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 185 Proclamations Proc. 8909 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 Thursday, November 22, 2012, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage the people of the United States to join together—whether in our homes, places of worship, community centers, or any place of fellowship for friends and neighbors— and give thanks for all we have received in the past year, express apprecia- tion to those whose lives enrich our own, and share our bounty with oth- ers. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Inde- pendence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sev- enth. BARACK OBAMA Proclamation 8909 of November 29, 2012 World AIDS Day, 2012 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation On World AIDS Day, more than 30 years after the first cases of this tragic illness were reported, we join the global community once more in standing with the millions of people who live with HIV/AIDS worldwide. We also recommit to preventing the spread of this disease, fighting the stigma asso- ciated with infection, and ending this pandemic once and for all. In 2010, my Administration released the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, our Nation’s first comprehensive plan to fight the domestic epidemic. The Strategy aims to reduce new infections, increase access to care, reduce health disparities, and achieve a more coordinated national response to HIV/AIDS here in the United States. To meet these goals, we are advancing HIV/AIDS education; connecting stakeholders throughout the public, pri- vate, and non-profit sectors; and investing in promising research that can improve clinical outcomes and reduce the risk of transmission. Moving for- ward, we must continue to focus on populations with the highest HIV dis- parities—including gay men, and African American and Latino commu- nities—and scale up effective, evidence-based interventions to prevent and treat HIV. We are also implementing the Affordable Care Act, which has expanded access to HIV testing and will ensure that all Americans, includ- ing those living with HIV/AIDS, have access to health insurance beginning in 2014. These actions are bringing us closer to an AIDS-free generation at home and abroad—a goal that, while ambitious, is within sight. Through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), we are on track to meet the HIV prevention and treatment targets I set last year. We are work- ing with partners at home and abroad to reduce new infections in adults, 185