[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 182 (Tuesday, September 21, 2004)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 56663-56664]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-21354]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 182 / Tuesday, September 21, 2004 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 56663]]


                Proclamation 7817 of September 17, 2004

                
Citizenship Day and Constitution Week, 2004

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Two hundred and seventeen years ago this week, 
                delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 
                Philadelphia signed one of the most enduring documents 
                in history: the Constitution of the United States. Our 
                Constitution is the foundation of our liberty and has 
                guaranteed the rights of our people through a history 
                of tremendous change and progress.

                Today, we marvel at the wisdom of the Framers who 
                toiled through a long summer of learned and contentious 
                debates. Their work produced a document that upholds 
                high ideals, while answering the most practical 
                questions of governance. The charter they crafted--with 
                its separate branches of Government, enumerated powers, 
                checks and balances, and later the specific protections 
                provided by our Bill of Rights--guides our Nation and 
                inspires others around the world.

                During Constitution Week, our Nation reflects on the 
                significance of our Constitution and gives thanks for 
                the blessings of liberty that this document helps to 
                secure. We honor the men and women who have supported 
                and defended it throughout our history, at times with 
                their lives. On Citizenship Day, we reaffirm our 
                commitment to freedom, to ensuring that our history 
                endures, and to instilling in America's next generation 
                the values that make our country great.

                In remembrance of the signing of the Constitution and 
                in recognition of the Americans who strive to uphold 
                the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, the 
                Congress, by joint resolution of February 29, 1952 (36 
                U.S.C. 106, as amended), designated September 17 as 
                ``Citizenship Day,'' and by joint resolution of August 
                2, 1956 (36 U.S.C. 108, as amended), requested that the 
                President proclaim the week beginning September 17 and 
                ending September 23 of each year as ``Constitution 
                Week.''

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 
                17, 2004, as Citizenship Day, and September 17 through 
                September 23, 2004, as Constitution Week. I encourage 
                Federal, State, and local officials, as well as leaders 
                of civic, social, and educational organizations, to 
                conduct ceremonies and programs that celebrate our 
                Constitution and reaffirm our rights and obligations as 
                citizens of our great Nation.

[[Page 56664]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                seventeenth day of September, 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. 04-21354
Filed 9-20-04; 11:00 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P