[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 15 (Monday, April 17, 2006)]
[Pages 714-715]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 8001--Thomas Jefferson Day, 2006

 April 13, 2006

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    Today, we celebrate the birthday of Thomas Jefferson. Few 
individuals have shaped the course of human events as much as this proud 
son of Virginia. His achievements are extraordinary: Governor of 
Virginia, author of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, 
Secretary of State, third President of the United States, and founder of 
the University of Virginia. Thomas Jefferson was also a scholar, author, 
farmer, inventor, and architect. As President, Thomas Jefferson secured 
the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France, which doubled the 
size of the United States and extended opportunity and prosperity to 
many more Americans.
    Thomas Jefferson was an eloquent and powerful champion of liberty. 
He captured the American creed when he wrote in a private letter: ``I 
have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of 
tyranny over the mind of man.'' And in one of the most important public 
documents in history, Jefferson wrote these words: ``We hold these 
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are 
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among 
these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.'' The Declaration 
of Independence has become a cornerstone for those who love freedom and 
justice.

[[Page 715]]

    More than eight decades later, Abraham Lincoln returned to the words 
and meaning of the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln knew that in the 
distant future people would look upon it and ``take courage to renew the 
battle which their fathers began--so that truth, and justice, and mercy 
. . . might not be extinguished from the land.'' A century after 
Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., called the Declaration of Independence 
a ``promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.''
    The Declaration of Independence has become a standard by which other 
nations and peoples measure their progress in the effort to advance 
human freedom. Even nations that are not yet free pay homage to freedom, 
and it is seen as a universal human good.
    Our Nation is vastly different than it was during the days of our 
founding--yet our commitment to America's founding truths remains strong 
and steady. Our duty is to continue to fulfill the promise of Thomas 
Jefferson's words and vision of a better life for all people. Meeting 
that responsibility is the best way we can honor the memory of the man 
who was an architect of the freest Nation on Earth.
     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 of America, do hereby proclaim April 13, 
2006, as Thomas Jefferson Day. I encourage all Americans to join in 
celebrating Thomas Jefferson's achievements, reflecting on his words, 
and learning more about this extraordinary man's influence on American 
history and ideals.
     In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day 
of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand six, 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., April 18, 
2006]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
April 19.