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PROCLAMATION 3580-APR. 14, 1964

[78 STAT.

I N W I T N E S S WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed. D O N E at the City of Washington this fifth day of April in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-four, and of the [SEAL] Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-eighth. LYNDON B. JOHNSON

By the President: Dean Rusk, Secretary of State.

Proclamation 3580 CITIZENSHIP DAY AND CONSTITUTION WEEK, 1964 Apru 14, 1964

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

36 USC 153.

WHEREAS September 17, 1964, marks the one hundred and seventy-seventh anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United States on'September 17, 1787; and WHEREAS the year 1964 marks the one hundred and seventy-fifth anniversary of the organization of our constitutional form of government—for in 1789, our first Congress convened, our first President was inaugurated, and our Federal judicial system was established; and WHEREAS our constitutional form of government has withstood the test of time and the ravages of war, internal strife, natural catastrophes, economic disasters, and international conspiracies and still stands constantly young and vigorous and ever resolute in its quest for peace, liberty, justice, and economic opportunity for all mankind; and WHEREAS the manner in which the entire Nation reacted to the crisis occasioned by the assassination of President Kennedy and gave me, as its new President under the terms of our Constitution, its undivided loyalty and support in those dark days attests to the strength and stability of our Government; and WHEREAS in this world of many challenges—some of which endanger the rights of free men—it is imperative that all our citizens, whether native born or naturalized, be aware of the acts and events that led to the adoption of the Constitution and of the adversities that have subsequently proved its durability in order that they may have a better understanding and appreciation of the basic principles upon which this Nation was founded and by which it lives; and WHEREAS, this year, it is more appropriate than ever that our citizens proclaim to the world our renewed determination to preserve, regardless of cost, the constitutional system of government which has sustained our Nation and its people through a century and threequarters of turbulent history and which stands today as a beacon of hope to freedom-loving people everywhere; and WHEREAS, by a joint resolution approved February 29, 1952 (66 Stat. 9), the Congress designated the seventeenth day of September of each year as Citizenship Day in commemoration of the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787, and in recognition of those citizens who have come of age and those who have been naturalized during the year; and

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