[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 30 (Monday, July 26, 2004)]
[Pages 1323-1324]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7802--Captive Nations Week, 2004

July 16, 2004

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Each year during Captive Nations Week, the United States reaffirms 
our commitment to building a world where human rights, democracy, and 
freedom are respected and protected by the rule of law. As Americans, we 
believe the nonnegotiable demands of human dignity must be upheld 
without regard to race, gender, creed, or nationality. We stand in 
solidarity with those living under repressive regimes who seek democracy 
and peaceful changes in their homelands.
    Throughout our Nation's history, our brave men and women in uniform 
have fought for the freedom of those suffering under authoritarian 
governments. From Nazi Germany to Bosnia, and Afghanistan to Iraq, 
American service members have fought to remove brutal leaders. The 
American people and their generous contributions have helped to rebuild 
traumatized nations and given the oppressed hope for the future. More 
than a year ago, American service members and our coalition partners 
freed the Iraqi people from a dictatorship that routinely tortured and 
executed innocent civilians. Since then, Americans have helped the Iraqi 
people establish institutions for the protection of human rights, based 
on democratic principles, to ensure that freedom will endure in the new 
Iraq.
    Earlier this summer, as our Nation paid respect to President Ronald 
Reagan, we recognized his contributions to ending the Cold War and 
advancing freedom around the world. In his first Inaugural Address, 
President Reagan said: ``Above all, we must realize that no arsenal or 
no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and 
moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in 
today's world do not have. It is a weapon that we as Americans do 
have.'' These words carry forward today as we continue to push for 
democratic freedoms and human rights around the world.
    The Congress, by Joint Resolution approved July 17, 1959 (73 Stat. 
212), has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation 
designating the third week in July of each year as ``Captive Nations 
Week.''
    Now, Therefore, I, George W. Bush, President of the United States of 
America, do hereby proclaim July 18 through July 24, 2004, as Captive 
Nations Week. I call upon the people of the United States to observe 
this week with appropriate ceremonies and activities and to reaffirm 
their commitment to all those seeking liberty, justice, and self-
determination.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day 
of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand four, and of

[[Page 1324]]

the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twenty-ninth.
                                                George W. Bush

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., July 20, 
2004]

Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on July 17, and it was published in the Federal Register on 
July 21.