[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 237 (Monday, December 12, 1994)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 64107-64108]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-30674]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: December 12, 1994]


  
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Part VII





The President





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Proclamation 6761--
Human Rights Day, Bill of Rights Day, and Human 
Rights Week, 1994


                        Presidential Documents 


Federal Register
Vol. 59, No. 237
Monday, December 12, 1994

____________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President
                Proclamation 6761 of December 8, 1994

 
Human Rights Day, Bill of Rights Day, and Human 
                Rights Week, 1994

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Every generation is blessed with its own moral leaders 
                and visionaries. Through the years, America has been 
                graced by the wisdom and guidance of Thomas Jefferson, 
                Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson. Many of us aspire to 
                live the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr. The youth 
                of today might find strength in the courage of Vaclav 
                Havel or Nelson Mandela. Regardless of the visionary, 
                regardless of the generation, the content of the vision 
                endures: a commitment to freedom, an expectation of 
                justice, and a belief in the infinite value of 
                humanity.

                From a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King 
                penned some of the most eloquent words of the United 
                States civil rights movement: ``Any law that uplifts 
                human personality is just. Any law that degrades human 
                personality is unjust.'' Even in a place of absolute 
                confinement, King recognized that discrimination, 
                ignorance, and intolerance are far more imprisoning 
                barriers than any common construction of steel and 
                barbed wire. And true freedom demands more than beating 
                down prison walls. Equality only comes by striking at 
                injustice with reason and the power of the law.

                Our Bill of Rights and the United Nations Universal 
                Declaration of Human Rights are powerful statements 
                indeed. They have moved humankind closer to realizing a 
                society of ``just'' laws--a society that upholds what 
                we believe is righteous and affirms what we know is 
                right.

                Yet in celebrating the freedoms that are ours as 
                beneficiaries of democracy, we are no less bound to 
                those who remain prisoners of prejudice, poverty, and 
                violence. In this Nation and in countries around the 
                world, it is unfortunate that much of Dr. King's work 
                remains undone. Today, we rededicate ourselves to Dr. 
                King's dream, to joining President Mandela as he works 
                to renew South Africa, to standing with President Havel 
                as he promotes prosperity in the Czech Republic--to 
                championing the cause of human dignity for people 
                everywhere on Earth. Freedom is the ability to reach 
                out and the responsibility to help build. With the wind 
                of justice at our backs, freedom is the strength to 
                lift all humanity to higher ground.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim December 10, 1994, as 
                ``Human Rights Day,'' December 15, 1994, as ``Bill of 
                Rights Day,'' and the week beginning December 10, 1994, 
                as ``Human Rights Week.'' I call upon all of the people 
                of the United States to mark these observances with 
                appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                eighth day of December, 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 nineteenth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)>

[FR Doc. 94-30674
Filed 12-9-94; 11:23 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P