Citizenship Day and Constitution Week, 2000

Proclamation 7343 of September 17, 2000

Citizenship Day and Constitution Week, 2000

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

In the spring of 1787, George Washington, Benjamin
Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and other
prominent leaders gathered once again in Philadelphia
to offset a looming crisis in the life of our young
democracy. The Articles of Confederation, a blueprint
for government that they had hammered out in the Second
Continental Congress in 1777, had proved too weak and
ineffective to achieve a balance of power between the
new Federal Government and the States. Rising to this
fresh challenge, our founders crafted a new charter of
government--the United States Constitution--that has
proven to be a masterpiece of political philosophy.

Wise about human nature and wary of unlimited power,
the authors of our Constitution created a government
where power resides not with one person or institution
but with three separate and equal branches of
government. It guarantees for our citizens the right
and responsibility to choose leaders through free
elections, giving Americans the means to enact
political change without resorting to violence,
insurrection, or revolution. And, with its carefully
crafted system of checks and balances, the Bill of
Rights, and its process of amendment, the Constitution
maintains an inspired balance between authority and
freedom and between the ideals of unity and individual
rights.

For more than 200 years the Constitution has provided
our Nation with the resilience to survive trying times
and the flexibility to correct past injustices. At
every turning point in our history, the letter and
spirit of the Constitution have enabled us to reaffirm
our union and expand the meaning of liberty. Its
success can be measured by the millions of people who
have left their homelands over the past two centuries
to become American citizens. Its influence can be
measured by the number and vigor of new democracies
springing up across the globe.

In giving us the Constitution, our founders also gave
us a powerful example of citizenship. They were deeply
involved in governing our Nation and passionately
committed to improving our society. The rights we
sometimes take for granted today were secured by their
courage and by the blood of patriots during the
Revolutionary War. As we observe Citizenship Day and
Constitution Week, let us remember that with the many
gifts bestowed on us by the Constitution comes the
responsibility to be informed and engaged citizens; to
take an active role in the civic life of our
communities and our country; and to uphold the ideals
of unity and liberty that have sustained us since our
earliest days as a Nation.

In commemoration of the signing of the Constitution and
in recognition of the importance of active, responsible
citizenship in preserving the Constitution's blessings
for our Nation, the Congress, by joint resolution of
February 29, 1952 (36 U.S.C. 106), designated September
17 as ``Citizenship Day,'' and by joint resolution of
August 2, 1956 (36 U.S.C. 108), requested that the
President proclaim the week beginning September 17 and
ending September 23 of each year as ``Constitution
Week.''

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim September
17, 2000, as Citizenship Day and September 17 through
September 23, 2000, as Constitution Week. I call upon
Federal, State, and local officials, as well as leaders
of civic, educational, and religious organizations, to
conduct meaningful ceremonies and programs in our
schools, houses of worship, and other community centers
to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of
the Constitution and the rights and duties of
citizenship. I also call on all citizens to rededicate
themselves to the principles of the Constitution.

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