Proclamation 4761

by Jimmy Carter

By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

Twenty-one years ago, by a joint resolution approved July 17, 1959 (73 Stat. 212), the Eighty-Sixth Congress authorized and requested the President to proclaim the third week in July as Captive Nations Week.

Throughout our history we Americans have held the deep conviction that liberty and independence are among mankind's inalienable rights. Our ideal has remained that of our founding fathers: governments derive their legitimacy from the consent of the peoples they govern. Soviet aggression against Afghanistan is the latest stark reminder that this ideal is not universally respected.

Mindful of our heritage and our principles, let us take this week to salute the men and women everywhere who are devoted to the cause of liberty and the pursuit of human rights in their native lands.

Now, THEREFORE, I, JIMMY CARTER, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate the week beginning on July 13, 1980, as Captive Nations Week.

I invite the people of the United States to observe this week with appropriate ceremonies and activities and to reaffirm their dedication to the ideals that unite us and inspire others.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fourth.

JIMMY CARTER

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:45 a.m., May 20, 1980]