[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 5, 2009)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 20861-20862]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-10557]



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Part V





The President





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Proclamation 8367--Law Day, U.S.A., 2009



Proclamation 8368--Loyalty Day, 2009
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  Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 85 / Tuesday, May 5, 2009 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 20861]]

                Proclamation 8367 of April 30, 2009

                
Law Day, U.S.A., 2009

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                 In 1958, President Eisenhower established Law Day as 
                ``a day of national dedication to the principles of 
                government under law.'' Each year on Law Day, we 
                celebrate our commitment to the rule of law. That great 
                commitment is enshrined in the Declaration of 
                Independence and the United States Constitution, and 
                has been reaffirmed by the words and deeds of great 
                Americans throughout our Nation's history.

                 This year we celebrate the bicentennial of the birth 
                of one such American, President Abraham Lincoln. 
                Lincoln rose from humble beginnings to guide our Nation 
                through the most turbulent period in its history. His 
                dedication to the rule of law and to equality under the 
                law, and his refusal to retreat from the greatest moral 
                challenge ever to confront us, gave us the Emancipation 
                Proclamation and the preservation of our Union. His 
                dedication also gave us the Gettysburg Address, with 
                its resolution that ``government of the people, by the 
                people, for the people, shall not perish from the 
                earth.'' Indeed, Lincoln was one of the greatest 
                Presidents and one of the greatest lawyers, in our 
                Nation's history.

                 Lincoln's lasting legacy is his vision of the ``more 
                perfect Union'' promised in our Constitution's 
                preamble. According to Lincoln, ``The legitimate object 
                of government is to do for a community of people 
                whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, 
                or cannot do so well for themselves, in their separate 
                and individual capacities.'' This vision of a true 
                United States of America, bound together by a 
                recognition of the common good, guided our country 
                through its darkest hour and helped it re-emerge as a 
                beacon of freedom and equality under law.

                 On this Law Day, I encourage Americans to reflect on 
                this legacy. By continuing a national conversation on 
                the principles for which Lincoln stood, and by 
                highlighting the attributes of this great American, we 
                can help ensure that the legacy of our sixteenth 
                President endures and that the United States remains 
                dedicated to the principles of government under law.

                 NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, in accordance with Public Law 
                87-20, as amended, do hereby proclaim May 1, 2009, as 
                Law Day, U.S.A. I call upon the people of the United 
                States to acknowledge the importance of our Nation's 
                legal and judicial systems with appropriate ceremonies 
                and activities, and to display the flag of the United 
                States in support of this national observance.

[[Page 20862]]

                 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. E9-10557
Filed 5-4-09; 12:00 pm]
Billing code 3195-W9-P