[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 17 (Monday, April 28, 1997)]
[Pages 574-575]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6995--Law Day, U.S.A., 1997

April 22, 1997

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    This is the 40th year that Americans have celebrated the first day 
of May as Law Day, a special time to reflect on our legal heritage. It 
is an opportunity for all Americans to pause and consider how the rule 
of law has contributed to the freedoms we enjoy, and to our greatness as 
a Nation.
    The theme of this year's Law Day commemoration, ``Celebrate Your 
Freedom,'' focuses on the one concept that most defines us as a Nation. 
It was freedom that we fought for when we created this country. It is 
freedom that still sets us apart from many of the world's nations. And 
it is freedom's lamp that still beckons the oppressed to America from 
all parts of the globe.
    The quest to ensure our freedom is the essence of what it means to 
be an American, and the bulwark of our freedom is the law and the legal 
system. James Madison once observed that if men were angels, governments 
would not be necessary. Laws are the instruments by which the people, 
through their government, protect themselves from, and regulate their 
relations with, each other. At the same time, laws also serve to 
restrain the power of that government. Finding the proper balance 
between the conflicting interests and rights of individuals, 
corporations, and government has never been easy. But we rely on the 
rule of law itself to protect all that is most precious to us. Without 
it, other nations have descended into a state where force alone prevails 
and justice is a mere hope.
    Thanks to the genius of our Founders and the Constitutional system 
they created, Americans have witnessed the steady march of progress 
toward an open, inclusive society. We vote in free, fair elections. We 
worship according to our own faith. We associate

[[Page 575]]

freely with whomever we choose. And we are able to express our 
disagreements with our government freely and openly. These rights, 
routinely accepted today, have been maintained only through years of 
testing and reinforcement in our Federal and State courts, which have 
continued to extend freedom and liberty across the land.
    So when we celebrate our freedom, we also celebrate a system of law 
that makes freedom possible. For more than two centuries, we have 
prospered and endured because we have relied on that system of law. We 
must keep that system strong and vibrant in our national life.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, in accordance with Public Law 87-20 of April 7, 1961, 
do hereby proclaim May 1, 1997, as Law Day. I urge the people of the 
United States to use this occasion to consider anew how our laws protect 
our freedoms and contribute to our national well-being. I call upon 
members of the legal profession, civic associations, educators, 
librarians, public officials, and the media to promote the observance of 
this day with appropriate programs and activities. I also call upon 
public officials to display the flag of the United States on all 
government buildings throughout the day.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second 
day of April, 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, 8:45 a.m., April 23, 
1997]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on April 
24.