Captive Nations Week, 1995

Proclamation 6810 of July 17, 1995

Captive Nations Week, 1995

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

As we mark the 36th observance of ``Captive Nations
Week,'' Americans reflect on the sorrow of peoples
throughout the world who are physically and spiritually
oppressed by their governments. In our hearts, we know
that the ongoing struggle for individual liberty is
part of a larger cause--an international quest for true
peace. Recent years have seen great progress in the
global march toward freedom. But far too many of
humanity's children still live in fear.

Our commemoration of this week reflects the concern
of Americans for all of those in need. Having sustained
the promise of democracy for more than 200 years, we
understand its many blessings and its profound
importance in the world. While we celebrate the triumph
of democratic governments in nations around the globe,
we stay bound to those who remain prisoners of
violence, poverty, and prejudice. As beneficiaries of
freedom's power, we must champion their struggle,
promoting respect for human dignity everywhere on
Earth.

Stripped of fundamental personal rights and barred from
realizing their political voice, the captive citizens
of authoritarian regimes share our people's dreams of
happiness. Today, in nations of the former Soviet bloc
and from Asia to Africa to Latin America, our new
democratic friends are acting on their hopes for
opportunity and prosperity, recognizing that respect
for individual freedom is the key to internal and
international stability. America plays a vital role in
this process of growth and change. As President John F.
Kennedy said years ago, our ``historic task in this
embattled age is not merely to defend freedom. It is to
extend its writ and strengthen its covenant.'' We
Americans have an enormous stake in the fate of captive
nations. Their future is no less than our greatest hope
for peace.

The Congress, by Joint Resolution approved July 17,
1959 (73 Stat. 212), has authorized and requested the
President to issue a proclamation designating the third
week in July of each year as ``Captive Nations Week.''

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim July 16
through July 22, 1995, as Captive Nations Week. I call
upon the people of the United States to observe this
week with appropriate ceremonies and activities,
rededicating ourselves to the principles of freedom and
justice on which this Nation was founded and by which
it will ever endure.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
seventeenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-five, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twentieth.