Proclamation 4666

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

Twenty years ago, by a joint resolution approved July 17, 1959 (73 Stat. 212), the Eighty-Sixth Congress authorized and requested the President to proclaim the third week in July of each year as Captive Nations Week.

However greatly the world has changed in the past generation, our country's fundamental faith in human freedom remains constant. Americans now, as at all times in our history, remain steadfast in our belief that liberty and national independence are among the universal birthrights of mankind.

Remembering our democratic heritage and our commitment to human rights, let us take this occasion to reaffirm our admiration for all the men and women around the world who are committed to the cause of freedom.

And mindful of our own rich and diverse heritage, let us express our compassion and respect for persons around the world still seeking the realization of these ideals in their own lands.

Now, THEREFORE, I, JIMMY CARTER, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate the week beginning July 15, 1979, as Captive Nations Week.

I invite the people of the United States to observe this week with appropriate ceremonies and activities and to reaffirm their dedication to the ideals which unite us and serve as inspiration to others.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second day of June, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and third.

JIMMY CARTER [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:09 a.m., June 25, 1979]