Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 86 / Wednesday, May 3, 2000 / Presidential Documents 25827

Proclamation 7300 of April 29, 2000

Loyalty Day, 2000

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

In the Declaration of Independence and in the Constitution, our Nation’s

founders first articulated the enduring ideals that have sustained our democracy—freedom, self-determination, justice, and equality. Each year we set

aside this special day to reaffirm our allegiance to those ideals and to

our beloved country.

The power and promise of our country’s principles moved men and women

throughout the American colonies to declare their allegiance to a new country

and a new form of government that respected the rights of the individual.

Throughout the decades, millions of immigrants drawn to America’s freedom

proved their loyalty to their adopted Nation in the words of the oath of

citizenship and in their daily lives—working hard, striving to build a better

future for their families and communities, serving in our Armed Forces,

upholding our laws, and participating in our democracy.

Other Americans have showed their loyalty by courageously challenging

our Nation to live up to its ideals. We owe a profound debt to the heroes

and visionaries who opposed slavery, reformed labor practices, won the

right to vote for women, marched for civil rights, and spoke out with

conscience and conviction whenever we have failed to uphold the highest

standards of freedom and justice.

We find perhaps the strongest and most moving evidence of loyalty to

America in the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform.

From the War of Independence to today’s peacekeeping missions around

the world, generations of Americans have shown their allegiance by defending our Nation against tyrants and terrorists, protecting our national interests

wherever they are threatened, and promoting our values across the globe.

On this first Loyalty Day of the 21st century, all Americans should give

thanks that we live in a Nation that inspires such fidelity. And we should

remember with pride the loyal patriots who have gone before us, whose

character and efforts built America, preserved it in times of peril, and

gave life to our founders’ dreams.

Recognizing the importance of loyalty to the continued strength of our

country and success of our democracy, the Congress, by Public Law 85–

529, has designated May 1 of each year as ‘‘Loyalty Day.’’

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States

of America, do hereby proclaim May 1, 2000, as Loyalty Day. I urge all

Americans to recall the valor and selflessness of all those who made this

Nation worthy of our love and loyalty and to express our own loyalty

through appropriate patriotic programs, ceremonies, and activities. I also

call upon Government officials to display the flag of the United States

in support of this national observance.

25828 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 86 / Wednesday, May 3, 2000 / Presidential Documents

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth

day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the Independence

[FR Doc. 00–11142

Filed 5–2–00; 8:45 am]

Billing code 3195–01–P

of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-fourth.

œ–