A joint resolution designating May 21, 1983, as "Andrei Sakharov Day".
PL 98-30 (S.J.Res.51), enacted 05/18/1983

97 STAT. 190 
PUBLIC LAW 98-30—MAY 18, 1983 
Public Law 98-30 
98th Congress 
Joint Resolution 
May 18, 1983 
Designating May 21, 1983, as "Andrei Sakharov Day". 
[S.J. Res. 51] 
Whereas Andrei Sakharov has earned the admiration and gratitude 
of all the peoples of the world for his tireless and courageous 
efforts to secure basic human freedoms for the peoples of the 
Soviet Union, including those rights and freedoms proclaimed and 
guaranteed in the Final Act of the Conference on Security and 
Cooperation in Europe signed at Helsinki, August 1, 1975; and 
Whereas Andrei Sakharov has been awarded the Nobel Prize for 
Peace for "his love of truth and strong belief in the inviolability of 
human beings . . . 
his courageous defense of the human 
spirit . . ." and a life that has made him "the conscience of 
mankind"; and 
Whereas Andrei Sakharov, in direct consequence of his tireless work 
for world peace and human rights, has been illegally confined by 
the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to the 
remote city of Gorky, where, on May 21, 1983, he will spend his 
sixty-second birthday in almost total isolation; and 
Whereas even under conditions of isolation and harassment by 
Soviet authorities, Andrei Sakharov has continued to speak with 
eloquence and great moral force for the causes of human rights 
and world peace, for amnesty for all prisoners of conscience, and 
for full compliance by all signatory states with the provisions of 
the Helsinki Final Act and the United Nations Universal Declara-
tion of Human Rights: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
National Andrei States of America in Congress assembled, That May 21, 1983, is 
Sakharov Day. 
designated "National Andrei Sakharov Day" and the President of 
the United States is authorized and requested to issue a proclama-
tion calling upon the people of the United States to observe that day 
with appropriate ceremonies and activities. 
SEC. 2. The President of the United States is authorized and 
requested to call upon all nations of the world to designate May 21, 
1983, as "National Andrei Sakharov Day" within their respective 
nations. 
SEC. 3. The President of the United States is authorized and 
requested to urge the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist 
Republics to permit Andrei Seikharov and his wife, Elena Bonner, 
freely to choose their place of residence. 
PUBLIC LAW 98-30—MAY 18, 1983 
97 STAT. 191 
SEC. 4. The President of the United States is authorized and 
requested to direct the American delegation to the United Nations 
to introduce a resolution in the General Assembly calling upon that 
body to designate May 21, 1983, as "International Andrei Sakharov 
Day", to be observed by the United Nations with appropriate cere-
monies and activities. 
Approved May 18, 1983. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S.J. Res. 51: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 129 (1983): 
Apr. 13, considered and passed Senate. 
May 17, considered and passed House. 
WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 19, No. 20 (1983): 
May 18, Presidential statement.