[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 2 (Monday, January 15, 2007)]
[Page 31]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 8100--Religious Freedom Day, 2007

January 11, 2007

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    On Religious Freedom Day, we commemorate the passage of the 1786 
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, authored by Thomas Jefferson, 
and we celebrate the First Amendment's protection of religious freedom.
    Across the centuries, people have come to America seeking to worship 
the Almighty freely. Today, our citizens profess many different faiths, 
and we welcome every religion. Yet people in many countries live without 
the freedom to worship as they choose and some face persecution for 
their beliefs. My Administration is working with our friends and allies 
around the globe to advance common values and spread the blessings of 
liberty to every corner of the world. Freedom is a gift from the 
Almighty, written in the heart and soul of every man, woman, and child, 
and we must continue to promote the importance of religious freedom at 
home and abroad.
    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 January 16, 2007, as 
Religious Freedom Day. I call on all Americans to reflect on the great 
blessing of religious liberty, endeavor to preserve this freedom for 
future generations, and commemorate this day with appropriate events and 
activities in their schools, places of worship, neighborhoods, and 
homes.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eleventh day of 
January, in the year of our Lord two thousand seven, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
first.
                                                George W. Bush

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:33 a.m., January 12, 
2007]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
January 16.