[Title 3 CFR 6966]
[Code of Federal Regulations (annual edition) - January 1, 1998 Edition]
[Title 3 - Presidential Documents]
[Proclamation 6966 - Proclamation 6966 of January 16, 1997]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]


3Presidential Documents11998-01-011998-01-01false6966Proclamation 6966Presidential Documents
Proclamation 6966 of January 16, 1997

Religious Freedom Day, 1997

By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

Every day, in neighborhoods and communities across our Nation, Americans 
come together to worship and to reaffirm their most deeply held 
spiritual values. Our right to worship freely--each in our own way--is 
essential to our well-being. Religious Freedom Day offers us an 
invaluable opportunity to reflect on this precious human right and to 
give thanks for its protection in our Nation.
Freedom from religious persecution was of such profound importance to 
our founders that they placed it first among the freedoms guaranteed by 
the Bill of Rights. History has proved the wisdom of that decision. 
America's commitment to religious tolerance has empowered us to achieve 
an atmosphere of understanding, trust, and respect in a society of 
diverse cultures and religious traditions. And today, much of the world 
still looks to the United States as the champion of religious liberty.
Yet, even in America, we must be ever vigilant in protecting the 
freedoms so important to our ancestors and so admired by people 
throughout the world. The church arsons and the desecration of 
synagogues and mosques in recent years demonstrated for us all that our 
country is not entirely free from violence and religious hatred. My 
Administration took quick and decisive action, including working with 
the Congress to help churches rebuild and to prevent future incidents. 
And I am pleased that the American people are coming together as a 
national community to speak out against such crimes and to renew the 
climate of trust and tolerance so that all our people can worship 
without fear.

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We must also support the aspirations of ethnic and religious minorities 
in other nations as they strive for their own right to worship freely. 
My Administration has established the Advisory Committee on Religious 
Freedom Abroad to provide counsel on how best to prevent persecution and 
promote reconciliation among people of different faiths. I invite all 
nations to join us in supporting individuals in houses of worship around 
the world as they exercise one of the most sacred of human rights.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of 
America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and 
laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 16, 1997, as 
Religious Freedom Day. I call upon the people of the United States to 
observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities, and I urge 
them to reaffirm their commitment to the principle of religious freedom.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day of 
January, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twenty-first.
                                                    WILLIAM J. CLINTON