Religious Freedom Day, 2001

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Part XIII

The President

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Proclamation 7391--Religious Freedom Day, 2001

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7391 of January 15, 2001

Religious Freedom Day, 2001

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Each year we commemorate the anniversary of the
religious freedom statute adopted by the Virginia
legislature in 1786. This statute, which reflects the
wisdom and foresight of its author, Thomas Jefferson,
and its cosponsor, James Madison, became the model for
the First Amendment to our Constitution, and it has had
enormous and far-reaching consequences for the life of
our Nation.

Just a few weeks ago, we saw how much that freedom
means to all of us, as we celebrated Christmas,
Hanukkah, and the Eid Al-Fitr within the same week.
These holidays belonging to the Christian, Jewish, and
Muslim faiths were observed freely and in peace by
millions of people across our country--an occurrence
unimaginable in some regions of the world, where people
suffer persecution and even death for worshipping
according to their conscience. Because of religious
freedom, Americans have been spared much of the
violence, bitterness, and conflict that have scarred so
many other societies, and our Nation has benefited
immeasurably from the many contributions of generations
of men and women who emigrated to America because their
right to worship was protected by the Constitution and
the courts and respected by their fellow citizens.

But religious freedom is not a right we enjoy solely by
virtue of being Americans; it is a fundamental human
right that should be honored in every Nation around the
globe. That is why I have sought to make it an integral
part of U.S. foreign policy and to raise international
awareness that many countries continue to engage in or
tolerate egregious violations of their citizens' right
to worship. I am proud that we have expanded reporting
on religious freedom in every country, and that through
our Ambassador at Large for International Religious
Freedom, we have strived to promote religious freedom
where it is threatened or denied and to intervene on
behalf of those who are suffering because of their
religious beliefs and practices.

More than 2 centuries ago, our founders sought to
protect the religious freedom that inherently belongs
to every human being. Now the responsibility falls to
our generation, not only to preserve that right, but
also to work together for the day when all people can
worship freely and in peace.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, 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 January 16, 2001, as
Religious Freedom Day. I call upon the people of the
United States to observe this day with appropriate
ceremonies, activities, and programs, and I urge all
Americans to reaffirm their devotion to the fundamental
principles of religious freedom and tolerance.

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