Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 97.djvu/1644

 97 STAT. 1612 PROCLAMATION 5085—AUG. 29, 1983 tion designating the week which includes September 15 and 16 as National Hispanic Heritage Week. NOW, THEREFORE, I, RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week beginning September 11, 1983, as National Hispanic Heritage Week in honor of the Hispanic peoples who have enriched our daily lives, our traditions and our national strength. In this spirit, I ask all of our citizens to reflect on the sense of brotherhood that binds us together as one people. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of Aug., in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighth. RONALD REAGAN Proclamation 5085 of August 29, 1983 Citizenship Day and Constitution Week, 1983 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation There can be no more precious possession than United States citizenship. As the Columbus, Ohio, Dispatch so fittingly stated many years ago: "In the darkness that has settled over so much of the world and which shadows the existence of men in places where individual liberty still struggles to live, the United States of America has become the source of hope and aid to the millions of oppressed who once knew freedom and the hated enemy of the overlords of darkness who would destroy it wherever they can." usc prec. title 1. The Constitution provides a framework for our continuous striving to make a better America. It provides the basic balance between each branch of government, limits the power of that government, and guarantees to each of us as citizens our most basic rights. The Constitution, however, is only the outline of our system of government. It is through each individual citizen living out the ideals of the Constitution that we reach for a full expression of those ideals. Therefore, while we celebrate Citizenship Day and Consti- tution Week, let us rededicate ourselves to a full realization of the potential of the great country which the Founding Fathers struggled to create more than two hundred years ago. Not only during this week, but throughout the year, we should continue to seek that "more perfect union" which will establish justice and insure do- mestic tranquility for each of us and our future generations through the Constitution. In recognition of the importance of our Constitution and the role of our citi- zenry in shaping our government, the Congress, by joint resolution of Febru- ary 29, 1952 (36 U.S.C. 153), designated September 17th of each year as Citi- zenship Day and authorized the President to issue annually a proclamation calling upon officials of the government to display the flag on all govern- ment buildings on that day. The Congress also, by joint resolution of August 2, 1956 (36 U.S.C. 159), requested the President to proclaim the week beginning September 17th and ending September 23rd of each year as Con- stitution Week.

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