[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 138 (Wednesday, July 18, 2018)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 34017-34018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-15509]



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Vol. 83

Wednesday,

No. 138

July 18, 2018

Part III





The President





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Proclamation 9767--Captive Nations Week, 2018



Proclamation 9768--Made in America Day and Made in America Week, 2018
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  Federal Register / Vol. 83 , No. 138 / Wednesday, July 18, 2018 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

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                Proclamation 9767 of July 13, 2018

                
Captive Nations Week, 2018

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Two hundred and forty-two years ago, America was 
                founded on the fundamental principle that all men and 
                women are created equal and share an inherent dignity 
                that government must value, respect, and protect. The 
                founding of our great country lit a spark of freedom 
                that spread around the world, unleashing human 
                potential and lifting billions out of poverty. Today, 
                we continue this sacred legacy. We hold in common the 
                responsibility to strengthen the bonds of liberty for 
                future generations to inherit and carry forward.

                At the same time, we recognize that many around the 
                world continue to live under the dark shadow of 
                oppression and despotism. During Captive Nations Week, 
                we remember that the rights and privileges we enjoy in 
                the United States are not held by all. We stand in 
                solidarity with those who continue to suffer under 
                governments that stifle basic freedoms and deny the 
                opportunity to build a better life.

                President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed the first 
                Captive Nations Week in 1959 during the height of the 
                Cold War. At that time, the United States was locked in 
                an enduring struggle to preserve and advance freedom 
                for nations held captive by totalitarian communist 
                regimes in Eastern Europe, Asia, and elsewhere. These 
                regimes dismissed the very idea of individual rights. 
                Then, as it does today, the United States blazed as a 
                beacon of hope for the oppressed, for lovers of freedom 
                and justice, and for those who strive for the rule of 
                law.

                When the citizens of East Germany tore down the Berlin 
                Wall in 1989, it was a defining moment for freedom. But 
                much work remains unfinished. In many countries today, 
                people remain subject to unjust arrest, detention, and 
                execution. Individual rights, such as freedom of 
                expression, freedom of association, and freedom to 
                assemble, which are necessary to hold governments 
                accountable, are significantly circumvented or denied 
                entirely. The United States stands with the repressed 
                and continues to encourage despotic regimes to turn 
                away from authoritarianism and respect the God-given 
                rights of life and liberty.

                As we observe Captive Nations Week, let us recall the 
                words of President Ronald Reagan, declared on this 
                occasion in 1983: ``Free people, if they are to remain 
                free, must defend the liberty of others.'' Let us today 
                resolve to continue the work of those who came before: 
                to ensure that America remains the world's brightest 
                example of liberty; to do justice; to respect the rule 
                of law; and to never, ever give up on liberty.

                The Congress, by Joint Resolution approved July 17, 
                1959 (73 Stat. 212), has authorized and requested the 
                President to issue a proclamation designating the third 
                week of July of each year as ``Captive Nations Week.''

                NOW, THERFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, 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 July 15 through July 
                21, 2018, as Captive Nations Week. I call upon all 
                Americans to reaffirm

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                our commitment to those around the world striving for 
                liberty, justice, and the rule of law.

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

[FR Doc. 2018-15509
Filed 7-17-18; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F8-P