[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 14 (Monday, April 9, 2001)]
[Pages 567-568]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7420--Pan American Day and Pan American Week, 2001

 April 2, 2001

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    This year on Pan American Day and during Pan American Week, the 
nations of the Americas celebrate the progress we have made toward our 
collective goal of a hemisphere united in freedom and democracy.
    The United States and our neighboring countries in the Western 
Hemisphere have a long history of cooperation. Simon Bolivar first 
convened the Congress of Panama in 1826 with the intention of creating 
an association of states in the hemisphere. In 1890, a Pan American 
conference established the International Union of American Republics. 
The Union eventually became the Organization of American States (OAS), 
which continues to faithfully serve its member states. The OAS charter, 
in affirming the shared commitment, states that ``the true significance 
of American solidarity and good neighborliness can only mean the 
consolidation . . . of a system of individual liberty and social justice 
based on respect for the essential rights of man.''
    Today, we remain united through mutual interests and the hope for a 
better future for our people. This month I will join the democratically 
elected leaders of the hemisphere in Quebec City for the third Summit of 
the Americas. At this conference, we will build on efforts at previous 
Summits to promote our shared objectives of representative democracy, 
free trade, and using the power of free markets to better the lives of 
the poor. We will also build on our mutual interest in encouraging 
respect for human rights and improving relations among all the countries 
of the hemisphere.
    Even with our significant progress, however, challenges remain. Cuba 
is the only country in the hemisphere that will be missing from the 
Quebec Summit. It is my sincere hope that our neighbor will soon rejoin 
the fraternity of democracies and that the Cuban people will again know 
freedom.
    During Pan American Week and the Summit of the Americas, we reflect 
on and renew our common dedication to ensuring that the benefits of 
development are broadly shared. We also look forward to building even 
closer relationships among our countries for the sake of future 
generations. We have a responsibility to leave our children a hemisphere 
that honors the commitment of our predecessors, strengthening bonds that 
connect us as nations and as people. We want to make this the Century of 
the Americas.
    Now, Therefore, I, George W. Bush, 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 April 14, 2001, as Pan 
American Day and April 8 through April 14, 2001, as Pan American Week. I 
call upon all the people of the United States to observe this day and 
week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this second day of 
April, 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.
                                                George W. Bush

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., April 4, 
2001]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on April 
5.

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