Captive Nations Week, 2014

Vol. 79

Wednesday,

No. 141

July 23, 2014

Part III

The President

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Proclamation 9147--Captive Nations Week, 2014

Executive Order 13672--Further Amendments to Executive Order 11478,
Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government, and Executive
Order 11246, Equal Employment Opportunity

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 9147 of July 18, 2014

Captive Nations Week, 2014

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

As the grip of the Cold War tightened, America pledged
our solidarity to every nation held captive behind the
Iron Curtain and every individual who refused to accept
that fate. We stood with them through a long twilight
struggle until--from Europe to South America to
Southeast Asia--democracy took root, a wall tumbled
down, and people who had known only the blinders of
fear began to taste the blessings of freedom. During
Captive Nations Week, we celebrate this progress and
stand with all who still seek to throw off their
oppressors and embrace a brighter day.

In recent years, convulsions in the Middle East and
North Africa have laid bare deep divisions within
societies. Dictators have answered peaceful movements
with brutality. Extremists have tried to hijack change,
seeking to replace one form of tyranny with another.
And around the world, authoritarian regimes continue to
deprive men, women, and children of their most basic
human rights.

America extends our support to all peoples seeking to
build true democracy, real prosperity, and lasting
security. While the road to self-determination is long
and treacherous, history proves it is passable. This
week, as we carry forward that age-old struggle--of
liberty against oppression, of unity against
intolerance--let us once again demonstrate the enduring
strength of our ideals.

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

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim July 20
through July 26, 2014, as Captive Nations Week. I call
upon the people of the United States to reaffirm our
deep ties to all governments and people committed to
freedom, dignity, and opportunity for all.

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