    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 134, 116th Congress, 2nd Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    Proclamation 10018 of April 29, 2020
    Law Day, U.S.A., 2020
    By the President of the United States of America
    A Proclamation
    More than 230 years ago, the Founding Fathers of our Nation crafted a
    revolutionary and unique form of Government rooted in the rule of law.
    Today, we continue to enjoy liberty, justice, and equality under the law
    as set forth and preserved in our Constitution. On Law Day, we celebrate
    the distinctive framework of our system of Government, which secures
    individual liberties and protects against arbitrary exercise of
    government power so that all citizens have the right and the freedom to
    pursue their American Dream.
    In arguing for the ratification of our Constitution, James Madison
    wisely recognized that in a government ``administered by men over men,
    the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government
    to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control
    itself.''; The Framers understood the inherent dangers of consolidated
    government power and that, in order for our Republic to survive, the
    power to make, execute, and interpret laws could not be vested in one
    individual or one institution. They knew that ``ambition must be made to
    counteract ambition,''; and accordingly devised an arrangement whereby
    separate and coequal branches share the power of the Federal
    Government, each limiting and checking the prerogatives of the others.
    They also created a system of enumerated powers for the Federal
    Government, reserving all other powers to the States. In doing so, the
    Framers limited the powers of the Federal Government and preserved a
    place of prominence for State and local lawmaking, which they rightly
    believed to be more responsive to the unique needs of each community.
    This year also marks both the 150th anniversary of the ratification of
    the 15th Amendment, which prohibited denial of the right to vote based
    on race, color, or previous condition of servitude, and the 100th
    anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which prohibited
    denial of the right to vote based on sex. The women and men who fought
    to win a voice for people of color and women in the electoral process
    strengthened our Union and helped the country better fulfill the
    founding promise of our Nation--that the power to enact and enforce laws
    be truly derived ``from the consent of the governed.''; As we mark these
    milestones, we pay tribute to the courageous spirit of the trailblazers
    who made this achievement possible, and take inspiration from their
    righteous struggle as we continue working to root out and destroy
    injustice.
    We know that our Republic can continue to shine as a beacon of liberty
    only if Americans diligently defend our Constitution and ensure that its
    limits are strongly enforced. My Administration has sought to simplify
    and streamline America's statutory and regulatory code, checking
    encroachments by government on individual liberty and unleashing the
    spirit of genius and innovation that has made America the freest and
    most prosperous country in the world. Furthermore, one of my top
    priorities as President has been to nominate and appoint judges who are
    faithful to the proper role of the judiciary--to interpret

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    the law, not
    to make it. In all of these efforts, we aim to ensure that the
    Government can continue to perform its fundamental responsibility to the
    American people, articulated in the Preamble of the Constitution, to
    ``secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.'';
    On this Law Day, I urge all Americans to honor our shared inheritance of
    respect for the principles of the rule of law, limited government, and
    individual liberty. Let us rededicate ourselves to remaining ever
    vigilant in defending our rights secured by the Constitution so that our
    experiment in self-government continues in perpetuity.
    NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of
    America, in accordance with Public Law 87-20, as amended, do hereby
    proclaim May 1, 2020, as Law Day, U.S.A. I urge all Americans, including
    government officials, to observe this day by reflecting upon the
    importance of the rule of law in our Nation and displaying the flag of
    the United States in support of this national observance; and I
    especially urge the legal profession, the press, and the radio,
    television, and media industries to promote and to participate in the
    observance of this day.
    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of
    April, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty, and of the
    Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-
    fourth.
    DONALD J. TRUMP