[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 14 (Monday, April 8, 1996)]
[Pages 610-611]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6877--National Day of Prayer, 1996

April 2, 1996

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    America's heritage is rich with expressions of faith in God. Indeed, 
the desire for religious freedom was one of the chief reasons that early 
settlers risked their lives to come to this land. Many of those who 
braved the long ocean journey were men and women of devout religious 
beliefs who sought a new home where they might worship without 
persecution. The authors of our Constitution recognized this history in 
the language of the first amendment, and through times of uncertainty, 
sorrow, and pain, the citizens of the United States have called upon the 
wisdom and mercy of the Almighty for guidance and strength.
    A National Day of Prayer, first proclaimed by the Continental 
Congress in 1775, stems from the understanding that faith is a 
fundamental part of our Nation's social fabric. In an impassioned speech 
before the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin put the 
importance of prayer in perspective, proposing that ``. . . prayers 
imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our 
deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed 
to business . . . .'' And so it has been to this day in statehouses all 
over our great land.
    Today we cherish the liberties the first immigrants fought so hard 
to obtain, and we enjoy a degree of freedom and prosperity only dreamed 
of 200 years ago. And though our citizens come from every nation on 
Earth and observe an extraordinary variety of religious faith and 
traditions, prayer remains at the heart of the American spirit. We face 
many of the same challenges as our forebears--ensuring the survival of 
freedom and sustaining faith in an often hostile world--and we continue 
to pray, as they did, for the blessings of a just and benevolent God to 
guide our Nation's course.

[[Page 611]]

    This occasion calls us to affirm our country's spiritual roots and 
to humbly express our gratitude to the source of our abundant good 
fortune. As we seek to renew the values that have long strengthened 
America's families and communities, let us reach out to God and to one 
another for wisdom and courage. We should celebrate this day in the 
tradition of our founders who believed that God governs in the affairs 
of men and women, and who based their greatest hopes, dreams, and 
aspirations on the surety of divine protection.
    The Congress, by Public Law 100-307, has called on our citizens to 
reaffirm annually our dependence on Almighty God by recognizing a 
``National Day of Prayer.''
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim May 2, 1996, as a National Day of 
Prayer. I encourage every citizen of this great Nation to pray, each in 
his or her own manner, seeking strength from God to face the challenges 
of today, requesting guidance for the uncertainties of tomorrow, and 
giving thanks for the rich blessings that our Nation has enjoyed 
throughout our history. ``Do not pray for easy lives,'' said John F. 
Kennedy in 1963, ``Pray to be stronger . . . .'' May it be so with each 
of us.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this second day of 
April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-six, and of 
the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twentieth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:10 a.m., April 3, 
1996]

Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on April 3, and it was published in the Federal Register on 
April 4.