Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 101 Part 3.djvu/876

 101 STAT. 2174

PROCLAMATION 5687—JULY 28, 1987

citizens in all the signatory states can enjoy the fundamental freedoms agreed to in the Final Act. The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 151, has designated August 1, 1987, as "Helsinki Human Rights Day" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in its observance. NOW, THEREFORE, I, RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim August 1, 1987, as Helsinki Human Rights Day and reaffirm the American commitment to universal observance of the values enshrined in the Final Act. These values are fundamental to our way of life and a source of inspiration to peoples around the world. In renewing our dedication with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities, let us call upon all signatories of the Final Act to match deeds with words and to respect in full its solemn principles and provisions. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twelfth. •r>i>

RONALD REAGAN

Proclamation 5687 of July 28, 1987

Thanksgiving Day, 1987 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Thanksgiving Day is one of our most beloved holidays, an occasion set aside by Americans from earliest times to thank our Maker prayerfully and humbly for the blessings and the care He bestows on us and on our beautiful, bountiful land. Through the decades, through the centuries, in log cabins, country churches, cathedrals, homes, and halls, the American people have paused to give thanks to God, in times of peace and plenty or of danger and distress. Acknowledgement of dependence on God's favor was, in fact, our fledgling Nation's very first order of business. When the delegates to the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in 1774, they overcame discord by uniting in prayer for our country. Despite the differences among them as they began their work, they found common voice in the 35th Psalm, which concludes with a verse of joyous gratitude, "And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long." This year, of course, our Thanksgiving Day celebration coincides with the Bicentennial of the Constitution. In 1789 the government established by that great charter of freedom, and "the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed," were cited by George Washington in the first Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation as among "the great and various favors" conferred upon us by the Lord and Ruler of Nations. As we thank the God our first President called "that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be," we have even

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