[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 140 (Thursday, July 22, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 39895-39896]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-18934]



[[Page 39893]]

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Part IX





The President





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Proclamation 7209--Captive Nations Week, 1999
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  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 140 / Thursday, July 22, 1999 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 39895]]

                Proclamation 7209 of July 16, 1999

                
Captive Nations Week, 1999

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                This month Americans mark 223 years of freedom from 
                tyranny. We celebrate the vision of our founders who, 
                in signing the Declaration of Independence, proclaimed 
                the importance of liberty, the value of human dignity, 
                and the need for a new form of government dedicated to 
                the will of the people. As heirs to that legacy and the 
                fortunate citizens of a democratic Nation, we continue 
                to cherish the values of freedom and equality. Many 
                people across the globe, however, are still denied the 
                rights we exercise daily and too often take for 
                granted. During Captive Nations Week, we reaffirm our 
                solidarity with those around the world who suffer under 
                the shadow of dictators and tyrants.

                Americans have expressed their devotion to freedom and 
                human rights through actions as well as words, having 
                fought and died for these ideals time and again. In 
                World War II, we battled the brutality of fascism. In 
                Korea, Vietnam, and throughout the Cold War, we stood 
                up to the despotism of communism. In the Persian Gulf, 
                and in partnership with our NATO allies in the skies 
                over Serbia and Kosovo, we have fought brutal and 
                oppressive regimes.

                Thanks to our strength and resolve and the courage of 
                countless men and women in countries around the world, 
                we can be proud that the list of captive nations has 
                grown smaller. The fall of the Berlin Wall a decade ago 
                finally enabled us to pursue democratic reform in 
                Central and Eastern Europe and to lay the firm 
                foundations of freedom, peace, and prosperity. And in 
                countries around the world, from South Africa to South 
                Korea to South America, democracy is flourishing, and 
                citizens enjoy the liberty to seek their own destiny.

                The post-Cold War world, however, confronts us with a 
                new set of dangers to freedom--threats such as civil 
                wars, terrorism, and ethnic cleansing. There are still 
                rulers in the world who refuse to join the march toward 
                freedom, who believe that the only way to govern is 
                with an iron fist, and who rely on reprehensible 
                practices like arbitrary detention, forced labor, 
                torture, and execution to subjugate their people.

                As we observe this Captive Nations Week, let us once 
                again reaffirm our profound commitment to freedom and 
                universal human rights. Let us continue to promote 
                tolerance, justice, and equality and to speak out for 
                those who have no voice. Let us rededicate ourselves to 
                the growth of democracy and the rule of law; and let us 
                resolve that in the next century we will foster the 
                further expansion of the rights and freedoms with which 
                Americans have been blessed for so long.

                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 39896]]

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim July 18 
                through July 24, 1999, 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 
                freedom, human rights, and self-determination for all 
                the peoples of the world.

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

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 99-18934
Filed 7-21-99; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P