World Freedom Day, 2016, 79985-79986 [2016-27496]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 219 (Monday, November 14, 2016)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 79985-79986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-27496]



[[Page 79983]]

Vol. 81

Monday,

No. 219

November 14, 2016

Part V





The President





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Proclamation 9538--World Freedom Day, 2016



Proclamation 9539--Veterans Day, 2016



Notice of November 9, 2016--Continuation of the National Emergency With 
Respect to Burundi


                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 81 , No. 219 / Monday, November 14, 2016 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 79985]]

                Proclamation 9538 of November 8, 2016

                
World Freedom Day, 2016

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                The Berlin Wall stood in the city it divided for nearly 
                30 years, separating families and loved ones and 
                embodying the authoritarianism that reigned in 
                Communist states throughout the Cold War. On November 
                9, 1989, with the courage of their convictions and a 
                longing to forge their own destinies, Germans from both 
                the East and West sides of the Wall celebrated history 
                as a defining symbol of the Iron Curtain collapsed. 
                Twenty-seven years later, we pay tribute to the 
                unyielding determination of those who chose unity over 
                division, and we rededicate ourselves to carrying this 
                spirit forward wherever core tenets of democracy and 
                liberty are at stake.

                When President John F. Kennedy declared in West Berlin 
                that ``when one man is enslaved, all are not free,'' he 
                captured the irrevocable truth of the work that remains 
                to this day. Our world is more prosperous and free than 
                at any time in our history, with more people than ever 
                before choosing their leaders through free elections 
                and living in democracies with greater respect for 
                human rights. But such liberty will not emerge across 
                the globe in a single wave--building strong, democratic 
                institutions and maintaining robust civil societies is 
                the work of generations, and it is up to each of us to 
                put our shoulders to the wheel of progress and fight 
                for the future we seek. Whether in quiet struggle or 
                boisterous protest, the Berliners who endured the 
                division the Berlin Wall created and stood for remind 
                us of the necessity to never abandon the values that 
                have brought us as far as we are today.

                For centuries, people of every nation have borne 
                witness to great strife and tension in our ever-
                changing world--but we have proven we can always choose 
                a better course through our relentless pursuit of 
                freedom. Across oceans and continents, in recognition 
                of World Freedom Day, let us reaffirm our commitment to 
                carrying forward the enduring celebration of liberty 
                that defined the fall of the Berlin Wall.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, 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 November 9, 2016, as 
                World Freedom Day. I call upon the people of the United 
                States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies 
                and activities, reaffirming our dedication to freedom 
                and democracy.

[[Page 79986]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                eighth day of November, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and forty-first.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2016-27496
Filed 11-10-16; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F7-P