Proclamation 4384

by Gerald R. Ford

August 27, 1975

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Two hundred years ago, the men and women of the American Revolution pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor in the struggle for independence, which ended September 3, 1783, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. In breaking with the past, they did not neglect to build a better system for their posterity.

Today, we look back 200 years, not merely to take pride in our history; we look back during this Bicentennial to learn some practical lessons for today and tomorrow. As we pay tribute, let us renew together our Founding Fathers' pledge to our country-our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. Let us always remember that freedom does not come free.

Congress, by. a joint resolution of February 29, 1952, designated the 17th day of September of each year as Citizenship Day in commemoration of the formation and signing of the Constitution of the United States on September 17, 1787, and authorized the President to issue annually a proclamation calling upon officials of the Government to display the United States flag on all Government buildings on such day. By a joint resolution of August 2, 1956, Congress authorized the President to designate the period beginning September 17 and ending September 23 of each year as Constitution Week and to issue a proclamation calling for the observance of such week.

Now, Therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States of America, call upon appropriate Government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on Citizenship Day, September 17, 1975-the 188th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution. I urge Federal, State, and local officials, as well as leaders of civic, educational and religious organizations, to conduct appropriate ceremonies and programs on that day.

I also designate as Constitution Week the period beginning September 17 and ending September 23, 1975, and urge all Americans to observe that week with appropriate ceremonies and activities in their schools, churches and in other suitable places in order to foster a better understanding of the Constitution, and of the rights and responsibilities of United States citizens.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh day of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and seventy-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two-hundredth.

GERALD R. FORD