National Child's Day, 2010

Proclamation 8604 of November 19, 2010

National Child's Day, 2010

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

On National Child's Day, we celebrate America's
children and rededicate ourselves to helping them reach
for their dreams and realize their full potential. To
build a strong foundation for our children's future, we
must support their health and development and ensure
that they receive a high-quality education that will
prepare them to lead in the 21st century.

My Administration is committed to caring for our
Nation's most precious resource: our children. I was
proud to sign the Affordable Care Act into law, which
expands families' health insurance options and requires
new plans to cover recommended preventive services--
including well-baby and well-child visits and essential
immunizations and vaccinations--with no out-of-pocket
costs. It also prohibits insurance companies from using
a pre-existing condition as a reason to deny health
care coverage to children as of this year, and to all
Americans in 2014. Additionally, through the ``Let's
Move!'' Initiative, First Lady Michelle Obama is
helping lead our effort to end the epidemic of
childhood obesity within a generation by encouraging
healthy eating and physical activity.

We must also invest in our Nation's future by investing
in our children's education, for it is both a key to
success and a prerequisite to opportunity. Early
childhood education programs can greatly influence
learning capabilities later in life, and my
Administration is working to expand these programs and
improve their quality. Teachers are the most important
resource to a child's learning, and countless children
benefit from the experience and enthusiasm that
teachers bring to the classroom. These individuals
instill in our youth the knowledge that will enable
them to grow into active and engaged adults. Through
such care and guidance--and a greater effort by all to
provide safe, supportive spaces for our children, free
of bullying and harassment--we will unlock the promise
within each child.

Our children will soon stand at the helm of America and
steer its course. This Child's Day, let us recommit to
instilling the values, vision, and knowledge that will
allow our children to realize a future of opportunity
and prosperity.

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 November 20, 2010, as
National Child's Day. I call upon all citizens to
observe this day with appropriate activities, programs,
and ceremonies, and to rededicate ourselves to creating
the bright future we want for our Nation's children.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
nineteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two
thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.