[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 79 (Thursday, April 24, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 19897-19898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-10778]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 79 / Thursday, April 24, 1997 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 19897]]
Proclamation 6995 of April 22, 1997
Law Day, U.S.A., 1997
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
This is the 40th year that Americans have celebrated
the first day of May as Law Day, a special time to
reflect on our legal heritage. It is an opportunity for
all Americans to pause and consider how the rule of law
has contributed to the freedoms we enjoy, and to our
greatness as a Nation.
The theme of this year's Law Day commemoration,
``Celebrate Your Freedom,'' focuses on the one concept
that most defines us as a Nation. It was freedom that
we fought for when we created this country. It is
freedom that still sets us apart from many of the
world's nations. And it is freedom's lamp that still
beckons the oppressed to America from all parts of the
globe.
The quest to ensure our freedom is the essence of what
it means to be an American, and the bulwark of our
freedom is the law and the legal system. James Madison
once observed that if men were angels, governments
would not be necessary. Laws are the instruments by
which the people, through their government, protect
themselves from, and regulate their relations with,
each other. At the same time, laws also serve to
restrain the power of that government. Finding the
proper balance between the conflicting interests and
rights of individuals, corporations, and government has
never been easy. But we rely on the rule of law itself
to protect all that is most precious to us. Without it,
other nations have descended into a state where force
alone prevails and justice is a mere hope.
Thanks to the genius of our Founders and the
Constitutional system they created, Americans have
witnessed the steady march of progress toward an open,
inclusive society. We vote in free, fair elections. We
worship according to our own faith. We associate freely
with whomever we choose. And we are able to express our
disagreements with our government freely and openly.
These rights, routinely accepted today, have been
maintained only through years of testing and
reinforcement in our Federal and State courts, which
have continued to extend freedom and liberty across the
land.
So when we celebrate our freedom, we also celebrate a
system of law that makes freedom possible. For more
than two centuries, we have prospered and endured
because we have relied on that system of law. We must
keep that system strong and vibrant in our national
life.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, in accordance with Public Law
87-20 of April 7, 1961, do hereby proclaim May 1, 1997,
as Law Day. I urge the people of the United States to
use this occasion to consider anew how our laws protect
our freedoms and contribute to our national well-being.
I call upon members of the legal profession, civic
associations, educators, librarians, public officials,
and the media to promote the observance of this day
with appropriate programs and activities. I also call
upon public officials to display the flag of the United
States on all government buildings throughout the day.
[[Page 19898]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-second day of April, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twenty-first.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 97-10778
Filed 4-23-97; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P
