Bill of Rights Day, 2013

Proclamation 9070 of December 13, 2013

Bill of Rights Day, 2013

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

When America's Founders declared our independence, they
set forth an idea that became our Nation's defining
creed: ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness.'' They understood that while these truths
have always been self-evident, they have never been
self-executing. After 15 years of democratic
experimentation and national debate, the Bill of Rights
came into force, touching off a long journey to carve
America's highest ideals into enduring, enforceable
law.

The Bill of Rights is the foundation of American
liberty, securing our most fundamental rights--from the
freedom to speak, assemble, and practice our faith as
we please to the protections that ensure justice under
the law. For almost two and a quarter centuries, these
10 Constitutional Amendments have served as a basis
from which civil society could grow and flourish. They
have encouraged innovation and defended Americans who
questioned, challenged, and dared our Nation to be
greater.

Thomas Jefferson once wrote, ``I am not an advocate for
frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws
and constitutions must go hand in hand with the
progress of the human mind.'' Our liberties opened
heated debate over the questions of citizenship and
human rights, driving progress in the American mind. We
learned that our Nation, built on the principles of
freedom and equality, could not survive half-slave and
half-free. We resolved that our daughters must have the
same rights, the same chances, and the same freedom to
pursue their dreams as our sons, and that if we are
truly created equal, then the love we commit to one
another must be equal as well. Americans with
disabilities tore down legal and social barriers;
disenfranchised farmworkers united to claim their
rights to dignity, fairness, and a living wage; civil
rights activists marched, bled, and gave their lives to
bring the era of segregation to an end. As we celebrate
the anniversary of the Bill of Rights, let us reach for
a day when we all may enjoy the basic truths of liberty
and equality.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, 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 15, 2013, as
Bill of Rights Day. I call upon the people of the
United States to mark this observance with appropriate
ceremonies and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord two
thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
eighth.