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 Proclamations Proc. 7267 Proclamation 7267 of January 14, 2000 Religious Freedom Day, 2000 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation On January 16, 1786, the Virginia legislature enacted a law whose impact is still felt around the world today. Authored by Thomas Jefferson and in- troduced by James Madison, this act affirmed religious freedom as one of the "natural rights of mankind" and pledged that none would "suffer on account of his religious opinions or beliefs." Recognizing the fundamental importance of this right to human dignity, our founders modeled the First Amendment to our Constitution on the Virginia statute and made religious Doedom and tolerance core values of our democracy. Moro than a century and a half later, Eleanor Roosevelt, as the Chairperson of the U.N.'s Com- mission on Human Rights, worked to extend that vision to peoples around the world through her contributions to the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Americans draw groat strength from the Doe exorcise of religion and from the diverse communities of faith that flourish in our Nation because of it. Our churches, mosques, synagogues, meetinghouses, and other places of worship bring us together, support our families, nourish our hearts and minds, and sustain our deepest values. Our religious beliefs give direction to our lives and provide moral guidance in the daily decisions we make. Freedom of religion, however, still has enemies. In America in recent years, churches and synagogues have been destroyed by arson and people have boon attacked because of their religious affiliation. Across the globe, many people still live in countries where the right to religious Doedom is strictod or oven prohibited. Some totalitarian and authoritarian regimes ac- tively persecute those who seek to practice their religion, imprisoning, tor- turing, and even killing men and women because of their faith. Other gov- ernments monitor and harass religious minorities, tolerating and even en- couraging hostility or acts of violence against them. My Administration is committed to safeguarding Deedom of religion at home and promoting it around the globe. Federal, State, and local law en- forcement officials are working in partnership to prosecute and prevent crimes aimed at people because of their religious affiliation, and I have called on the Congress to pass the Hate Crimes Prevention Act to strength- en the Federal Government's ability to combat such crimes. On the inter- national front, we have made issues of religious liberty a consistent and fundamental part of our public diplomacy. My Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom and his staff have crisscrossed the globe, Dom China and Uzbekistan to Laos and Russia, to advance religious Dee- dom and to assist those who are being persecuted for their beliefs. In ac- cordance with the International Religious Freedom Act that I signed into law in \177998, the United States recently published the first annual report on the status of religious Deedom worldwide and publicly designated the most severe international violators. This report highlights the many crucial efforts of individuals and agencies in the Federal Government to advocate religious Deedom abroad, Dom negotiating with foreign heads of state to pursuing individual cases of persecution or discrimination. 17

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