Presidential Documents

75415 

Federal Register 

Vol. 79, No. 242 

Wednesday, December 17, 2014 

Title 3— 

The President 

Proclamation 9220 of December 12, 2014 

Bill of Rights Day, 2014 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

For more than two centuries, our Nation has been shaped by courageous 

women and men who have dared to raise their voices and work to safeguard 

the blessings of liberty and justice. In the face of tyranny, early patriots 

stood up against an empire and proclaimed the independence of a new 

Nation, declaring that we are all created equal, endowed by our Creator 

with unalienable rights. To secure these rights, they fought a war and enshrined these truths into our Constitution. The product of a fierce debate 

and great compromise, our founding charter was a remarkable yet imperfect 

document. It provided the foundation for a society built on freedom and 

democracy, but essential questions—including those of race and gender— 

were left unresolved. Yet before it was fully ratified, our Founding Fathers 

began working to refine its text, an early milestone in our unending journey 

to form a more perfect Union. 

Ratified on December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights secured our most fundamental freedoms. These first 10 Constitutional Amendments protect our 

rights to protest, practice our faiths, and hold our Government accountable. 

They guarantee justice under the law, allow for the dissemination of new 

ideas, and create the opportunity for those left out of our charter to fight 

to expand its promise. In times of war and peace, and through waves 

of depression and prosperity, these tenets have not only endured, but they 

have strengthened our Nation and served as an example to all who seek 

freedom, fairness, equality, and dignity around the world. 

On the anniversary of the Bill of Rights, we reflect on the blessings of 

freedom we enjoy today, and we are reminded that our work to foster 

a more free, more fair, and more just society is never truly done. Guided 

by these sacred principles, we continue striving to make our country a 

place where our daughters’ voices are valued just as much as our sons’; 

where due process of law is afforded to all people, regardless of skin color; 

and where the individual liberties that we cherish empower every American 

to pursue their dreams and achieve their own full measure of happiness. 

Our fidelity to these timeless ideals binds us together as a Nation. As 

we celebrate Bill of Rights Day, let us recommit to the values that define 

us as a people and continue our work to broaden democracy’s reach by 

strengthening the freedoms with which we have been endowed. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States 

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution 

and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 15, 2014, 

as Bill of Rights Day. I call upon the people of the United States to mark 

this observance with appropriate ceremonies and activities. 


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75416 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 242 / Wednesday, December 17, 2014 / Presidential Documents 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twelfth day 

of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the 

Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirtyninth. 

[FR Doc. 2014–29722 

Filed 12–16–14; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 3295–F5 


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