Citizenship Day and Constitution Week, 2004

Proclamation 7817 of September 17, 2004

Citizenship Day and Constitution Week, 2004

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Two hundred and seventeen years ago this week,
delegates to the Constitutional Convention in
Philadelphia signed one of the most enduring documents
in history: the Constitution of the United States. Our
Constitution is the foundation of our liberty and has
guaranteed the rights of our people through a history
of tremendous change and progress.

Today, we marvel at the wisdom of the Framers who
toiled through a long summer of learned and contentious
debates. Their work produced a document that upholds
high ideals, while answering the most practical
questions of governance. The charter they crafted--with
its separate branches of Government, enumerated powers,
checks and balances, and later the specific protections
provided by our Bill of Rights--guides our Nation and
inspires others around the world.

During Constitution Week, our Nation reflects on the
significance of our Constitution and gives thanks for
the blessings of liberty that this document helps to
secure. We honor the men and women who have supported
and defended it throughout our history, at times with
their lives. On Citizenship Day, we reaffirm our
commitment to freedom, to ensuring that our history
endures, and to instilling in America's next generation
the values that make our country great.

In remembrance of the signing of the Constitution and
in recognition of the Americans who strive to uphold
the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, the
Congress, by joint resolution of February 29, 1952 (36
U.S.C. 106, as amended), designated September 17 as
``Citizenship Day,'' and by joint resolution of August
2, 1956 (36 U.S.C. 108, as amended), requested that the
President proclaim the week beginning September 17 and
ending September 23 of each year as ``Constitution
Week.''

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim September
17, 2004, as Citizenship Day, and September 17 through
September 23, 2004, as Constitution Week. I encourage
Federal, State, and local officials, as well as leaders
of civic, social, and educational organizations, to
conduct ceremonies and programs that celebrate our
Constitution and reaffirm our rights and obligations as
citizens of our great Nation.

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

(Presidential Sig.)B