Bill of Rights Day, 2015

Proclamation 9381 of December 14, 2015

Bill of Rights Day, 2015

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

The ratification of the Bill of Rights on December 15,
1791, marked one of our country's earliest and most
important steps toward ensuring that the ideals
enshrined in our founding documents are the birthright
of all Americans. Written to guarantee our fledgling
Nation would never succumb to the tyranny it fought
against, these first 10 Amendments to our Constitution
help safeguard the bedrock principles of equality,
liberty, and justice. In the years since, America has
carried forward the spirit enshrined in the Bill of
Rights--recognizing that freedom is a value we must
forever work to uphold.

Each generation is tasked with continuing the work of
perfecting our Nation. In the 224 years since this
codification of our most fundamental freedoms, America
has been propelled by the persistent effort of her
citizens--people from all walks of life who have
accepted the challenge of pushing to expand liberty to
all. The same American instinct that sparked our
revolution and spurred the creation of the Bill of
Rights still inspires us to step forward to defend our
founding ideals. It is what inspired a groundbreaking
convention in Seneca Falls, drove courageous people to
march in Selma, and started a transformative movement
for LGBT rights at a bar in New York City. Generations
of heroes who believed America is a constant work in
progress have advocated and sacrificed to realize that
progress and have worked to uphold the belief at the
heart of the Bill of Rights: Free men and women have
the capacity to shape their own destiny and forge a
fairer and more just world for all who follow.

Today, we stand on the shoulders of those who dedicated
their lives to upholding the meaning of our founding
documents throughout changing times--a mission made
possible by the fundamental liberties secured in the
Bill of Rights. As we reflect on the strides we have
made to lift up an engaged citizenry, we pay tribute to
the extraordinary foresight of our Founders who granted
the protections that enable us to bring about the
change we seek. Let us recommit to continuing our
legacy as a Nation that rejects complacency, empowers
its citizens to recognize and redress its
imperfections, and embraces the struggle of improving
our democracy so that all our people are able to make
of their lives what they will.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim December 15, 2015, as
Bill of Rights Day. I call upon the people of the
United States to mark this observance with appropriate
ceremonies and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
fourteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord two
thousand fifteen, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and fortieth.