Captive Nations Week, 2019

Proclamation 9910 of July 19, 2019

Captive Nations Week, 2019

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

The United States has always been a source of hope to
people around the world fighting to replace tyranny
with liberty, justice, and the rule of law. During
Captive Nations Week, we reaffirm our Nation's
unwavering support for those who strive to be free from
oppression. We condemn repressive regimes that deny
people their God-given rights, including life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower first proclaimed Captive
Nations Week in 1959, when freedom in the United States
was a bulwark against the totalitarianism of communist
regimes in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. Even today,
many decades since the end of the Cold War unleashed a
new era of democratic flourishing, tyrannical and
coercive governments still threaten the freedom and
well-being of countless individuals worldwide. They
persecute people for worshiping their God, and jail
people for daring to speak out and for demanding even
the most basic forms of transparency and
accountability. They use food distribution as a tool of
social control, manipulate electoral processes, and
undermine the will and spirit of their people through
intimidation and fear. The United States stands with
repressed people around the world and urges governments
everywhere to respect the God-given rights of every
individual and to embrace the establishment of
representative government.

As Americans, we are privileged and blessed to live in
a Nation in which our Constitution protects fundamental
rights like freedom of expression, association,
religion, and peaceful assembly. We will continue to
advocate for those who are unjustly denied these and
other rights, and stand against brutality and
oppression, which violate the dignity of all people.

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 of July of each year as ``Captive Nations Week.''

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, 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 July 21 through July
27, 2019, as Captive Nations Week. I call upon all
Americans to reaffirm our commitment to supporting
those around the world striving for liberty, justice
and the rule of law.

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