[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 138 (Wednesday, July 19, 1995)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Page 37321]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-17949]




[[Page 37319]]

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Part VIII





The President





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Proclamation 6810--Captive Nations Week, 1995
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  Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 138 / Wednesday, July 19, 1995 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 37321]]

                Proclamation 6810 of July 17, 1995

                
Captive Nations Week, 1995

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                As we mark the 36th observance of ``Captive Nations 
                Week,'' Americans reflect on the sorrow of peoples 
                throughout the world who are physically and spiritually 
                oppressed by their governments. In our hearts, we know 
                that the ongoing struggle for individual liberty is 
                part of a larger cause--an international quest for true 
                peace. Recent years have seen great progress in the 
                global march toward freedom. But far too many of 
                humanity's children still live in fear.

                    Our commemoration of this week reflects the concern 
                of Americans for all of those in need. Having sustained 
                the promise of democracy for more than 200 years, we 
                understand its many blessings and its profound 
                importance in the world. While we celebrate the triumph 
                of democratic governments in nations around the globe, 
                we stay bound to those who remain prisoners of 
                violence, poverty, and prejudice. As beneficiaries of 
                freedom's power, we must champion their struggle, 
                promoting respect for human dignity everywhere on 
                Earth.

                Stripped of fundamental personal rights and barred from 
                realizing their political voice, the captive citizens 
                of authoritarian regimes share our people's dreams of 
                happiness. Today, in nations of the former Soviet bloc 
                and from Asia to Africa to Latin America, our new 
                democratic friends are acting on their hopes for 
                opportunity and prosperity, recognizing that respect 
                for individual freedom is the key to internal and 
                international stability. America plays a vital role in 
                this process of growth and change. As President John F. 
                Kennedy said years ago, our ``historic task in this 
                embattled age is not merely to defend freedom. It is to 
                extend its writ and strengthen its covenant.'' We 
                Americans have an enormous stake in the fate of captive 
                nations. Their future is no less than our greatest hope 
                for peace.

                The Congress, by Joint Resolution approved July 17, 
                1959 (73 Stat. 212), has authorized and requested the 
                President to issue a proclamation designating the third 
                week in July of each year as ``Captive Nations Week.''

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim July 16 
                through July 22, 1995, as Captive Nations Week. I call 
                upon the people of the United States to observe this 
                week with appropriate ceremonies and activities, 
                rededicating ourselves to the principles of freedom and 
                justice on which this Nation was founded and by which 
                it will ever endure.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                seventeenth day of July, in the year of our Lord 
                nineteen hundred and ninety-five, and of the 
                Independence of the United States of America the two 
                hundred and twentieth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 95-17949
Filed 7-17-95; 4:43 pm]
Billing code 3195-01-P