I am so tired of acronyms in Washington. I can’t stand it. I cannot stand it. But I’m going to have to learn, aren’t I? - Joe Biden

In another January, on New Year′s Day in 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation. When he put pen to paper, the president said, and I quote, “if my name ever goes down into history, it′ll be for this act, and my whole soul is in it.”<p>“My whole soul is in it.” Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this: bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation. And I ask every American to join me in this cause.<p>Uniting to fight the foes we face, anger, resentment and hatred, extremism, lawlessness, violence, disease, joblessness and hopelessness. With unity, we can do great things, important things.

Hate and fear are being given too much oxygen by those who pretend to love America but do not understand America.<p>To confront the dangerous ideology of hate requires caring about all people — including our Nation’s immigrants. After all, the fundamental promise of America is that all of us are created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives. As a Nation, we have never fully lived up to that promise, but we have never walked away from it either.

It’s about recognizing a disability isn’t something broken to be fixed. For millions of Americans, their disability is a source of identity and power. Disability pride is about every American’s equal right to be recognized for who they are. It’s about celebrating the progress we’ve made and the future ahead.