I love this…
A PROCLAMATION BY THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Each year, America sets
aside a week to salute the men and women who do the difficult, dangerous, and
often thankless work of safeguarding our communities. Our Nation's peace
officers embody the very idea of citizenship -- that along with our rights come
responsibilities, both to ourselves and to others. During Peace Officers
Memorial Day and Police Week, we celebrate those who protect and serve us every
minute of every day, and we honor the courageous officers who devoted
themselves so fully to others that in the process they laid down their lives.
As we mourn the fallen, let
us also remember how they lived. With unflinching commitment, they defended our
schools and businesses. They guarded prisons; patrolled borders; and kept us
safe at home, on the road, and as we went about our lives. To their families,
we owe an unpayable debt. And to the men and women who carry their mission
forward, we owe our unyielding support.
Our Nation has an
obligation to ensure that as police officers face untold risks in the line of
duty, we are doing whatever we can to protect them. This means providing all
necessary resources so they can get the job done, hiring new officers where
they are needed most, and investing in training to prepare those on the front
lines for potentially deadly situations. It also means making reforms to curb
senseless epidemics of violence that threaten law enforcement officers and
haunt the neighborhoods they serve.
Just as police officers never let down their guard, we must never let slide our gratitude. We should extend our thanks not only in times of tragedy, but for every tragedy averted -- every accident avoided because a patrol officer took a drunk driver off the streets, every child made safer because a criminal was brought to justice, every life saved because police officers raced to the scene. In other words, we must show our gratitude every day.
By a joint resolution approved October 1, 1962, as amended (76 Stat. 676), and by Public Law 103-322, as amended (36 U.S.C. 136-137), the President has been authorized and requested to designate May 15 of each year as "Peace Officers Memorial Day" and the week in which it falls as "Police Week."
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK
OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 15,
2014, as Peace Officers Memorial Day and May 11 through May 17, 2014, as Police
Week. I call upon all Americans to observe these events with appropriate
ceremonies and activities. I also call on Governors of the United States and
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, officials of the other territories subject to
the jurisdiction of the United States, and appropriate officials of all units
of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers
Memorial Day. I further encourage all Americans to display the flag at
half-staff from their homes and businesses on that day.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have
hereunto set my hand this ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord two
thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the
two hundred and thirty-eighth.
BARACK OBAMA
* Source of
official information in this blog posting is The White House, Office of the
Press Secretary.
