[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 18, 2013)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 76719-76720]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-30277]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 78 , No. 243 / Wednesday, December 18, 2013 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 76719]]


                Proclamation 9070 of December 13, 2013

                
Bill of Rights Day, 2013

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                When America's Founders declared our independence, they 
                set forth an idea that became our Nation's defining 
                creed: ``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.'' They understood that while these truths 
                have always been self-evident, they have never been 
                self-executing. After 15 years of democratic 
                experimentation and national debate, the Bill of Rights 
                came into force, touching off a long journey to carve 
                America's highest ideals into enduring, enforceable 
                law.

                The Bill of Rights is the foundation of American 
                liberty, securing our most fundamental rights--from the 
                freedom to speak, assemble, and practice our faith as 
                we please to the protections that ensure justice under 
                the law. For almost two and a quarter centuries, these 
                10 Constitutional Amendments have served as a basis 
                from which civil society could grow and flourish. They 
                have encouraged innovation and defended Americans who 
                questioned, challenged, and dared our Nation to be 
                greater.

                Thomas Jefferson once wrote, ``I am not an advocate for 
                frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws 
                and constitutions must go hand in hand with the 
                progress of the human mind.'' Our liberties opened 
                heated debate over the questions of citizenship and 
                human rights, driving progress in the American mind. We 
                learned that our Nation, built on the principles of 
                freedom and equality, could not survive half-slave and 
                half-free. We resolved that our daughters must have the 
                same rights, the same chances, and the same freedom to 
                pursue their dreams as our sons, and that if we are 
                truly created equal, then the love we commit to one 
                another must be equal as well. Americans with 
                disabilities tore down legal and social barriers; 
                disenfranchised farmworkers united to claim their 
                rights to dignity, fairness, and a living wage; civil 
                rights activists marched, bled, and gave their lives to 
                bring the era of segregation to an end. As we celebrate 
                the anniversary of the Bill of Rights, let us reach for 
                a day when we all may enjoy the basic truths of liberty 
                and equality.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim December 15, 2013, as 
                Bill of Rights Day. I call upon the people of the 
                United States to mark this observance with appropriate 
                ceremonies and activities.

[[Page 76720]]

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

[FR Doc. 2013-30277
Filed 12-17-13; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F4