[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 3 (Monday, January 20, 1997)]
[Page 51]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6966--Religious Freedom Day, 1997

January 16, 1997

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Every day, in neighborhoods and communities across our Nation, 
Americans come together to worship and to reaffirm their most deeply 
held spiritual values. Our right to worship freely--each in our own 
way--is essential to our well-being. Religious Freedom Day offers us an 
invaluable opportunity to reflect on this precious human right and to 
give thanks for its protection in our Nation.
    Freedom from religious persecution was of such profound importance 
to our founders that they placed it first among the freedoms guaranteed 
by the Bill of Rights. History has proved the wisdom of that decision. 
America's commitment to religious tolerance has empowered us to achieve 
an atmosphere of understanding, trust, and respect in a society of 
diverse cultures and religious traditions. And today, much of the world 
still looks to the United States as the champion of religious liberty.
    Yet, even in America, we must be ever vigilant in protecting the 
freedoms so important to our ancestors and so admired by people 
throughout the world. The church arsons and the desecration of 
synagogues and mosques in recent years demonstrated for us all that our 
country is not entirely free from violence and religious hatred. My 
Administration took quick and decisive action, including working with 
the Congress to help churches rebuild and to prevent future incidents. 
And I am pleased that the American people are coming together as a 
national community to speak out against such crimes and to renew the 
climate of trust and tolerance so that all our people can worship 
without fear.
    We must also support the aspirations of ethnic and religious 
minorities in other nations as they strive for their own right to 
worship freely. My Administration has established the Advisory Committee 
on Religious Freedom Abroad to provide counsel on how best to prevent 
persecution and promote reconciliation among people of different faiths. 
I invite all nations to join us in supporting individuals in houses of 
worship around the world as they exercise one of the most sacred of 
human rights.
    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 January 
16, 1997, as Religious Freedom Day. I call upon the people of the United 
States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities, 
and I urge them to reaffirm their commitment to the principle of 
religious freedom.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day 
of January, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, 
and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred 
and twenty-first.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:55 a.m., January 17, 
1997]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
January 21.