[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 139 (Wednesday, July 21, 2004)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 43727-43728]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-16757]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 139 / Wednesday, July 21, 2004 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 43727]]


                Proclamation 7802 of July 16, 2004

                
Captive Nations Week, 2004

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Each year during Captive Nations Week, the United 
                States reaffirms our commitment to building a world 
                where human rights, democracy, and freedom are 
                respected and protected by the rule of law. As 
                Americans, we believe the nonnegotiable demands of 
                human dignity must be upheld without regard to race, 
                gender, creed, or nationality. We stand in solidarity 
                with those living under repressive regimes who seek 
                democracy and peaceful changes in their homelands.

                Throughout our Nation's history, our brave men and 
                women in uniform have fought for the freedom of those 
                suffering under authoritarian governments. From Nazi 
                Germany to Bosnia, and Afghanistan to Iraq, American 
                service members have fought to remove brutal leaders. 
                The American people and their generous contributions 
                have helped to rebuild traumatized nations and given 
                the oppressed hope for the future. More than a year 
                ago, American service members and our coalition 
                partners freed the Iraqi people from a dictatorship 
                that routinely tortured and executed innocent 
                civilians. Since then, Americans have helped the Iraqi 
                people establish institutions for the protection of 
                human rights, based on democratic principles, to ensure 
                that freedom will endure in the new Iraq.

                Earlier this summer, as our Nation paid respect to 
                President Ronald Reagan, we recognized his 
                contributions to ending the Cold War and advancing 
                freedom around the world. In his first Inaugural 
                Address, President Reagan said: ``Above all, we must 
                realize that no arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of 
                the world is so formidable as the will and moral 
                courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our 
                adversaries in today's world do not have. It is a 
                weapon that we as Americans do have.'' These words 
                carry forward today as we continue to push for 
                democratic freedoms and human rights around the world.

                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, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim July 18 
                through July 24, 2004, as Captive Nations Week. I call 
                upon the people of the United States to observe this 
                week with appropriate ceremonies and activities and to 
                reaffirm their commitment to all those seeking liberty, 
                justice, and self-determination.

[[Page 43728]]

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

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

[FR Doc. 04-16757
Filed 7-20-04; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P