[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 79 (Thursday, April 24, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 19897-19898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-10778]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 79 / Thursday, April 24, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 19897]]

                Proclamation 6995 of April 22, 1997

                
Law Day, U.S.A., 1997

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                This is the 40th year that Americans have celebrated 
                the first day of May as Law Day, a special time to 
                reflect on our legal heritage. It is an opportunity for 
                all Americans to pause and consider how the rule of law 
                has contributed to the freedoms we enjoy, and to our 
                greatness as a Nation.

                The theme of this year's Law Day commemoration, 
                ``Celebrate Your Freedom,'' focuses on the one concept 
                that most defines us as a Nation. It was freedom that 
                we fought for when we created this country. It is 
                freedom that still sets us apart from many of the 
                world's nations. And it is freedom's lamp that still 
                beckons the oppressed to America from all parts of the 
                globe.

                 The quest to ensure our freedom is the essence of what 
                it means to be an American, and the bulwark of our 
                freedom is the law and the legal system. James Madison 
                once observed that if men were angels, governments 
                would not be necessary. Laws are the instruments by 
                which the people, through their government, protect 
                themselves from, and regulate their relations with, 
                each other. At the same time, laws also serve to 
                restrain the power of that government. Finding the 
                proper balance between the conflicting interests and 
                rights of individuals, corporations, and government has 
                never been easy. But we rely on the rule of law itself 
                to protect all that is most precious to us. Without it, 
                other nations have descended into a state where force 
                alone prevails and justice is a mere hope.

                Thanks to the genius of our Founders and the 
                Constitutional system they created, Americans have 
                witnessed the steady march of progress toward an open, 
                inclusive society. We vote in free, fair elections. We 
                worship according to our own faith. We associate freely 
                with whomever we choose. And we are able to express our 
                disagreements with our government freely and openly. 
                These rights, routinely accepted today, have been 
                maintained only through years of testing and 
                reinforcement in our Federal and State courts, which 
                have continued to extend freedom and liberty across the 
                land.

                So when we celebrate our freedom, we also celebrate a 
                system of law that makes freedom possible. For more 
                than two centuries, we have prospered and endured 
                because we have relied on that system of law. We must 
                keep that system strong and vibrant in our national 
                life.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, in accordance with Public Law 
                87-20 of April 7, 1961, do hereby proclaim May 1, 1997, 
                as Law Day. I urge the people of the United States to 
                use this occasion to consider anew how our laws protect 
                our freedoms and contribute to our national well-being. 
                I call upon members of the legal profession, civic 
                associations, educators, librarians, public officials, 
                and the media to promote the observance of this day 
                with appropriate programs and activities. I also call 
                upon public officials to display the flag of the United 
                States on all government buildings throughout the day.

[[Page 19898]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-second day of April, in the year of our Lord 
                nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and of the 
                Independence of the United States of America the two 
                hundred and twenty-first.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 97-10778
Filed 4-23-97; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P