[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 50 (Monday, December 18, 2000)]
[Pages 3049-3050]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7386--Human Rights Day, Bill of Rights Day, and Human 
Rights Week, 2000

 December 9, 2000

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    On December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights was ratified. A century and 
a half later, on December 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly 
adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Though separated by 
more than 150 years, these two documents are not dusty relics of a 
distant past--the ideas they so powerfully express continue to shape the 
destiny of individuals and nations across the globe.
    Because the rights guaranteed by these documents, such as freedom of 
conscience, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom from 
arbitrary arrest, are such an inherent part of America's history and 
national character, we at times may take them for granted. We sometimes 
forget that people elsewhere in the world are suffering, struggling, and 
even dying because these rights are denied them by oppressive 
governments. In countries such as Afghanistan, Burma, and the Sudan, men 
and women are harassed, arrested, and executed for worshipping according 
to their conscience. In many corners of the world, modern-day slavery 
still exists, with criminals trafficking in women and children and 
profiting from their servitude.
    But there is hope for the future. Globalization and the revolution 
in information technology are helping to break down the former barriers 
of geography and official censorship. People fighting for human rights 
in disparate places around the world can talk to one another, learn from 
one another, and shine the light of public scrutiny on the dark corners 
of the world. Free nations can work in concert to combat human rights 
abuses, as the United States did last spring when we joined with the 
Philippines and more than 20 other Asian and Pacific nations to develop 
a regional action plan to combat trafficking in persons and protect 
trafficking victims.
    The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., once said that the arc of the 
moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. We have seen the 
truth of that statement in the history of America, where each generation 
has strived to live up to our founders' vision of human dignity: that we 
are all created equal and that we all have the right to life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness. But that statement holds true for the 
world's history as well; in our own lifetime, we have seen the fall of 
the Berlin Wall and the triumph of democracy in the Cold War. More 
people

[[Page 3050]]

live in freedom today than at any other time in history.
    But that march toward freedom is not inevitable; it is advanced by 
individual acts of courage and will; by the strong voices of people 
refusing to be silenced by their oppressors; by the willingness of free 
people and free nations to defend the rights of men, women, and 
children. Heroes like Lech Walesa in Poland, Vaclav Havel in the Czech 
Republic, Nelson Mandela in South Africa, and Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma 
are powerful reminders of how precious our human rights are and how high 
the cost is to sustain them. The Bill of Rights and the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights that we celebrate this week are not merely 
proud words preserved on paper; they are a pledge written on our 
consciences and to oppressed people everywhere, so that they too will 
some day know the meaning of dignity and the blessing 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 December 
10, 2000, as Human Rights Day; December 15, 2000, as Bill of Rights Day; 
and the week beginning December 10, 2000, as Human Rights Week. I call 
upon the people of the United States to celebrate these observances with 
appropriate activities, ceremonies, and programs that demonstrate our 
national commitment to the Bill of Rights, the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights, and promotion and protection of human rights for all 
people.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this Ninth day of 
December, 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, 8:45 a.m., December 13, 
2000]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on 
December 14.