Constitution Day, Citizenship Day, and Constitution Week, 2020
| Published date | 24 September 2020 |
| Citation | 85 FR 60337 |
| Record Number | 2020-21312 |
| Section | Presidential Documents |
| Court | Executive Office Of The President |
Presidential Documents
60337
Federal Register
Vol. 85, No. 186
Thursday, September 24, 2020
Title 3—
The President
Proclamation 10077 of September 17, 2020
Constitution Day, Citizenship Day, and Constitution Week,
2020
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
In the summer of 1787, fifty-five delegates from throughout the fledgling
United States gathered at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia,
intent on erecting a government that would stand the test of time and
protect hard-won freedoms secured during the Revolutionary War. Two hun-
dred and thirty-three years later, the document they produced—our Constitu-
tion—remains the bedrock of our system of government, one rooted in equal-
ity under the law and an unyielding commitment to individual liberty.
On this day and during this week, we celebrate our great founding charter
as an enduring beacon of freedom and strive toward active citizenship
in service of its ideals.
With profound wisdom, the Framers of our Constitution divided political
power among three separate and coequal branches, and further between
the Federal and State governments, ensuring that a government of the people,
by the people, and for the people would remain accountable to its citizens,
from whom all legitimate political power is derived. Our Constitution out-
lines a government that encourages individuals to flourish while still empow-
ering the state to perform necessary functions like protecting law and order
and providing essential public goods. This revolutionary concept has made
and continues to make our Nation the most free and just society in the
world. Because its principles are timeless and rooted in truth, our Constitu-
tion has fostered freedom at home, as well as the liberation of countless
oppressed peoples around the world. In the more than 2 centuries since
its ratification, it has served as an unparalleled engine for human progress.
A key feature of our Constitution is an independent Federal judiciary, which
helps safeguard its structure and ensure individual rights. In Federalist
78, Alexander Hamilton describes the proper role of the courts as keeping
the legislature ‘‘within the limits assigned to their authority,’’ handing down
decisions in accordance with the principle that ‘‘a constitution is, in fact,
and must be regarded by the judges, as a fundamental law.’’ In reverence
of the wisdom of the Founders, I have made it a top priority to nominate
to the Federal bench only those judges who have demonstrated a commitment
to enforcing the Constitution as written. To date, I have nominated and
the Senate has confirmed more than 240 judges who will faithfully adhere
to this foundational judicial principle, including two incredible Supreme
Court Justices.
While freedom-loving Americans rightfully venerate and defend our Constitu-
tion, we must also remain cognizant that there are those in our society
who wish to tear down our institutions and threaten our sacred constitutional
freedoms. In recent months, statues of great American heroes like Abraham
Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Theodore Roosevelt have been threatened,
torn down, defaced, and destroyed. In cities throughout our country, radical
groups have attacked monuments honoring the unrivaled contributions our
Founding Fathers made to human freedom. These groups and individuals
are attempting to topple constitutional law and order—the very foundation
of self-government—by attacking the Constitution and the integrity of our
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60338
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 186 / Thursday, September 24, 2020 / Presidential Documents
national heroes, falsely decrying our country and its institutions as evil
and unjust.
As President, I will never allow such heinous attacks to go unpunished.
I will continue to honor the legacy of our history by protecting our freedoms
and safeguarding our Constitution and the boundless opportunity it affords
to the people of our great Nation. We should always celebrate the brave
Americans who fought tyranny to secure the very liberty that these extremists
take for granted. To this end, in June of this year, I signed an Executive
Order on Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues, and
Combating Recent Criminal Violence, ensuring that anarchy and base criminal
acts will no longer tarnish memorials built to honor the heroes who have
served our country and defended our Constitution. On this Constitution
and Citizenship Day, and during this Constitution Week, we recommit to
upholding our constitutional system, to honoring its Framers and those
who have sacrificed to defend it—who knew the true price of liberty—
and to embracing the duty we as citizens have to preserve the society
it has built.
The Congress, by joint resolution of February 29, 1952 (36 U.S.C. 106),
designated September 17 as ‘‘Constitution Day and Citizenship Day,’’ and
by joint resolution of August 2, 1956 (36 U.S.C. 108), requested that the
President proclaim the week beginning September 17 and ending September
23 of each year as ‘‘Constitution Week.’’
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, 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 September 17, 2020,
as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, and September 17, 2020, through
September 23, 2020, as Constitution Week. On this day and during this
week, we celebrate the citizens and the Constitution that have made America
the greatest Nation this world has ever known. In doing so, we recommit
ourselves to the enduring principles of the Constitution and thereby ‘‘secure
the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity.’’
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth
day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty, and of
the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and
forty-fifth.
[FR Doc. 2020–21312
Filed 9–23–20; 11:15 am]
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