Presidential Document2023-15416
Captive Nations Week, 2023
Primary source
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Published
July 19, 2023
Signed
July 14, 2023
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 137 (Wednesday, July 19, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 137 (Wednesday, July 19, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 46043-46044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15416]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 88 , No. 137 / Wednesday, July 19, 2023 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 46043]]
Proclamation 10599 of July 14, 2023
Captive Nations Week, 2023
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
During Captive Nations Week, we reaffirm our support
for brave people around the world who are standing up
to oppressive rule and striving for greater freedom,
greater dignity, and greater democracy.
When President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed the
first Captive Nations Week in 1959, he appealed
directly to the hundreds of millions living behind the
Iron Curtain--firm in the knowledge that
authoritarianism could never erase a people's love of
liberty. Over the coming decades, courageous women and
men joined together to demand their fundamental
freedoms and human rights. But the battle against
oppression did not end with the Cold War. The forces of
autocracy continue to reassert themselves. In Iran,
Belarus, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the People's
Republic of China, and elsewhere, we are seeing an all
too familiar contempt for the rule of law, for
democracy, for human rights, and even for the truth
itself.
This is all too evident in Russia's brutal aggression
against its neighbor Ukraine and in the Ukrainian
people's courageous defense of their sovereignty,
freedom, land, and lives. And around the world,
countless more are working every day in their own
countries to advance the essential democratic
principles that unite free people everywhere: the rule
of law; free and fair elections; the freedom of the
press; the freedom to speak, write, and assemble; and
the freedom to worship as one chooses. These advocates
and champions of democracy are living proof that the
darkness that drives autocracy can never extinguish the
flame of liberty that lights the souls of free people
everywhere.
The United States is proud to stand with all those who
fight for freedom. We will continue supporting
democratic reformers and human rights defenders around
the world, who are working for a future where women and
girls can exercise their rights equally and contribute
fully to society, where members of religious and ethnic
minorities can live their lives without harassment,
where LGBTQI+ people can live and love freely, and
where citizens and the press can question and criticize
their leaders without fear of reprisal.
Two years ago, at the first Summit for Democracy, I was
proud to launch the Presidential Initiative for
Democratic Renewal, with more than $400 million in
initiatives to defend and grow democratic resilience
with partners around the globe. This year, at our
second Summit, I committed another $690 million to keep
growing our work to advance democracy internationally.
Democracy--transparent and accountable government of,
for, and by the people--is our most powerful tool to
realize lasting peace, expand prosperity, and protect
human dignity.
The United States will continue to lead not just by the
example of our power but the power of our example. That
is why, since my first day in office, my Administration
has also taken decisive action to restore and
strengthen democracy here at home. I issued an
Executive Order promoting access to voter registration
and election information, and I signed into law the
Electoral Count Reform Act, which helps preserve the
will of the people
[[Page 46044]]
against future attempts to overturn our elections. The
Department of Justice has strengthened its ability to
fight unlawful voter suppression. And I continue to
call on the Congress to pass the Freedom to Vote Act
and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
During this Captive Nations Week, as we honor the
bravery of democratic reformers and human rights
defenders everywhere, I am reminded of the words of the
philosopher Kierkegaard: ``Faith sees best in the
dark.'' To those living in darkness today: We honor
your resilience. To those who are committed to the
cause of liberty: We are your partner for a better
future.
The Congress, by joint resolution approved July 17,
1959 (73 Stat. 212), has authorized and requested the
President to issue a proclamation designating the third
week of July of each year as ``Captive Nations Week.''
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, do hereby proclaim July
16 through July 22, 2023, as Captive Nations Week. I
call upon all Americans to reaffirm our commitment to
championing those around the world who are working,
often at great personal risk, to secure liberty and
justice for all.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
fourteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
eighth.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2023-15416
Filed 7-18-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on July 19, 2023.
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