COVID–19 pandemic has further highlighted and exacerbated the lack of safe, affordable places to live for far too many people in America.
To affirm equal opportunity as the bedrock of our democracy—and to enlist the entire Federal Government to address entrenched disparities in our laws, public policies, and institutions—I signed an Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government on my first day in office. To ensure that the Federal Government continues to prioritize the right to fair housing and actively enforce our Federal civil rights laws, I also signed a Presidential Memorandum on Redressing Our Nation’s and the Federal Government’s History of Discriminatory Housing Practices and Policies during my first week as President. My Administration will continue our efforts to close persistent racial gaps in wages, housing, credit, lending opportunities, and access to higher education—gaps that, if closed, would add an estimated $5 trillion in gross domestic product in the American economy over the next 5 years. We are committed to doing all we can to end unlawful housing discrimination and advance equity for all underserved populations, fulfill the full promise of the Fair Housing Act, and put the American dream within reach of all Americans.
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 April 2021 as National Fair Housing Month. I call upon the people of this Nation to help secure freedom and justice for every American by taking action to fulfill the promise made by the Fair Housing Act to ensure everyone has free and fair housing choice.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eleventh day of April, 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.
[FR Doc. 2021–07861
Filed 4–14–21; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295–F1–P
