[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 75 (Wednesday, April 19, 2006)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 19983-19984]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-3780]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 75 / Wednesday, April 19, 2006 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 19983]]

                Proclamation 8001 of April 13, 2006

                
Thomas Jefferson Day, 2006

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Today, we celebrate the birthday of Thomas Jefferson. 
                Few individuals have shaped the course of human events 
                as much as this proud son of Virginia. His achievements 
                are extraordinary: Governor of Virginia, author of the 
                Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, Secretary of 
                State, third President of the United States, and 
                founder of the University of Virginia. Thomas Jefferson 
                was also a scholar, author, farmer, inventor, and 
                architect. As President, Thomas Jefferson secured the 
                purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France, which 
                doubled the size of the United States and extended 
                opportunity and prosperity to many more Americans.

                Thomas Jefferson was an eloquent and powerful champion 
                of liberty. He captured the American creed when he 
                wrote in a private letter: ``I have sworn upon the 
                altar of God eternal hostility against every form of 
                tyranny over the mind of man.'' And in one of the most 
                important public documents in history, Jefferson wrote 
                these words: ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, 
                that all men are created equal, that they are endowed 
                by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that 
                among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of 
                Happiness.'' The Declaration of Independence has become 
                a cornerstone for those who love freedom and justice.

                More than eight decades later, Abraham Lincoln returned 
                to the words and meaning of the Declaration of 
                Independence. Lincoln knew that in the distant future 
                people would look upon it and ``take courage to renew 
                the battle which their fathers began--so that truth, 
                and justice, and mercy . . . might not be extinguished 
                from the land.'' A century after Lincoln, Martin Luther 
                King, Jr., called the Declaration of Independence a 
                ``promissory note to which every American was to fall 
                heir.''

                The Declaration of Independence has become a standard 
                by which other nations and peoples measure their 
                progress in the effort to advance human freedom. Even 
                nations that are not yet free pay homage to freedom, 
                and it is seen as a universal human good.

                Our Nation is vastly different than it was during the 
                days of our founding--yet our commitment to America's 
                founding truths remains strong and steady. Our duty is 
                to continue to fulfill the promise of Thomas 
                Jefferson's words and vision of a better life for all 
                people. Meeting that responsibility is the best way we 
                can honor the memory of the man who was an architect of 
                the freest Nation on Earth.

                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 of America, do hereby proclaim April 13, 2006, 
                as Thomas Jefferson Day. I encourage all Americans to 
                join in celebrating Thomas Jefferson's achievements, 
                reflecting on his words, and learning more about this 
                extraordinary man's influence on American history and 
                ideals.

[[Page 19984]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand six, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and thirtieth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

[FR Doc. 06-3780
Filed 4-18-06; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P