Today we honor generations of American veterans – patriots who stood on the front lines of freedom and shined the light of freedom brightly around the world. Just as they have maintained ultimate faith in our nation, we must maintain ultimate faith in them.

Each of our nation’s veterans is a link in a chain of honor that stretches back to our founding days – bound by a sacred oath to support and defend the United States of America. Throughout history, whenever and wherever the forces of darkness have tried to extinguish the flame of freedom, America’s veterans have fought to keep it burning brightly. I remember so clearly the pride the First Lady and I felt for our son Beau during his service in Iraq. He lived, served and sacrificed – like all our veterans from Belleau Wood, Baghdad and Gettysburg to Guadalcanal, Korea and Kandahar and beyond – from a sense of duty. We owe them a debt of gratitude that we can never fully repay, not only for fighting for our democracy, but for giving back to our communities and inspiring the next generation to serve even after they hang up their uniforms.

As a nation, we have one truly sacred duty: to prepare and equip those we place in harm’s way, and to care for them and their families when they return home. Since taking office, I have signed more than 34 bipartisan bills to support our veterans and their families, caregivers and survivors. This includes the groundbreaking Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, which created the most significant expansion of benefits and services for veterans exposed to toxins in more than 30 years. Today, more than 1.1 million veterans and 11,000 survivors of deceased veterans are receiving new disability benefits, and more than 5.8 million veterans have been screened for toxic exposure – a critical step to ensuring they have access to the care they need . And starting in March of last year, any exposed veteran who served during a conflict described in the PACT Act can enroll in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care benefits. My Administration will ensure that women veterans enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs health care systems have equal access to benefits and health services. My administration has been working to break down barriers and reach veterans to ensure they have access to their earned benefits. As a result, the VA is providing more benefits to more veterans than ever before. In 2024, the VA processed more claims than ever and is providing health care services at record levels. We have taken steps to remove barriers and disparities for all veterans, including people of color, LGBTQI+ people and women. We have made progress in addressing veteran homelessness, and we are working to end the silent plague of suicide by addressing financial and legal risk factors, promoting the safe storage of firearms, and increasing access to mental health expand health care. Last year, the VA housed nearly 48,000 veterans, expanded access to health care and legal assistance for homeless veterans and helped more than 158,000 veterans and their families keep their homes. And we are committed to helping the approximately 200,000 servicemembers who transition from the military each year find good-paying jobs, including by connecting them with registered apprenticeship programs. My administration has also prioritized supporting veteran entrepreneurship. This year, small businesses owned by veterans with disabilities secured nearly $32 billion in federal contracts, nearly $4 billion more than the previous year.

While our veterans are the steel backbone of this nation, their families are the brave hearts – they also serve and sacrifice so much for our country. Last year, I signed an Executive Order calling for the most comprehensive set of administrative actions in our nation’s history to support the economic security of military and veteran spouses, caregivers, and survivors. The Executive Order expands training and employment opportunities for military spouses in the workforce and encourages federal agencies to do more to retain military and veteran spouses through flexible policies. Additionally, through the First Lady’s Joining Forces initiative, my administration is working to better support military and veteran families, from easing school transition for military children to expanding economic opportunity and improving the well-being of military spouses, caregivers and survivors.

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to visit Normandy to celebrate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, along with so many World War II veterans. Their service and sacrifice helped free the world from tyranny. We learned then what we still know now: democracy is never guaranteed. Every generation must preserve it, defend it and fight for it. Today we honor all our veterans who preserved, defended and fought for our democracy. They prove that we are a nation that can meet darkness with light again and again, no matter how high the cost or how heavy the burden. May we all strive to be worthy of their sacrifices for us, and do our part to keep the light of freedom burning brightly for generations to come.

With respect and recognition of the contributions that our veterans and their families, caregivers, and survivors have made to the cause of peace and freedom throughout the world, Congress has provided (5 USC 6103(a)) that November 11 of each year take place. set aside as a legal holiday to honor our nation’s veterans.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, hereby proclaim November 11, 2024, as Veterans Day. I encourage all Americans to recognize the bravery, courage and sacrifice of these patriots through appropriate ceremonies and personal prayers and by observing a two-minute silence for our nation’s veterans. I also call on federal, state and local officials to display the flag of the United States of America and engage in patriotic activities in their communities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have consecrated my hand heretofore the sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the two hundred and forty-ninth.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.