Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 96 Part 2.djvu/1335

 PROCLAMATION 4898—FEB. 13, 1982

96 STAT. 2697

Through the storms of Revolution, Civil War, and the great World Wars, as well as during times of disillusionment and disarray, the nation has turned to God in prayer for deliverance. We thank Him for answering our call, for, surely, He has. As a nation, we have been richly blessed with His love and generosity. Just 30 years ago, a Joint Resolution of the Congress requested the President to proclaim a day each year, other than a Sunday, as a National Day of Prayer, on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation in places of worship, in groups, and as individuals. Eight Presidents since then have annually proclaimed a Day of Prayer to the nation, resuming the tradition started by the Continental Congress. NOW, THEREFORE, I, RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Thursday, May 6, 1982, National Day of Prayer. On that day, I ask Americans to join with me in giving thanks to Almighty God for the blessings He has bestowed on this land and the protection He affords us as a people. Let us as a nation join together before God, aware of the trials that Ue ahead and of the need for divine guidance. With unshakable faith in God and the liberty which is our heritage, we as a free nation will continue to grow and prosper. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twelfth day of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and sixth. ».. «u RONALD REAGAN

Proclamation 4898 of February 13, 1982

National Patriotism Week, 1982

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By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation National Patriotism Week affords all Americans a special opportunity to consider the meaning of an honorable term which has sometimes been misunderstood and misused. True patriotism is a love of country, but it must be an intelligent love and not blind devotion to one's nation without regard to its ideals. Abraham Lincoln recognized this when, speaking in tribute of Henry Clay, he said: "He loved his country partly because it was his own country, but mostly because it was a free country; and he burned with a zeal for its advancement, prosperity and glory, because he saw in such, the advancement, prosperity and glory, of human liberty, human right, and human nature." The patriotism of Clay, Lincoln, and generations of Americans was of this nature. They loved their country because it was theirs but even more because it was a land where liberty, justice, and opportunity flourished. They did not love it because of its government but because of its people; not because of the role its government played in world affairs but because of the inspiration the very idea of America gave to every person, great and small, who made this blessed land^his home, and to every person in the less fortunate lands of the world who, amid oppression, tyranny, and injustice—as in Poland today—looked to America as the land of freedom.

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