell, Samuel Morse, Lucretia Mott, John Muir, Audie Murphy, Edward Murrow, John Neumann, Annie Oakley, Jesse Owens, Rosa Parks, George S. Patton, Jr., Charles Willson Peale, William Penn, Oliver Hazard Perry, John J. Pershing, Edgar Allan Poe, Clark Poling, John Russell Pope, Elvis Presley, Jeannette Rankin, Ronald Reagan, Walter Reed, William Rehnquist, Paul Revere, Henry Hobson Richardson, Hyman Rickover, Sally Ride, Matthew Ridgway, Jackie Robinson, Norman Rockwell, Caesar Rodney, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Betsy Ross, Babe Ruth, Sacagawea, Jonas Salk, John Singer Sargent, Antonin Scalia, Norman Schwarzkopf, Junípero Serra, Elizabeth Ann Seton, Robert Gould Shaw, Fulton Sheen, Alan Shepard, Frank Sinatra, Margaret Chase Smith, Bessie Smith, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Jimmy Stewart, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Gilbert Stuart, Anne Sullivan, William Howard Taft, Maria Tallchief, Maxwell Taylor, Tecumseh, Kateri Tekakwitha, Shirley Temple, Nikola Tesla, Jefferson Thomas, Henry David Thoreau, Jim Thorpe, Augustus Tolton, Alex Trebek, Harry S. Truman, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Dorothy Vaughan, C. T. Vivian, John von Neumann, Thomas Ustick Walter, Sam Walton, Booker T. Washington, George Washington, John Washington, John Wayne, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Phillis Wheatley, Walt Whitman, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Roger Williams, John Winthrop, Frank Lloyd Wright, Orville Wright, Wilbur Wright, Alvin C. York, Cy Young, and Lorenzo de Zavala.”
Sec. 4. Additional Amendments to Executive Order 13934. (a) Section 3(b) of Executive Order 13934 is amended to read as follows: “The Secretary, in consultation with the Task Force, shall identify a site suitable for the establishment of the National Garden. The Secretary shall proceed with construction of the National Garden at that site, to the extent consistent with the Secretary’s existing authorities or authority later provided by the Congress.”
(b) Section 7 of Executive Order 13934 is amended to read as follows: “Definition. The term “historically significant American” means an individual who made substantive contributions to America’s public life or otherwise had a substantive effect on America’s history.”
Sec. 5. Funding. (a) The Secretary of the Interior shall provide funding, as appropriate and consistent with available appropriations and applicable law, for the establishment and maintenance of the National Garden.
(b) The Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Humanities, in consultation with the National Council on the Arts and the National Council on the Humanities, respectively, and the Task Force, should target spending one-twelfth of the discretionary funds available to their agencies on commissioning statues of individuals set forth in section 3(c)(i) of Executive Order 13934, as amended by section 3(b) of this order, for placement in the National Garden, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.
Sec. 6. Public Report. Until such time as the National Garden is established and includes statues of all individuals set forth in section 3(c)(i) of Executive Order 13934, as amended by section 3(b) of this order, the Task Force shall publish an annual public report describing progress on establishing the National Garden and on building statues of American heroes. This report shall include, as applicable, the steps the Task Force agencies have taken in the preceding year to prepare the National Garden to be opened for public access and listing all statues either commissioned for or placed in the National Garden.
Sec. 7. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE, January 18, 2021.
Didnt they install a metal detector in DC?
As we mark National School Choice Week, my Administration reaffirms its commitment to solving the civil rights issue of our time: educational inequity. We have made substantial progress on this front, but we must continue our efforts to ensure that each and every family in America has the freedom to choose an education that best meets their needs and values.
Our Nation currently spends more money per pupil than almost every other industrialized country in the world, yet nearly two-thirds of our youth are not proficient readers, and students across all age groups continue to struggle in math. These failures are largely the result of a one-size-fits-all, industrial-style approach to education. Currently, students are assigned to schools based on where they live, so only those whose families can afford to move to a better-performing school district or can afford private school tuition have a choice in the learning environment that best fits their child’s needs. That is fundamentally unfair and unjust. All Americans, no matter their family income, deserve the opportunity to choose the best educational option for them.
