Captive Nations Week, 2004

Proclamation 7802 of July 16, 2004

Captive Nations Week, 2004

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Each year during Captive Nations Week, the United
States reaffirms our commitment to building a world
where human rights, democracy, and freedom are
respected and protected by the rule of law. As
Americans, we believe the nonnegotiable demands of
human dignity must be upheld without regard to race,
gender, creed, or nationality. We stand in solidarity
with those living under repressive regimes who seek
democracy and peaceful changes in their homelands.

Throughout our Nation's history, our brave men and
women in uniform have fought for the freedom of those
suffering under authoritarian governments. From Nazi
Germany to Bosnia, and Afghanistan to Iraq, American
service members have fought to remove brutal leaders.
The American people and their generous contributions
have helped to rebuild traumatized nations and given
the oppressed hope for the future. More than a year
ago, American service members and our coalition
partners freed the Iraqi people from a dictatorship
that routinely tortured and executed innocent
civilians. Since then, Americans have helped the Iraqi
people establish institutions for the protection of
human rights, based on democratic principles, to ensure
that freedom will endure in the new Iraq.

Earlier this summer, as our Nation paid respect to
President Ronald Reagan, we recognized his
contributions to ending the Cold War and advancing
freedom around the world. In his first Inaugural
Address, President Reagan said: ``Above all, we must
realize that no arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of
the world is so formidable as the will and moral
courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our
adversaries in today's world do not have. It is a
weapon that we as Americans do have.'' These words
carry forward today as we continue to push for
democratic freedoms and human rights around the world.

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

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim July 18
through July 24, 2004, as Captive Nations Week. I call
upon the people of the United States to observe this
week with appropriate ceremonies and activities and to
reaffirm their commitment to all those seeking liberty,
justice, and self-determination.

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

(Presidential Sig.)B