Human Rights Day, Bill of Rights Day, and Human Rights Week, 2020

Proclamation 10124 of December 4, 2020

Human Rights Day, Bill of Rights Day, and Human
Rights Week, 2020

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Nearly 250 years ago, heroes of our Revolution signed
the Declaration of Independence, offering a bold
enumeration of inalienable rights endowed to us by our
Creator. In time, with independence secured from a
tyrannical monarchy, our Nation etched these principles
of liberty and equality into the law of our fledgling
Nation when we ratified our Constitution. The
revolutionary idea they embodied--that certain
individual rights are beyond the reach of government--
has resonated around the world. Today, and this week,
we celebrate our sacred rights and the example they
have set for the rest of history.

James Madison, who drafted the Bill of Rights text, was
initially skeptical of the need to secure specific
rights explicitly in the Constitution, believing the
checks and balances inherent in our system of
government would operate to achieve that objective. But
he came to recognize the value that the Bill of Rights
could provide and worked to ensure that the individual
rights and freedoms of Americans were precisely
enumerated in the highest law of the land. Madison was
acutely aware that, while a government formed to serve
its people is just and legitimate, ``power, lodged as
it must in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.''
Accordingly, he worked to imprint essential human
rights, including the rights to peaceful assembly,
freedom of speech, and free exercise of religion in our
foundational legal text, empowering generations of
Americans by protecting them from government abuses.

The revolutionary understanding of human rights
reflected in the Declaration of Independence and
encoded in our Constitution has provided a blueprint
for the world in advancing individual human rights. In
1948, looking to our Bill of Rights as a model, the
United Nations General Assembly established the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes
the ``inherent dignity'' and ``equal and inalienable
rights'' of mankind. Earlier this year, we also
celebrated the 45th anniversary of the signing of the
Helsinki Accords, in which the Western World
acknowledged similar fundamental human freedoms in
defiance of the Soviet Union.

Despite these milestones, the world is still plagued by
tragic human rights abuses, including the oppression of
women, forced labor, racism, and ethnic and religious
persecution. My Administration continues to fight these
injustices on all fronts while calling on other
sovereign nations to respect the unalienable rights of
their people. Earlier this year, I signed an Executive
Order on Preventing Online Censorship, which protects
and fosters freedom of expression for Americans on
social media and other platforms and also seeks to
combat human rights abuses abroad like the mass
imprisonment of religious minorities in China, which
are often obscured by a cloud of false information
online. Additionally, I recently signed an Executive
Order on Advancing International Religious Freedom,
which prioritizes this fundamental freedom in American
diplomacy and recognizes that advancing religious
freedom abroad is vital to combating rising levels of
violence and crimes against humanity around the globe.
There is no greater defender

of liberty than the United States, and we will remain
steadfast in our efforts.

During Human Rights Day, Bill of Rights Day, and Human
Rights Week, we cherish the unique story of our Nation
and celebrate the patriots who helped our country
secure our fundamental rights, freedoms, and values for
ourselves and our posterity. We also take pride in the
role that this heritage has played in advancing and
protecting human rights around the world. America's
commitment to individual liberty and human dignity is
at our very core. We acknowledge that the principles
set forth in the Bill of Rights are foundational, and
we recommit to ensuring their legacy in our country as
we continue to lead the way toward stronger human
rights protections around the world.

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 December 10, 2020, as
Human Rights Day; December 15, 2020, as Bill of Rights
Day, and the week beginning on December 6, 2020, as
Human Rights Week. I call upon the people of the United
States to mark these observances with appropriate
ceremonies and activities.

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