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311931540
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Human Rights Day Bill of Rights Day and Human Rights Week [1987]
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311931540
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Human Rights Day Bill of Rights Day and Human Rights Week [1987]
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Records of the White House Correspondence Office
Proclamations Files
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PASSION THE & STATES OF THE LIMITED
SEXL
Human Rights Day, Bill of Rights Day,
and Human Rights Week, 1987
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
The Constitution whose Bicentennial we celebrate this year begins, "We the People," and thus tells
Americans and all the world that we hold the individual as sovereign, not the government or any other
political entity. The Bill of Rights, added to the Constitution in 1791, specifies individual liberties and adds
that powers "not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are
reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
The Founders of our country believed the rights of the individual are God-given, not originating from or
granted by the state. Their timeless vision of individual liberties for all people is why we pause each
December to express thanks for our heritage and to renew our commitment to the vital cause of human rights
around the globe. We also celebrate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which set
human rights standards for all nations.
Tragically, governments in many lands deny this vision. Some make elaborate claims that citizens under their
rule enjoy human rights and even offer illusory guarantees of those rights-but then reveal their absence
through lack of due process, free elections, or freedom of religion, expression, and assembly. Their constitu-
tions often declare openly that citizens' rights are subordinate to the interests of the state. Even if words look
good on paper, the absence of structural safeguards against abuse of power means that freedoms may be
taken away as easily as they are allowed. In countries where monopoly power rests with a single group or
political entity, the scope for human liberty is narrow indeed.
These states pose the greatest threat to liberty, not only because under them people are denied the exercise of
the most fundamental freedoms, but because they pose external as well as internal dangers. Unlimited power,
exercised in the name of universalist ideologies, often tries to extend its control beyond borders, denying
other peoples their human rights and self-determination.
Standing against these dangers are those people the world over who, undaunted by tremendous odds and
great personal risk, continue to press for individual rights and freedoms. Their courageous struggle for human
dignity is a triumph in itself, but the United States pledges continuing support to their efforts on behalf of
human rights, fundamental freedoms, and democracy.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, RONALD REAGAN, 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 December 10,
1987, as Human Rights Day and December 15, 1987, as Bill of Rights Day, and I call upon all Americans to
observe the week beginning December 10, 1987, as Human Rights Week.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 10th day of December, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred
and twelfth.
Ronald Reagan