[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 243 (Monday, December 19, 2016)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 92497-92498]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-30711]



[[Page 92495]]

Vol. 81

Monday,

No. 243

December 19, 2016

Part X





The President





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Proclamation 9554--Bill of Rights Day, 2016
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  Federal Register / Vol. 81 , No. 243 / Monday, December 19, 2016 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 92497]]

                Proclamation 9554 of December 14, 2016

                
Bill of Rights Day, 2016

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                After much debate and deliberation among the Framers, 
                the first 10 Amendments to our Constitution were 
                written to reflect a compromise between preserving the 
                rights of individual citizens and supporting a strong 
                and secure Federal Government. Since its ratification 
                on December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights has enshrined 
                many of our most fundamental liberties and unalienable 
                rights--including the freedoms of speech, worship, and 
                assembly; the rights to trial by jury and due process, 
                and the protections from unreasonable search and 
                seizure and cruel and unusual punishment. For 225 
                years, the Bill of Rights has shaped our Nation and 
                protected our citizens, and today, in honor of all 
                those who have worked to secure these freedoms, we 
                strive to continue forming a more perfect Union guided 
                by an enduring belief in these highest ideals.

                As it was originally created, the Bill of Rights 
                safeguarded personal liberties and ensured equal 
                justice under the law for many--but not for all. In the 
                centuries that followed its ratification, courageous 
                Americans agitated and sacrificed to extend these 
                rights to more people, moving us closer to ensuring 
                opportunity and equality are not limited by one's race, 
                sex, or circumstances. The desire and capacity to forge 
                our own destinies have propelled us forward at every 
                turn in history. The same principles that drove 
                patriots to choose revolution over tyranny, a country 
                to cast off the stains of slavery, women to reach for 
                the ballot, and workers to organize for their rights 
                still remind us that our freedom is intertwined with 
                the freedom of others. If we are to ensure the sacred 
                ideals embodied in the Bill of Rights are afforded to 
                everyone, each generation must do what those who came 
                before them have done and recommit to holding fast to 
                our values and protecting these freedoms.

                Two and a quarter centuries later, these 10 
                Constitutional Amendments remain a symbol of one of our 
                Nation's first successful steps in our journey to 
                uphold the rights of all citizens. On Bill of Rights 
                Day, we celebrate the long arc of progress that 
                transformed our Nation from a fledgling and fragile 
                democracy to one in which civil rights are the 
                birthright of all Americans. This progress was never 
                inevitable, and as long as people remain willing to 
                fight for justice, we can work to swing open more doors 
                of opportunity and carry forward a vision of liberty 
                and equality for generations to come.

                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, 2016, as 
                Bill of Rights Day. I call upon the people of the 
                United States to mark this observance with appropriate 
                ceremonies and activities.

[[Page 92498]]

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

[FR Doc. 2016-30711
Filed 12-16-16; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F7-P