    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 128, 113th Congress, 2nd Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    PROCLAMATION 9220--DEC. 12, 2014

    Proclamation 9220 of December 12, 2014

    Bill of Rights Day, 2014

    By the President of the United States of America

    A Proclamation

    For more than two centuries, our Nation has been shaped by courageous
    women and men who have dared to raise their voices and work to safeguard
    the blessings of liberty and justice. In the face of tyranny, early
    patriots stood up against an empire and proclaimed the independence of a
    new Nation, declaring that we are all created equal, endowed by our
    Creator with unalienable rights. To secure these rights, they fought a
    war and enshrined these truths into our Constitution. The product of a
    fierce debate and great compromise, our founding charter was a
    remarkable yet imperfect document. It provided the foundation for a
    society built on freedom and democracy, but essential questions--
    including those of race and gender--were left unresolved. Yet before it
    was fully ratified, our Founding Fathers began working to refine its
    text, an early milestone in our unending journey to form a more perfect
    Union.
    Ratified on December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights secured our most
    fundamental freedoms. These first 10 Constitutional Amendments protect
    our rights to protest, practice our faiths, and hold our Government
    accountable. They guarantee justice under the law, allow for the
    dissemination of new ideas, and create the opportunity for those left
    out of our charter to fight to expand its promise. In times of war and
    peace, and through waves of depression and prosperity, these tenets have
    not only endured, but they have strengthened our Nation and served as an
    example to all who seek freedom, fairness, equality, and dignity around
    the world.
    On the anniversary of the Bill of Rights, we reflect on the blessings of
    freedom we enjoy today, and we are reminded that our work to foster a
    more free, more fair, and more just society is never truly done. Guided
    by these sacred principles, we continue striving to make our country a
    place where our daughters' voices are valued just as much as our sons';
    where due process of law is afforded to all people, regardless of skin
    color; and where the individual liberties that we cherish empower

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    every American to pursue their dreams and achieve their own full measure
    of happiness.
    Our fidelity to these timeless ideals binds us together as a Nation. As
    we celebrate Bill of Rights Day, let us recommit to the values that
    define us as a people and continue our work to broaden democracy's reach
    by strengthening the freedoms with which we have been endowed.
    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, 2014, as
    Bill of Rights Day. I call upon the people of the United States to mark
    this observance with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twelfth day of
    December, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the
    Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
    ninth.
    BARACK OBAMA