What is often forgotten is that the failures of this rigid arrangement disproportionately affect racial minorities and distressed communities, perpetuating a cycle of poverty. We can no longer allow America’s classrooms to be an exception to our Nation’s promise of equal opportunity for all. Instead, we must provide equal access to a quality education for every American student, no matter where they reside. In the land of the free, a child’s zip code should never determine their future.
That is why, I recently issued an Executive Order on Expanding Educational Opportunity through School Choice that provides in-person options for low-income parents forced to send their children to virtual school during the pandemic. But we must continue this progress. Therefore, I renew my call to the Congress to pass the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act, so we can finally take a giant step towards true liberty for students. This landmark legislation would give more than 1 million children the freedom to attend the school that best fits their needs, and would create more than $5 billion in annual tax credits for those who donate to local scholarship funds, empowering more families to choose the best educational setting for their children.
I also call on the Congress to pass the School Choice Now Act, which will ensure every State can fund elementary and high school scholarship programs, so that students do not lose access to their school of choice because of economic disruptions. As too many school districts across the country refuse to open, these scholarships are needed now more than ever so that families unable to afford private tutors or who work during the day can still provide an education for their children.
Education will always be one of the most important factors in a child’s future success. That is why I am fighting to empower all families — of all races, backgrounds, and incomes — with the freedom and the resources they need to make the best decisions for their children. In America, more freedom leads to more opportunity — especially in the classroom. By embracing my Administration’s school choice policy, we will make sure that every American student is able to fulfill their God‑given potential.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, 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 January 24 to January 30, 2021, as National School Choice Week.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of January, 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.
DONALD J. TRUMP
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to improve transparency with respect to the consequences of violating certain regulations and to protect Americans from facing unwarranted criminal punishment for unintentional violations of regulations, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. In the interest of fairness, Federal criminal law should be clearly written so that all Americans can understand what is prohibited and act accordingly. Some statutes have authorized executive branch agencies to promulgate thousands of regulations, creating a thicket of requirements that can be difficult to navigate, and many of these regulations are enforceable through criminal processes and penalties. The purpose of this order is to alleviate regulatory burdens on Americans by ensuring that they have notice of potential criminal liability for violations of regulations and by focusing criminal enforcement of regulatory offenses on the most culpable individuals.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the Federal Government that:
(a) Agencies promulgating regulations that may subject a violator to criminal penalties should be explicit about what conduct is subject to criminal penalties and the mens rea standard applicable to those offenses;
(b) Strict liability offenses are “generally disfavored.” United States v. United States Gypsum, Co., 438 U.S. 422, 438 (1978). Where appropriate, agencies should consider administrative or civil enforcement of strict liability regulatory offenses, rather than criminal enforcement of such offenses; and
(c) Criminal prosecution based on regulatory offenses is most appropriate for those persons who know what is prohibited or required by the regulation and choose not to comply, thereby causing or risking substantial public harm. Criminal prosecutions based on regulatory offenses should focus on matters where a putative defendant had actual or constructive knowledge that conduct was prohibited.
Sec. 3. Definitions. For the purposes of this order:
(a) “Agency” has the meaning given to “Executive agency” in section 105 of title 5, United States Code.
(b) “Mens rea” means the state of mind that by law must be proven to convict a particular defendant of a particular crime. There are several such mental states in the law applied by Federal courts. Two common mental states are “knowingly” and “willfully.” A defendant acts “knowingly” with respect to an element of the offense if he or she has knowledge of the essential facts comprising that element. In addition, a defendant “willfully” violates a statute if he or she acts with a “bad purpose” that is with “knowledge that his [or her] conduct is unlawful.” Model Criminal Jury Instructions (3d Cir. 2018), ch. 5, sec. 5.02 cmt. (quotation marks omitted). By contrast, strict liability offenses do not require the government to prove mens rea. For instance, the jury instructions for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit note that “[s]ome federal crimes are also strict or absolute liability offenses, without any mental state requirement.” Id. at ch. 5, General Introduction to Mental State Instructions.
