PROCLAMATION 6023—SEPT. 20, 1989 103 STAT. 3093 All Americans have an obligation to ensure that this shining experi- ment in self-government continues to succeed. As citizens of a free Nation, each of us has both the right and the responsibility to become educated and informed; to vote for those who represent us; and to par- ticipate at all levels of government. This week, let us give thanks for the freedom we so enjoy, and let us pause to learn more about our rights and duties as American citizens. For, as President Washington stated in his first Annual Message to the Congress: Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.... To the security of a free Constitution it contributes in various ways—^by convincing those who are intrusted with the public administration that every valuable end of government is best answered by the enlightened confidence of the people, and by teaching the people themselves to know and value their own rights... to distinguish between oppression and the necessary exer- cise of authority... to discriminate the spirit of liberty from that of licentiousness—cher- ishing the first, avoiding the last—and uniting a speedy but temperate vigilance against en- croacnments, with an inviolable respect to the laws. The Congress, by joint resolution of February 29, 1952 (36 U.S.C. 153), designated September 17 as "Citizenship Day" in commemoration of the signing of the Constitution and in recognition of all who, by birth or by natviralization, have attained the status of citizenship, and author- ized the President to issue annually a proclamation calling upon offi- cials of the government to display the flag on all government buildings on that day. Also, by joint resolution of August 2, 1956 (36 U.S.C. 159), the Congress designated the week beginning September 17 and ending September 23 of each year as "Constitution Week" in recognition of the historic importance of the Constitution and the significant role it plays in our lives today. NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 17, 1989, as Citizenship Day and call upon appropriate government officials to display the flag of the United States on all government buildings. I urge Federal, State, and local officials, as well as leaders of civic, social, and educational organizations, to conduct ceremonies and programs to commemorate the occasion. Furthermore, I proclaim the week beginning September 17 and ending September 23, 1989, as Constitution Week, and I urge all Americans to observe that week with appropriate ceremonies and activities. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty- nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fourteenth. GEORGE BUSH Proclamation 6023 of September 20, 1989 Law and Order in the Virgin Islands By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation WHEREAS; I have been informed that conditions of domestic violence and disorder exist in and about the Virgin Islands endangering life and property and obstructing execution of the laws, and that the law en-
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