[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 127, 113th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
PROCLAMATION 8972--APR. 30, 2013

Proclamation 8972 of April 30, 2013

Law Day, U.S.A., 2013
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
As a Nation, we are bound together not by the colors of our skin, the
tenets of our faith, or the origins of our names. What unites us as
Americans is our allegiance to an idea articulated more than two
centuries ago: 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.'' In the years since that
declaration, we not only forged a Republic of, by, and for the people;
we also set ourselves to the task of perfecting it, and bridging the
meaning of those words with the realities of our time.
This Law Day, we look back on our long journey toward equality for all.
We reflect on the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham
Lincoln 150 years ago to mend a Nation half-slave and half-free under
the unifying promise of liberty. We remember when Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., stood in Lincoln's shadow a century later and gave voice to a
dream, sounding the call for an America that truly lives out the meaning
of its founding creed. We honor the courageous men and women who fought
to bring those ageless ideals of freedom and fairness into the rule of
law--from the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act to Title IX and
the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Even now, that work is not yet finished. Opportunity remains painfully
unequal for too many among us; justice too often goes undone. Law Day is
a chance to reaffirm the critical role our courts have always played in
addressing those wrongs and aligning our Nation with its first
principles. Let us mark this occasion by celebrating that history,
upholding the right to due process, and honoring all who have sustained
our proud legal tradition.
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, 2013, as Law Day, U.S.A. I call upon all Americans 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.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of
April, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen, and of the




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Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
seventh.
BARACK OBAMA