[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 46 (Monday, November 19, 2007)]
[Page 1507]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 8204--Thanksgiving Day, 2007

 November 15, 2007

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    Americans are a grateful people, ever mindful of the many ways we 
have been blessed. On Thanksgiving Day, we lift our hearts in gratitude 
for the freedoms we enjoy, the people we love, and the gifts of our 
prosperous land.
    Our country was founded by men and women who realized their 
dependence on God and were humbled by His providence and grace. The 
early explorers and settlers who arrived in this land gave thanks for 
God's protection and for the extraordinary natural abundance they found. 
Since the first National Day of Thanksgiving was proclaimed by President 
George Washington, Americans have come together to offer thanks for our 
many blessings. We recall the great privilege it is to live in a land 
where freedom is the right of every person and where all can pursue 
their dreams. We express our deep appreciation for the sacrifices of the 
honorable men and women in uniform who defend liberty. As they work to 
advance the cause of freedom, our Nation keeps these brave individuals 
and their families in our thoughts, and we pray for their safe return.
    While Thanksgiving is a time to gather in a spirit of gratitude with 
family, friends, and neighbors, it is also an opportunity to serve 
others and to share our blessings with those in need. By answering the 
universal call to love a neighbor as we want to be loved ourselves, we 
make our Nation a more hopeful and caring place.
    This Thanksgiving, may we reflect upon the past year with 
gratefulness and look toward the future with hope. Let us give thanks 
for all we have been given and ask God to continue to bless our families 
and our Nation.
    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 Thursday, November 22, 
2007, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all Americans to 
gather together in their homes and places of worship with family, 
friends, and loved ones to reinforce the ties that bind us and give 
thanks for the freedoms and many blessings we enjoy.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day 
of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand seven, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
second.
                                                George W. Bush

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 9:54 a.m., November 16, 
2007]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on 
November 19.