(c) “Person” has the meaning given it in section 1 of title 1, United States Code.
(d) “Regulatory offense” means any violation of a regulation promulgated by an agency.
Sec. 4. Promoting Regulatory Transparency. (a) All notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRMs) and final rules published in the Federal Register after issuance of this order should include a statement that describes whether individuals who violate any of the prohibitions — or fail to comply with any requirements — imposed by the regulation or rule may be subject to criminal penalties. Agencies should draft this statement in consultation with the Department of Justice. For purposes of this order, a regulation is treated as subjecting individuals to criminal penalties when violation of the regulation is itself a basis for criminal liability under Federal law.
(b) The regulatory text of all NPRMs and final rules with criminal consequences published in the Federal Register after issuance of this order should, consistent with applicable law, explicitly state a mens rea requirement for each such provision or identify the provision as a strict liability offense, accompanied by citations to the relevant provisions of the authorizing statute.
(c) Prior to publishing in the Federal Register an NPRM or final rule that contains a regulatory offense not specifically articulated in the authorizing statute that may subject a violator to potential criminal liability with no mens rea requirement or a regulatory offense that includes an element that does not require proof of mens rea (excluding jurisdictional and venue elements), the applicable agency should submit a brief justification for use of a strict liability standard as well as the source of legal authority for the imposition of such a standard, to the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget (Administrator). In response to these agency submissions, the Administrator shall provide implementation guidance to agencies on this order, monitor agency regulatory actions pursuant to this order, and advise agencies if their actions are inconsistent with the principles set forth in this order and or otherwise conflict with the policies or actions of another agency. After such consultation, a statement of justification should be published in the Federal Register with the NPRM and the final rule.
Sec. 5. Agency Referrals for Potential Criminal Enforcement. (a) Within 45 days of the date of this order, and in consultation with the Department of Justice, each agency should publish guidance in the Federal Register describing its plan to administratively address regulatory offenses subject to potential criminal liability rather than refer those offenses to the Department of Justice for criminal enforcement. Such guidance should make clear that when agencies are enforcing regulations related to statutory criminal violations subject to strict liability, and deciding whether to refer the matter to the Department of Justice, agencies should consider factors such as:
(i) the harm or risk of harm, pecuniary or otherwise, caused by the alleged offense;
(ii) the potential gain to the putative defendant that could result from the offense;
(iii) whether the putative defendant held specialized knowledge, expertise, or was licensed in an industry related to the rule or regulation at issue; and
(iv) evidence, if any is available, of the putative defendant’s knowledge or lack thereof of the regulation at issue.
(b) Notwithstanding these considerations, the guidance should not deter, limit, or delay agency referrals to the Department of Justice where either the putative defendant’s state of mind is unknown because further investigation is required, or there exists a reasonable indication that a crime has been committed based on the evidence available.
(c) When required by internal agency policies or practice, an agency may refer alleged regulatory offenses carrying potential criminal consequences to its designated investigation and law enforcement offices for investigation of the viability of the charge, subject to the guidance described in 5(a) of this order governing referral of regulatory offenses subject to strict liability.
Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision in this order, nothing in this order shall apply:
(i) to any action that pertains to foreign or military affairs, or to a national security or homeland security function of the United States (other than procurement actions and actions involving the import or export of non-defense articles and services);
(ii) to any action that the Department of Justice takes related to a criminal investigation or prosecution, including undercover operations, or any civil enforcement action or related investigation by the Department of Justice, in addition to any action related to a civil investigative demand under 18 U.S.C. 1968;
(iii) to any action related to counterfeit goods, pirated goods, or other goods that infringe intellectual property rights, or goods that are adulterated or misbranded, or goods for which regulatory approval was required prior to distribution but not obtained;
(iv) to strict liability misdemeanor prosecutions concluded via plea agreement;
(v) to any investigation of misconduct by an agency employee or any disciplinary, corrective, or employment action taken against an agency employee; or
(vi) in any other circumstance or proceeding to which application of this order, or any part of this order, would, in the judgment of the head of the agency, undermine the national security.
