[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 140 (Tuesday, July 22, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 39413-39414]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-19477]



[[Page 39411]]

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Part VII





The President





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Proclamation 7012--Captive Nations Week
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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 140 / Tuesday, July 22, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 39413]]

                Proclamation 7012 of July 18, 1997

                
Captive Nations Week, 1997

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                From its earliest days as a Nation, America has been a 
                champion of freedom and human dignity. Our Declaration 
                of Independence was a ringing cry against ``the 
                establishment of an absolute tyranny over these 
                States'' and affirmed the revolutionary concept that 
                governments derive their powers from the free consent 
                of those they govern. For more than two centuries our 
                Bill of Rights has guaranteed such basic human rights 
                as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of 
                the press, and freedom from arbitrary arrest. With such 
                a history and heritage, we can feel only outrage that 
                millions of people around the world still suffer 
                beneath the shadow of oppression, their rights 
                routinely violated by their own governments and 
                leaders.

                 Almost four decades ago, our Nation observed the first 
                Captive Nations Week to express formally our solidarity 
                with the oppressed peoples of the world. Since that 
                time, thanks to our steadfast advocacy for democratic 
                reform and universal human rights, and the courage and 
                determination of countless men and women around the 
                globe, the world's political landscape has undergone a 
                remarkable transformation. Nations once dominated by 
                the Soviet Union and its satellite governments have 
                blossomed into new democracies, establishing free 
                market economies and free societies that respect 
                individual rights. Families and countrymen once divided 
                by walls and barbed wire, now walk together in the 
                fresh air of liberty. The unprecedented gathering of 44 
                countries at the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council 
                meeting earlier this month in Madrid symbolizes how far 
                we have come in building a stable, democratic, and 
                undivided Europe.

                 Yet while countries like Poland, Romania, and Estonia 
                are no longer among the ranks of captive nations, too 
                many others are still held hostage by tyranny, and new 
                nations still fall victim to the scourge of oppression. 
                Tragically, even as the wave of freedom and democratic 
                reform sweeps across Eastern and Central Europe, former 
                Soviet bloc countries, and nations in South America, 
                Asia, and Africa, there are still governments that 
                derive their strength, not from the consent of their 
                citizens, but from terror, repression, and 
                exploitation. Too many leaders still fuel the fires of 
                racial, ethnic, and religious hatred; too many people 
                still suffer from ignorance, prejudice, and brutality.

                As we observe Captive Nations Week this year, let us 
                reaffirm our commitment to the American ideals of 
                freedom and justice. Let us strengthen our resolve to 
                promote respect for human rights and self-determination 
                for women and men of every nationality, creed, and 
                race. Let us continue to speak out for those who have 
                no voice. It is our Nation's obligation to do so, as 
                the world's best hope for lasting peace and freedom and 
                as a source of enduring inspiration to oppressed 
                peoples everywhere.

                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.''

[[Page 39414]]

                 NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of 
                the United States of America, do hereby proclaim July 
                20 through July 26, 1997, as Captive Nations Week. I 
                call upon the people of the United States to observe 
                this week with appropriate ceremonies and activities 
                and to rededicate ourselves to supporting the cause of 
                human rights, liberty, peace, and self-determination 
                for all the peoples of the world.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                eighteenth day of July, 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-second.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 97-19477
Filed 7-21-97; 10:38 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P