Loyalty Day, 2000

Proclamation 7300 of April 29, 2000

Loyalty Day, 2000

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

In the Declaration of Independence and in the
Constitution, our Nation's founders first articulated
the enduring ideals that have sustained our democracy--
freedom, self-determination, justice, and equality.
Each year we set aside this special day to reaffirm our
allegiance to those ideals and to our beloved country.

The power and promise of our country's principles moved
men and women throughout the American colonies to
declare their allegiance to a new country and a new
form of government that respected the rights of the
individual. Throughout the decades, millions of
immigrants drawn to America's freedom proved their
loyalty to their adopted Nation in the words of the
oath of citizenship and in their daily lives--working
hard, striving to build a better future for their
families and communities, serving in our Armed Forces,
upholding our laws, and participating in our democracy.

Other Americans have showed their loyalty by
courageously challenging our Nation to live up to its
ideals. We owe a profound debt to the heroes and
visionaries who opposed slavery, reformed labor
practices, won the right to vote for women, marched for
civil rights, and spoke out with conscience and
conviction whenever we have failed to uphold the
highest standards of freedom and justice.

We find perhaps the strongest and most moving evidence
of loyalty to America in the service and sacrifice of
our men and women in uniform. From the War of
Independence to today's peacekeeping missions around
the world, generations of Americans have shown their
allegiance by defending our Nation against tyrants and
terrorists, protecting our national interests wherever
they are threatened, and promoting our values across
the globe.

On this first Loyalty Day of the 21st century, all
Americans should give thanks that we live in a Nation
that inspires such fidelity. And we should remember
with pride the loyal patriots who have gone before us,
whose character and efforts built America, preserved it
in times of peril, and gave life to our founders'
dreams.

Recognizing the importance of loyalty to the continued
strength of our country and success of our democracy,
the Congress, by Public Law 85-529, has designated May
1 of each year as ``Loyalty Day.''

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 1,
2000, as Loyalty Day. I urge all Americans to recall
the valor and selflessness of all those who made this
Nation worthy of our love and loyalty and to express
our own loyalty through appropriate patriotic programs,
ceremonies, and activities. I also call upon Government
officials to display the flag of the United States in
support of this national observance.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord two
thousand, and of the Independence of the United States
of America the two hundred and twenty-fourth.