Proclamation 5287.
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99 STAT. 1998 Proclamation 5287 of December 10, 1984 Bill of Rights Day Human Rights Day and Week, 1984 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation On December 15, 1791, our Founding Fathers celebrated the ratification of the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States—a Bill of Rights that has helped guarantee the freedoms that all Americans cherish. For the first time in the history of nations, our Founding Fathers established a written Constitution with enumerated rights based on the principle that the rights to life and liberty come not from the prerogative of government, but inhere in each person as a fundamental human heritage.
Americans believe that all persons are equal in their possession of these unalienable rights and are entitled to respect because of the immense dignity and value of each human being. With these great principles in mind, the Founding Fathers designed a system of government limited in its powers, based upon just laws, and resting upon the consent of the governed. When Americans first proclaimed this noble experiment in self-government and human liberty, it seemed to some to be a utopian, unrealistic ideal.
Today, virtually every nation in the world has adopted a written constitution expressing in varying degrees fundamental human rights. One hundred and fifty-seven years after the ratification of our Bill of Rights, on December 10, 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirming an international consensus on behalf of the human rights and individual liberties that we value so highly. Thirty-six years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, however, it is clear that this consensus is often recognized more on paper than in practice.
Throughout the world, many governments nominally adhere to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights while suppressing free elections, independent trade unions, due process of law, and freedom of religion and of the press. The United States recognizes a special responsibility to advance the claims of the oppressed; to reaffirm the rights to life and liberty as fundamental rights upon which all others are based; and to safeguard the rights to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
As we are free, we must speak up for those who are not. As Americans, we strongly object to and seek to end such affronts to the human conscience as the incarceration in the Soviet Union of men and women who try to speak out freely or who seek to exercise the basic right to emigrate; the harsh treatment accorded one of the great humanitarians of our time, Andrei Sakharov; the denial of basic human rights and self-determination in Eastern Europe and the Baltic states; the failure of the Polish authorities to establish an effective dialogue with the free trade union movement in that country; the manifest injustices of the apartheid system of racial discrimination in South Africa; the persecution of the Baha’i religious minority in Iran; the lack of progress toward democratic government in Chile and Paraguay; the campaign against the Roman Catholic Church in Nicaragua; the suppression of freedom in Cuba and Vietnam; the brutal war waged by Soviet troops against the people of Afghanistan; and the continuing Vietnamese occupation of Kampuchea.
The American people recognize that it is the denial of human rights, not their advocacy, that is a source of world tension. We recall the sacrifices99 STAT. 1999 that generations of Americans have made to preserve and protect liberty around the world. In this century alone, tens of thousands of Americans have laid down their lives on distant battlefields to uphold the cause of human rights. We honor and cherish them all. Today, it is with an abiding sense of gratitude and reverence that we remember the great gift of freedom that they bequeathed to us.
As we give special thought to the blessings that we enjoy as a free people, let us not forget the victims of human rights abuses around the world. NOW. THEREFORE, I, RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim December 10, 1984, as Human Rights Day and December 15, 1984, as Bill of Rights Day, and call on all Americans to observe the week beginning December 10, 1984. as Human Rights Week. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 10th day of Dec., in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and ninth.
RONALD REAGAN Editorial Note: For the President’s remarks of Dec. 10. 1984. on signing Proclamation 5287. see the *Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents* (vol. 20. p. 1891). 5288 December 12, 1984 Wright Brothers Day, 1984 Digitization Vendor By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Proclamation 5288 of December 12, 1984 Wright Brothers Day, 1984 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation This year marks the eighty-first anniversary of human flight in a powered, winged aircraft.
The dedicated efforts of Orville and Wilbur Wright made this possible. In the years that have passed since that time, the world has undergone a revolution in transportation that has brought nations closer together and helped unite the global community in ways never before possible. Though only 120 feet in length and 12 seconds in duration, the first successful flight of the Wright Brothers’s aero-vehicle on December 17, 1903, was truly the “flight heard round the world.” That flight—limited in immediate, practical application but infinite in conceptual progress—helped foster the Nation’s spirit of innovation and dedication to technological advancement.
This spirit has thrust the United States into world leadership in all facets of aviation, both civil and military. Aviation in the United States and throughout the world countinues to build on the foundation provided by the Wright Brothers. To commemorate the historic achievement of the Wright Brothers, the Congress. by joint resolution of December 17, 1963 (77 Stat. 402; 36 U.S.C. 169). has designated the seventeenth day of December of each year as Wright Brothers Day and requested the President to issue annually a proclamation inviting the people of the United States to observe that day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
NOW. THEREFORE. I, RONALD REAGAN. President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim December 17, 1984. as Wright Brothers Day,99 STAT. 2000 and I call upon the people of this Nation and local and national governmental officials to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities, both to recall the accomplishments of the Wright Brothers and to provide a stimulus to aviation in this country and throughout the world. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twelfth day of December, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and ninth.
RONALD REAGAN 5289 December 27, 1984 National Cerebral Palsy Month, 1985 Digitization Vendor By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Proclamation 5289 of December 27, 1984 National Cerebral Palsy Month, 1985 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation For more than 700,000 Americans with cerebral palsy, life is a struggle to overcome the challenges posed by brain abnormalities present since very early in life, often before birth. As cerebral palsy victims mature, they must confront lack of movement control and, possibly, seizures, loss of hearing, vision, or other senses, or mental or emotional impairment.
This year, nearly 7,000 children will be born with cerebral palsy. Health care professionals and educators throughout our Nation are making bold strides in helping those affected to deal with this disorder. Through physical rehabilitation and occupational therapy, many cerebral palsy patients are learning to lead happy, productive lives in the mainstream of society. These efforts have been spearheaded by two voluntary health agencies, the United Cerebral Palsy Associations, Inc. and the National Easter Seal Society.
Investigators supported by the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke and by voluntary health agencies are developing new drugs and devices to alleviate the symptoms of cerebral palsy. Scientists also are learning how to prevent the disorder, particularly with closely monitored prenatal care to minimize risks to the developing child. With the combined efforts of concerned voluntary and public health agencies, the tragedy of cerebral palsy can be substantially reduced.
To encourage public recognition of and compassion for the complex problems caused by cerebral palsy, the Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution[98 Stat. 2427](/us/stat/98/2427). 309, has designated the month of January 1985 as “National Cerebral Palsy Month” and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this month. NOW. THEREFORE. I, RONALD REAGAN. President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the month of January 1985 as National Cerebral Palsy Month.
I call upon all government agencies, health organizations, communications media, and the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate ceremonies and activities. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and ninth. RONALD REAGAN 5290 December 27, 1984 National Poison Prevention Week, 1985 Digitization Vendor By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation
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- 36 USC 169
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