    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 38 (Monday, September 26, 2005)]
    [Page 1425]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Proclamation 7932--Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, Constitution
    Week, 2005

     September 16, 2005

     By the President of the United States

     of America

     A Proclamation

        More than two centuries after our Founding Fathers gathered in 1787
    in Philadelphia, our Nation continues to be guided by the Constitution
    they drafted.
        The Constitution of the United States reflects our ideals and
    establishes a practical system of government. It provides for three
    separate branches--the legislative, the executive, and the judicial--
    with defined responsibilities and with checks and balances among the
    branches. Under our Constitution, both the Federal Government and the
    State governments advance the will of the people through the people's
    representatives. To protect the rights of our citizens and maintain the
    rule of law, Article III of the Constitution provides for a judiciary of
    independent judges who have life tenure.
        These fundamental principles--separation of powers, federalism, and
    an independent judiciary--have endured, and they have been essential to
    our Nation's progress toward equal justice and liberty for all. On
    Constitution Day and Citizenship Day and during Constitution Week, we
    celebrate the genius of our Constitution and reaffirm our commitment to
    its stated purposes: ``to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice,
    insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the
    general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and
    our Posterity.''
        In remembrance of the signing of the Constitution and in recognition
    of the Americans who strive to uphold the duties and responsibilities of
    citizenship, the Congress, by joint resolution of February 29, 1952 (36
    U.S.C. 106, as amended), designated September 17 as ``Constitution Day
    and Citizenship Day,'' and by joint resolution of August 2, 1956 (36
    U.S.C. 108, as amended), requested that the President proclaim the week
    beginning September 17 and ending September 23 of each year as
    ``Constitution Week.''
        Now, Therefore, I, George W. Bush, President of the United States of
    America, do hereby proclaim September 17, 2005, as Constitution Day and
    Citizenship Day, and September 17 through September 23, 2005, as
    Constitution Week. I encourage Federal, State, and local officials, as
    well as leaders of civic, social, and educational organizations, to
    conduct ceremonies and programs that celebrate our Constitution and
    reaffirm our rights and obligations as citizens of our great Nation.
        In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day
    of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand five, and of the
    Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and
    thirtieth.
                                                    George W. Bush

     [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., September
    20, 2005]

    Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on
    September 21. This item was not received in time for publication in the
    appropriate issue.