[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 38 (Monday, September 25, 2000)]
[Pages 2124-2125]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
 Proclamation 7343--Citizenship Day and Constitution Week, 2000

 September 17, 2000

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    In the spring of 1787, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, 
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and other prominent leaders gathered 
once again in Philadelphia to offset a looming crisis in the life of our 
young democracy. The Articles of Confederation, a blueprint for 
government that they had hammered out in the Second Continental Congress 
in 1777, had proved too weak and ineffective to achieve a balance of 
power between the new Federal Government and the States. Rising to this 
fresh challenge, our founders crafted a new charter of government--the 
United States Constitution--that has proven to be a masterpiece of 
political philosophy.
    Wise about human nature and wary of unlimited power, the authors of 
our Constitution created a government where power resides not with one 
person or institution but with three separate and equal branches of 
government. It guarantees for our citizens the right and responsibility 
to choose leaders through free elections, giving Americans the means to 
enact political change without resorting to violence, insurrection, or 
revolution. And, with its carefully crafted system

[[Page 2125]]

of checks and balances, the Bill of Rights, and its process of 
amendment, the Constitution maintains an inspired balance between 
authority and freedom and between the ideals of unity and individual 
rights.
    For more than 200 years the Constitution has provided our Nation 
with the resilience to survive trying times and the flexibility to 
correct past injustices. At every turning point in our history, the 
letter and spirit of the Constitution have enabled us to reaffirm our 
union and expand the meaning of liberty. Its success can be measured by 
the millions of people who have left their homelands over the past two 
centuries to become American citizens. Its influence can be measured by 
the number and vigor of new democracies springing up across the globe.
    In giving us the Constitution, our founders also gave us a powerful 
example of citizenship. They were deeply involved in governing our 
Nation and passionately committed to improving our society. The rights 
we sometimes take for granted today were secured by their courage and by 
the blood of patriots during the Revolutionary War. As we observe 
Citizenship Day and Constitution Week, let us remember that with the 
many gifts bestowed on us by the Constitution comes the responsibility 
to be informed and engaged citizens; to take an active role in the civic 
life of our communities and our country; and to uphold the ideals of 
unity and liberty that have sustained us since our earliest days as a 
Nation.
    In commemoration of the signing of the Constitution and in 
recognition of the importance of active, responsible citizenship in 
preserving the Constitution's blessings for our Nation, the Congress, by 
joint resolution of February 29, 1952 (36 U.S.C. 106), designated 
September 17 as ``Citizenship Day,'' and by joint resolution of August 
2, 1956 (36 U.S.C. 108), requested that the President proclaim the week 
beginning September 17 and ending September 23 of each year as 
``Constitution Week.''
     Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim September 17, 2000, as Citizenship 
Day and September 17 through September 23, 2000, as Constitution Week. I 
call upon Federal, State, and local officials, as well as leaders of 
civic, educational, and religious organizations, to conduct meaningful 
ceremonies and programs in our schools, houses of worship, and other 
community centers to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of 
the Constitution and the rights and duties of citizenship. I also call 
on all citizens to rededicate themselves to the principles of the 
Constitution.
     In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth 
day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
fifth.
                                            William J. Clinton

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:18 a.m., September 
18, 2000]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on 
September 19.