Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 79.djvu/1493

 79 STAT. ]

PROCLAMATION 3631-DEC. 1, 1964

1453

Proclamation 3631 BILL OF RIGHTS DAY HUMAN RIGHTS DAY By the President of the United States of America

pecem er i, 1954

A Proclamation

WHEREAS December 10, 1964, is the sixteenth anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement, and December 15, 1964, is the one hundred and seventy-third anniversary of the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States, which are known as the Bill of Rights; and WHEREAS the Universal Declaration proclaims for the inhabitants of all the world the great rights to freedom, justice, and equality already guaranteed by our Constitution to the people of the United States; and WHEREAS the worth of our Nation is measured not by the material abundance of our society but by the freedom which gives it purpose; and WHEREAS the strength of our liberty is measured by the respect each person accords the rights of others and by the vigor of our government in defending these rights; and WHEREAS the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has renewed and enlarged ^s Stat. 24u^ our commitment to honor the principles of our Constitution, without note. distinction as to race, color or creed: NOW, THEREFORE, I, LYNDON B. JOHNSON, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim December 10, 1964, as Human Rights Day and December 15, 1964, as Bill of Rights Day, and call upon the people of the United States to observe the week of December 10-17 as Human Rights Week. This country has survived and prospered mightily in the belief that all men are created equal, that all political power is inherent in the people, and that no man or group of men should be entitled to exclusive privilege or preferment over others. We have worked hard and long, at home and abroad, that every man may enjoy his right to security of person and of property, to freedom of conscience and of press, and to equal justice under law. In this week especially, let us give thanks for that love of liberty which made human justice and human dignity the foundation stones of our Republic. Let us be quick to speak when a man is threatened because he has exercised his rights, and sturdy to resist when freedom is denied or abridged through ignorance, prejudice, or abuse of power. Let us be worthy of the trust placed in our generation for the integrity of the individual and the full and faithful protection of his inalienable rights. 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. DONE at the City of Washington this first day of December in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-four and of [SEAL] the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-ninth. LYNDON B. JOHNSON

By the President: DEAN R U S K,

Secretary of /State.

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