[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 49 (Monday, December 12, 1994)]
[Page 2481]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6761--Human Rights Day, Bill of Rights Day, and Human 
Rights Week, 1994

December 8, 1994

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Every generation is blessed with its own moral leaders and 
visionaries. Through the years, America has been graced by the wisdom 
and guidance of Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson. Many 
of us aspire to live the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr. The youth 
of today might find strength in the courage of Vaclav Havel or Nelson 
Mandela. Regardless of the visionary, regardless of the generation, the 
content of the vision endures: a commitment to freedom, an expectation 
of justice, and a belief in the infinite value of humanity.
    From a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King penned some of the 
most eloquent words of the United States civil rights movement: ``Any 
law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human 
personality is unjust.'' Even in a place of absolute confinement, King 
recognized that discrimination, ignorance, and intolerance are far more 
imprisoning barriers than any common construction of steel and barbed 
wire. And true freedom demands more than beating down prison walls. 
Equality only comes by striking at injustice with reason and the power 
of the law.
    Our Bill of Rights and the United Nations Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights are powerful statements indeed. They have moved humankind 
closer to realizing a society of ``just'' laws--a society that upholds 
what we believe is righteous and affirms what we know is right.
    Yet in celebrating the freedoms that are ours as beneficiaries of 
democracy, we are no less bound to those who remain prisoners of 
prejudice, poverty, and violence. In this Nation and in countries around 
the world, it is unfortunate that much of Dr. King's work remains 
undone. Today, we rededicate ourselves to Dr. King's dream, to joining 
President Mandela as he works to renew South Africa, to standing with 
President Havel as he promotes prosperity in the Czech Republic--to 
championing the cause of human dignity for people everywhere on Earth. 
Freedom is the ability to reach out and the responsibility to help 
build. With the wind of justice at our backs, freedom is the strength to 
lift all humanity to higher ground.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the 
Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 
10, 1994, as ``Human Rights Day,'' December 15, 1994, as ``Bill of 
Rights Day,'' and the week beginning December 10, 1994, as ``Human 
Rights Week.'' I call upon all of the people of the United States to 
mark these observances with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and 
activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of 
December, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-four, and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
nineteenth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:23 a.m., December 9, 
1994]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on 
December 12.