[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 22, 2003)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 2869-2870]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-1532]


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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 14 / Wednesday, January 22, 2002 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 2869]]

                Proclamation 7640 of January 15, 2003

                
Religious Freedom Day, 2003

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Each year on January 16, we celebrate Religious Freedom 
                Day in commemoration of the passage of the Virginia 
                Statute for Religious Freedom by the Virginia General 
                Assembly, which occurred on this day in 1786. Drafted 
                by Thomas Jefferson, this historic law provided the 
                inspiration and the framework for the religious freedom 
                clauses in the First Amendment to the United States 
                Constitution.

                The religious freedom provisions of our Constitution--
                the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause--
                open the first of the ten amendments that make up the 
                Bill of Rights. Because the Framers placed the 
                guarantee of religious freedom before other cherished 
                rights, religious liberty in America is often called 
                the first freedom. The right to have religious beliefs 
                and to freely practice such beliefs are among the most 
                fundamental freedoms we possess. James Madison once 
                said that ``the Religion then of every man must be left 
                to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it 
                is the right of every man to exercise it as these may 
                dictate. This right is in its nature an unalienable 
                right.''

                Our Founding Fathers recognized that religious freedom 
                is a right we must protect with great vigilance. We 
                must continue our efforts to uphold justice and 
                tolerance and to oppose prejudice; and we must be 
                resolved to countering any means that infringe on 
                religious freedom.

                Religious faith has inspired many of our fellow 
                citizens to help build a better Nation. In America 
                today, people of faith continue to wage a determined 
                campaign to meet needs and fight suffering. Through the 
                efforts of the White House Office of Faith-Based and 
                Community Initiatives, my Administration has been 
                working to ensure that faith-inspired organizations do 
                not face discrimination simply because of their 
                religious orientation. I recently signed an Executive 
                Order to ensure equal treatment for faith-based 
                charities that are offering hope to those in need.

                As we celebrate the freedom of faith in America, we 
                also recognize that there are many people around the 
                world who do not enjoy such freedoms. The right to 
                believe and express one's beliefs in words and practice 
                is a right that should belong to all people. Through 
                the Department of State's Office of International 
                Religious Freedom, my Administration has been working 
                to call attention to religious persecution and to 
                encourage our allies, friends, and trading partners to 
                provide and protect this fundamental human right for 
                all people around the world. By working together to 
                secure religious freedom around the world, we can 
                create a better future for people of all faiths.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, 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 January 16, 2003, as 
                Religious Freedom Day. I encourage all Americans to 
                reflect on the great blessing of religious freedom and 
                to endeavor to preserve this freedom for future 
                generations, and to commemorate this day through 
                appropriate events and activities in homes, schools, 
                and places of worship.

[[Page 2870]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand three, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and twenty-seventh.

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

[FR Doc. 03-1532
Filed 1-21-03; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P