(d) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE, January 18, 2021.
Every human life is a gift to the world. Whether born or unborn, young or old, healthy or sick, every person is made in the holy image of God. The Almighty Creator gives unique talents, beautiful dreams, and a great purpose to every person. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, we celebrate the wonder of human existence and renew our resolve to build a culture of life where every person of every age is protected, valued, and cherished.
This month, we mark nearly 50 years since the United States Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. This constitutionally flawed ruling overturned State laws that banned abortion, and has resulted in the loss of more than 50 million innocent lives. But strong mothers, courageous students, and incredible community members and people of faith are leading a powerful movement to awaken America’s conscience and restore the belief that every life is worthy of respect, protection, and care. Because of the devotion of countless pro-life pioneers, the call for every person to recognize the sanctity of life is resounding more loudly in America than ever before. Over the last decade, the rate of abortions has steadily decreased, and today, more than three out of every four Americans support restrictions on abortion.
Since my first day in office, I have taken historic action to protect innocent lives at home and abroad. I reinstituted and strengthened President Ronald Reagan’s Mexico City Policy, issued a landmark pro-life rule to govern the use of Title Ten taxpayer funding, and took action to protect the conscience rights of doctors, nurses, and organizations like the Little Sisters of the Poor. My Administration has protected the vital role of faith-based adoption. At the United Nations, I made clear that global bureaucrats have no business attacking the sovereignty of nations that protect innocent life. Just a few months ago, our Nation also joined 32 other countries in signing the Geneva Consensus Declaration, which bolsters global efforts to provide better healthcare to women, protect all human life, and strengthen families.
As a Nation, restoring a culture of respect for the sacredness of life is fundamental to solving our country’s most pressing problems. When each person is treated as a beloved child of God, individuals can reach their full potential, communities will flourish, and America will be a place of even greater hope and freedom. That is why it was my profound privilege to be the first President in history to attend the March for Life, and it is what motives my actions to improve our Nation’s adoption and foster care system, secure more funding for Down syndrome research, and expand health services for single mothers. Over the past 4 years, I have appointed more than 200 Federal judges who apply the Constitution as written, including three Supreme Court Justices — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. I also increased the child tax credit, so that mothers are financially supported as they take on the noble task of raising strong and healthy children. And, recently, I signed an Executive Order on Protecting Vulnerable Newborn and Infant Children, which defends the truth that every newborn baby has the same rights as all other individuals to receive life-saving care.
The United States is a shining example of human rights for the world. However, some in Washington are fighting to keep the United States among a small handful of nations — including North Korea and China — that allow elective abortions after 20 weeks. I join with countless others who believe this is morally and fundamentally wrong, and today, I renew my call on the Congress to pass legislation prohibiting late-term abortion.
Since the beginning, my Administration has been dedicated to lifting up every American, and that starts with protecting the rights of the most vulnerable in our society — the unborn. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, we promise to continue speaking out for those who have no voice. We vow to celebrate and support every heroic mother who chooses life. And we resolve to defend the lives of every innocent and unborn child, each of whom can bring unbelievable love, joy, beauty, and grace into our Nation and the entire world.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, 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 January 22, 2021, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. Today, I call on the Congress to join me in protecting and defending the dignity of every human life, including those not yet born. I call on the American people to continue to care for women in unexpected pregnancies and to support adoption and foster care in a more meaningful way, so every child can have a loving home. And finally, I ask every citizen of this great Nation to listen to the sound of silence caused by a generation lost to us, and then to raise their voices for all affected by abortion, both seen and unseen.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of January, 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.
DONALD J. TRUMP