[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 49 (Monday, December 11, 1995)]
[Pages 2126-2127]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6855--Human Rights Day, Bill of Rights Day, and Human 
Rights Week, 1995

December 5, 1995

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    More than 200 years ago, America's founders adopted the Bill of 
Rights to ensure the protection of our individual liberties. Enshrined 
in our Constitution are the fundamental guarantees to freedom of 
conscience, religion, expression, and association, as well as the rights 
to due process and a fair trial. Our Nation was formed on the principle 
that the protection and promotion of these rights are essential to a 
free and democratic society.
    Peoples throughout the world look to the United States for 
leadership on human rights. In the aftermath of the Holocaust and the 
devastation of two world wars, our country led the international effort 
toward adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For the 
nearly 50 years since December 10, 1948, this document has served as the 
standard for internationally accepted behavior by nations toward their 
citizens.
    This year, our work to promote peace in areas of conflict and to 
support human rights, democracy, and the rule of law have continued to 
make a difference around the globe. Most recently, our efforts to foster 
a settlement to the terrible conflict in Bosnia resulted in an agreement 
that contains clear protections for human rights and humanitarian 
principles.
    In Bosnia, and throughout the world, we have paid special attention 
to the most vulnerable victims of abuse--women and children. At the 
Fourth World Conference on Women in September of this year, the First 
Lady underscored our commitment to defending the rights of women and 
families, and we have undertaken a range of initiatives to raise 
awareness of child exploitation, to oppose child labor, and to assist 
young victims of war.
    We live in an era of great advances for freedom and democracy. Yet, 
sadly, it also remains a time of ongoing suffering and hardship in many 
countries. As a Nation long committed to promoting individual rights and 
human dignity, let us continue our efforts to ensure that people in all 
regions of the globe enjoy the same freedoms and basic human rights that 
have always made America great.
    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, 1995, as Human Rights Day, December 15, 1995, as Bill of Rights Day, 
and December 10 through December 16, 1995, as Human Rights Week. I call 
upon the people of the United States to celebrate these observances with 
appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that demonstrate our 
national commitment to the Constitution and the promotion of human 
rights for all people.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of 
December, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-five, and 
the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twentieth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 4:35 p.m., December 5, 
1995]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on 
December 7.

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