[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 3 (Monday, January 22, 2001)]
[Page 129]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
 Proclamation 7391--Religious Freedom Day, 2001

 January 15, 2001

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    Each year we commemorate the anniversary of the religious freedom 
statute adopted by the Virginia legislature in 1786. This statute, which 
reflects the wisdom and foresight of its author, Thomas Jefferson, and 
its cosponsor, James Madison, became the model for the First Amendment 
to our Constitution, and it has had enormous and far-reaching 
consequences for the life of our Nation.
    Just a few weeks ago, we saw how much that freedom means to all of 
us, as we celebrated Christmas, Hanukkah, and the Eid Al-Fitr within the 
same week. These holidays belonging to the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim 
faiths were observed freely and in peace by millions of people across 
our country--an occurrence unimaginable in some regions of the world, 
where people suffer persecution and even death for worshipping according 
to their conscience. Because of religious freedom, Americans have been 
spared much of the violence, bitterness, and conflict that have scarred 
so many other societies, and our Nation has benefited immeasurably from 
the many contributions of generations of men and women who emigrated to 
America because their right to worship was protected by the Constitution 
and the courts and respected by their fellow citizens.
    But religious freedom is not a right we enjoy solely by virtue of 
being Americans; it is a fundamental human right that should be honored 
in every Nation around the globe. That is why I have sought to make it 
an integral part of U.S. foreign policy and to raise international 
awareness that many countries continue to engage in or tolerate 
egregious violations of their citizens' right to worship. I am proud 
that we have expanded reporting on religious freedom in every country, 
and that through our Ambassador at Large for International Religious 
Freedom, we have strived to promote religious freedom where it is 
threatened or denied and to intervene on behalf of those who are 
suffering because of their religious beliefs and practices.
    More than 2 centuries ago, our founders sought to protect the 
religious freedom that inherently belongs to every human being. Now the 
responsibility falls to our generation, not only to preserve that right, 
but also to work together for the day when all people can worship freely 
and in peace.
    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 the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim 
January 16, 2001, as Religious Freedom Day. I call upon the people of 
the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies, 
activities, and programs, and I urge all Americans to reaffirm their 
devotion to the fundamental principles of religious freedom and 
tolerance.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day 
of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand one, 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, 9:12 a.m., January 18, 
2001]

  Note:  This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on January 16, and it was published in the Federal Register on 
January 22.