[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 21, 2014)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 3477-3478]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01260]



[[Page 3475]]

Vol. 79

Tuesday,

No. 13

January 21, 2014

Part II





The President





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Proclamation 9076--Religious Freedom Day, 2014



Proclamation 9077--Reserving Certain Submerged Lands in the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
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  Federal Register / Vol. 79 , No. 13 / Tuesday, January 21, 2014 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title3--
 The President

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                Proclamation 9076 of January 15, 2014

                
Religious Freedom Day, 2014

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                In 1786, the Virginia General Assembly affirmed an 
                ideal that has long been central to the American 
                journey. The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, 
                penned by Thomas Jefferson, declared religious liberty 
                a natural right and any attempt to subvert it ``a 
                departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our 
                religion, who being Lord both of body and mind, yet 
                chose not to propagate it by coercions on either.'' The 
                Statute inspired religious liberty protections in the 
                First Amendment, which has stood for almost two and a 
                quarter centuries.

                Today, America embraces people of all faiths and of no 
                faith. We are Christians and Jews, Muslims and Hindus, 
                Buddhists and Sikhs, atheists and agnostics. Our 
                religious diversity enriches our cultural fabric and 
                reminds us that what binds us as one is not the tenets 
                of our faiths, the colors of our skin, or the origins 
                of our names. What makes us American is our adherence 
                to shared ideals--freedom, equality, justice, and our 
                right as a people to set our own course.

                America proudly stands with people of every nation who 
                seek to think, believe, and practice their faiths as 
                they choose. In the years to come, my Administration 
                will remain committed to promoting religious freedom, 
                both at home and across the globe. We urge every 
                country to recognize religious freedom as both a 
                universal right and a key to a stable, prosperous, and 
                peaceful future.

                As we observe this day, let us celebrate America's 
                legacy of religious liberty, embrace diversity in our 
                own communities, and resolve once more to advance 
                religious freedom in our time.

                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 January 16, 2014, as 
                Religious Freedom Day. I call on all Americans to 
                commemorate this day with events and activities that 
                teach us about this critical foundation of our Nation's 
                liberty, and show us how we can protect it for future 
                generations at home and around the world.

[[Page 3478]]

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

[FR Doc. 2014-01260
Filed 1-17-14; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F4