[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 13 (Thursday, January 20, 1994)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 2925-2926]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-1480]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: January 20, 1994]




                        Presidential Documents 


Federal Register
Vol. 59, No. 13
Thursday, January 20, 1994

____________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President
                Proclamation 6646 of January 14, 1994

 

Religious Freedom Day, 1994

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                This past year, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act 
                of 1993 was enacted, reaffirming our solemn commitment 
                to protect the first guarantee of our Bill of Rights. 
                In the great tradition of our Nation's founders, this 
                legislation embraces the abiding principle that our 
                laws and institutions must neither impede nor hinder, 
                but rather preserve and promote, religious liberty. As 
                it is inscribed on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, 
                the words of Leviticus ring out, ``Proclaim liberty 
                throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.'' 
                Our government did not create this liberty, but it 
                cannot be too vigilant in securing its blessings.

                It is no accident of authorship that the right to free 
                exercise of religion is the first freedom granted by 
                our Bill of Rights. The framers of the Constitution 
                well recognized the awesome power of religious liberty, 
                not only to unite the citizenry in common cause, but 
                also to empower us to question age-old beliefs and lift 
                this Nation toward enlightenment. Today, as we face a 
                crisis of conscience in our families and communities, 
                as children murder children in our schools, as neighbor 
                turns away from neighbor on frightening city streets--
                today, more than ever, we see the fundamental wisdom of 
                our country's forefathers. For at the heart of this 
                most precious right is a challenge to use the spiritual 
                freedom we have been afforded to examine the values, 
                the soul, and the true essence of human nature.

                Religious freedom helps to give America's people a 
                character independent of their government, fostering 
                the formation of individual codes of ethics, without 
                which a democracy cannot survive. For more than two 
                centuries, this freedom has enabled us to live together 
                in a peace unprecedented in the history of nations. To 
                be both the world's strongest democracy and its most 
                truly multi-ethnic society is a victory of human spirit 
                we must not take for granted. For as many issues as 
                there are that divide us in this society, there remain 
                values that all of us share. We believe in respecting 
                the bond between parents and children. We believe in 
                honoring the worth of honest labor. We believe in 
                treating each other generously and with kindness. We 
                are striving to accept our differences and to find 
                strength in the dreams we all hold dear.

                On this day, let us hear the sound of the Liberty Bell 
                as a clarion call to action. Let us face with renewed 
                determination the problems that beset our communities. 
                Let us replace the instability and intolerance with 
                security and justice. Regardless of our faith, let us 
                be each other's guides along the open path toward 
                peace.

                The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 154, has 
                designated January 16, 1994, as ``Religious Freedom 
                Day'' and has requested the President to issue a 
                proclamation in observance of this day.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim the day of 
                January 16, 1994, as Religious Freedom Day. I call upon 
                the people of the United States to observe this day 
                with appropriate ceremonies and activities, and I urge 
                them to reaffirm their devotion to the principles of 
                religious freedom.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                fourteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord 
                nineteen hundred and ninety-four, and of the 
                Independence of the United States of America the two 
                hundred and eighteenth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)>

[FR Doc. 94-1480
Filed 1-18-94; 1:58 pm]
Billing code 3195-01-P